SHOULD coaching fail to work out it would seem that Richard Cockerill is unlikely to be seeking out a career in travel or estate agency if yesterday’s description of the new surroundings he found himself are anything to go by.
“It’s my first experience of Moscow. There’s lots of monuments and big buildings and lots of motorways. I didn’t know what to expect but I’m taking in the sights,” he offered.
“The pitch is good, the stadium’s obviously small and compact shall we say.”
From a man considered something of a rough diamond in his playing days the word bijou surely could have figured in there somewhere as he sought to avoid offending the hosts of this Challenge Cup meeting between Edinburgh and Krasny Yar Krasnoyarsk, the Siberians who shocked holders Stade Francais last weekend.
Cockerill is not really one for euphemisms, though, his penchant for plain-speaking having already been evident in his assessment of much what he has encountered in Pro14 rugby.
No surprise, then, that he avoided platitudes and gave a straightforward answer when asked to assess the impact of the opposition not being able to play this on their own ground, which is significantly further from the Russian capital than Edinburgh’s Myreside.
“I think it’s helpful for obvious reasons. We’re away from their home ground. They’ve had to travel too,” he said. “I don’t think there will be much of a crowd. I don’t think there is any travelling support and I wouldn’t expect many to be making the five-hour flight from Krasny Yar to Moscow. So it will be down to us to make our own atmosphere. How much of an advantage we’ll see.”
While the message from Edinburgh throughout the week has been that there is no danger of them taking their opponents lightly, Cockerill has made nine changes to the team that beat London Irish and placed considerable trust in a couple of inexperienced youngsters, Luke Crosbie, making his first start for the club and Lewis Carmichael his first start of the season, a description which also applies to Neil Cochrane who comes into the line-up as captain.
“(Stuart) McInally’s obviously had a big work-load and we’ve got two very, very important games in the league after this, so I certainly want to use the squad and Cochrane’s a good player who has a lot of experience in the league, so no problems with that,” said Cockerill, explaining that Ross Ford remains sidelined with a calf problem. “It’s just looking after the squad, rotating the players. It’s better to rotate while they’re still fresh than when guys are absolutely shattered. ”
Also absent is Dunc Weir, the international stand off who has an abdominal injury but hopes to be back ahead of Scotland’s autumn Tests.
Edinburgh team: Blair Kinghorn; Damien Hoyland, James Johnstone, Junior Rasolea, Tom Brown; Jason Tovey, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne; Allan Dell, Neil Cochrane capt, WP Nel, Anton Bresler, Grant Gilchrist, Lewis Carmichael, Luke Crosbie,, Cornell du Preez. Replacements - Stuart McInally, Darryl Marfo, Simon Berghan, Fraser McKenzie, Viliame Mata, Nathan Fowles, Chris Dean, Glenn Bryce.
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