The contrast between the Stade de France and Rodney Parade is striking but it didn’t matter one iota to Luke Crosbie.
After featuring in Scotland’s final World Cup clash against Ireland in Paris, Crosbie’s return to club rugby with Edinburgh arrived at the Dragons famed ground on the banks of the River Usk.
From 80,000 spectators and the attention of millions to humble surroundings in Newport, Crosbie was just delighted to be back doing what he does best amongst mates.
“It doesn't bother me,” Crosbie said on the comparison. “Genuinely I don’t really get nervous playing in front of big stadiums. It doesn’t really change for me - I just enjoy going out there and playing with my teammates. It doesn’t actually change what I do on the field, so I look at it like that.
“Doesn’t change me tackling or carrying or knowing my set piece. I was just really excited to be back with Edinburgh, my boyhood club, and get a win in the first game of the season.”
READ MORE: Ben Healy eyes secret weapon after World Cup return
Boosted by some international stars, Edinburgh mounted an impressive comeback to clinch their first away win in the URC for a year against the Dragons in their season opener.
There was never any question that Crosbie would return quickly after talks with head coach Sean Everitt and the 26-year-old feels in the best shape of his career.
He added: “You can tell he [Everitt] cares about the players and how they feel, so he was really open and communicated with us individually and as a group as well.I don’t like taking too long off: a week is probably long enough and then I’d be doing my own training anyway.
"So it’s quite good to have one week off then straight back into it while I’m in one of the best shapes I’ve been in, and then I’ll take it from there if I get another break down the line. I just feel in good shape to go out there and play.”
Edinburgh welcome the Lions to the capital in their first competitive home game of the season on Saturday as they look to build on their impressive start. Several Scotland stars will be available including Hamish Watson, Blair Kinghorn and Duhan van der Merwe.
Fiji won hearts across the world in France with their exhilarating performances and patriotism. Bill Mata featured prominently for the islanders and Crosbie is delighted to re-join the powerful forward in Edinburgh’s back row.
“You can see how passionate Bill is playing for Fiji, and when he comes in to play for Edinburgh he’s so passionate as well,” Crosbie said.”I personally love playing with him, all the boys do - you see how much energy he puts into the jersey whether it’s Edinburgh or Fiji.
“He’s happy to be back around the group. He’s just his normal self - quite chilled, giggling away and happy working hard as well - if you don’t get on the wrong side of him, that is.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here