Tom Smith says he is ready to embrace the challenge of being Edinburgh’s new assistant coach and putting into practice all the knowledge he accumulated during his celebrated playing career.
Former Lions and Scotland prop Smith, 37, enjoyed his first day in his new job on Tuesday and oversaw a training session which was staged on Murrayfield’s back-pitch.
But before he jogged out onto the training paddock to assist head coach Rob Moffat in preparing the Black and Red Army for the advent of the new campaign he outlined what he believes he will bring to the role.
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Smith said: “I’ve got some ideas of my own to bring in with the intention of building on the success achieved at Edinburgh last year.
“A winning environment has already been created and I’ve already been impressed with the ability and enthusiasm in the Edinburgh squad, which is still relatively young in rugby terms.
“I did some coaching work at Northampton last year and I’ve also got my coaching badges. So hopefully it will be a smooth transition into this side of the game.
“I’ll be looking to build strong relationships with players through sound communication.
“So far during pre-season, we’ve been working hard at strength and conditioning and now we’re moving onto rugby sessions leading into our warm up games over the next two weeks.
“Our main objective is to improve and I’m looking forward to helping a talented young squad progress onto the next stage in their development.”
With Smith now on board, Moffat revealed he was still in the process of recruiting a third coach as part of the new regime’s backroom staff.
Moffat said: “We are closer to bringing another coach in. But we will take our time and make sure the next addition to the coaching staff complements both Tom and I and who is the right person for the job.”
