Head coach Michael Bradley has called for an attuned attention to detail as Edinburgh Rugby prepare for the first match in a crucial Heineken Cup double-header with Cardiff Blues at the City Stadium this Friday (kick-off 8pm, live on SKYSPORTS red button).
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Both sides are unbeaten in the Pool, with Edinburgh taking the top spot by virtue of a four-try bonus point picked up in last month’s 11-try encounter with Racing Metro (48-47).
They face a Cardiff side whose impressive run of five consecutive wins in all competitions was interrupted last Friday as a weakened side were undone by Cup champions Leinster (52-9) at the RDS.
This run, combined with an away victory over Edinburgh in the opening match of the RaboDirect PRO12 season will no doubt fill the hosts with confidence ahead of this clash of capitals.
Edinburgh however have been increasingly impressive of late, since an away win over Treviso sparked a similar run of form, stuttering against Munster away, but returning against Aironi at Murrayfield last weekend, as they ran in seven tries to make seven home wins from nine (50-10).
Speaking at today’s press conference, head coach Michael Bradley, said: “Cardiff away will be a significant challenge indeed and is a match that will demand our utmost attention to every aspect of our game.
“We have a lot of respect for Cardiff, their players and the way they play the game. There is no hiding from the fact that they have favourable position to ours in the RaboDirect PRO12 and have already beaten us at Murrayfield this season.
“However, we must have faith in our ability, something which has been gathering steam in the past six weeks.
“Our season has a degree of momentum to it, with the recent wins in the Heineken Cup and good wins over the Italian sides, home and away.
“If we maintain the consistency of these improvements in this double-header then we are capable of achieving out goal, which is to keep our place at the top of this group and qualify for the knockout stages of the competition.”
Edinburgh Rugby 25-man squad to play Cardiff Blues in round three of the Heineken Cup (Pool 2) at the Cardiff City Stadium this Friday (9 December, kick-off 8pm) - Mike Blair, Tom Brown, Sean Cox, Geoff Cross, Nick De Luca, David Denton, Ross Ford, Jack Gilding, Phil Godman, Roddy Grant, John Houston, Allan Jacobsen, Lee Jones, James King, Greig Laidlaw, Steve Lawrie, Harry Leonard, Esteban Lozada, Stuart McInally, Chris Paterson, Ross Rennie, Kyle Traynor, Steven Turnbull, Netani Talei, Tim Visser
Not available through injury: Ben Cairns (knee), Grant Gilchrist (shoulder), Andrew Kelly (knee), Alan MacDonald (shoulder), Matt Scott (hip), Jim Thompson (knee)
