RICHARD COCKERILL’S success as a coach is a matter of record. Leicester Tigers won the English Premiership with their former hooker at the helm in 2009, 2010 and 2013. They were Heineken Cup runners-up in the first of those years and have always finished in the top six of the league.
Things at Welford Road have not gone so well this season, leading to the 46-year-old’s dismissal as director of rugby in January, but the esteem in which the former England international is held was evidenced by the speed with which Toulon signed him up as a coach on a short-term contract.
From that perspective, Edinburgh’s appointment of Cockerill as their head coach on a two-year contract from the start of next season makes a lot of sense.
He has a track record of achievement and – just as relevant – a reputation as a man who demands high standards. Leicester’s achievement has been built on an ethos of ruthlessly honest self-criticism, and Cockerill has been a part of that since he joined as a player in 1992.
There is no doubt that Edinburgh would dearly love to have such a track record of success and a similar esprit de corps. The question is whether the man who was born in Rugby and has devoted much of his life to the sport can end the chronic malaise which has gripped the capital club for most of its existence.
“I am very much looking forward to a new challenge and the opportunity at Edinburgh Rugby ticked all the boxes,” Cockerill said yesterday in a statement.
“It’s a real rugby city, and the club has a lot of potential to grow. I’m also relishing the chance of coaching in the Guinness Pro12, which is a new league for me, and working with a clearly talented group of players.”
Edinburgh is indeed “a real rugby city” – in the sense that the national team plays there, a number of the country’s leading clubs are based there and there is a widespread interest in the sport rivalled only in the Borders.
But it is not a place in which rugby dominates the way it does in Leicester and neither is it a hothouse of talent. Edinburgh contains a relatively small number of players, and the most naturally gifted have at times found it too easy to forge professional careers, often failing to realise their potential.
Cockerill has the right character to inculcate a very different mindset, but the problem begins long before players join Edinburgh, so making the right kind of signing will be vital.
So, too, will be making a success of Myreside, assuming the move from Murrayfield to the Watsonians ground continues.
“I am very pleased to have secured Richard’s services given how highly sought after he was from leading clubs across Europe,” said Scottish Rugby Union chief executive Mark Dodson.
Duncan Hodge, who has been acting head coach, will revert to being backs coach, while Stevie Scott and Pete Wilkins, his current assistants, will retain their posts.
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