Simon Webster says Edinburgh are targeting a fourth successive home win over Leinster in the Heineken Cup when the two sides meet at Murrayfield on Saturday 11 October, kick off 1.35pm but the Scotland winger admits it will be a tough assignment.
Edinburgh’s winning streak over the Dublin-based Province in Europe’s premier competition started way back in October 2000.
Since then the men in Black and Red have defeated Brian O’Driscoll’s men on home soil in October 2006 and December 2007.
The 27-year-old scored a try against the Irish Province in last season’s corresponding fixture which resulted in a 29-10 win, but says making it four-in-a-row will be difficult.
Simon is in for next season and you can join him for every moment of our European adventure by signing up for a 2008/2009 Edinburgh Rugby Club season ticket. All the Heineken Cup Pool matches at Murrayfield, all nine Magners League home games (and the away match at Glasgow) plus you and a friend can watch the friendly against London Wasps at Murrayfield on Saturday 23 August for FREE. Call 0131 346 5180 and join the growing ranks of the Black and Red Army.
Webster said: “I think we have a good record against them in the past at Murrayfield, but they’ve got a fantastic squad and some fantastic individual players. They are the Magners League champions and that tells its own story and on their day they are capable of giving anyone a good game.
“If we are going to continue our home form against Leinster and make it four-in-a-row then we are going to have to play as well as we can; that is the challenge that we face.”
Webster recalls the dot down he scored against Leinster eight months ago and says it proved how dangerous Edinburgh’s back-line are at launching quick-fire attacks.
He said: “They try that I scored against Leinster last season was scored off the first phase. That was very satisfying.
“We have always spoken before in the past about how good their backs are and how dangerous they are off set-piece. So for ourselves to score off first phase off a scrum was really satisfying.
“I think the win certainly kick-started the rest of our season. We got some momentum going and got into the habit of winning.”
After experiencing a stop-start season last year, Webster admits he is hoping for an injury-free 2008/2009 campaign.
He said: “At the moment, it is difficult to gauge exactly where I am. But all I can concentrate on is working as hard as I possibly can on my fitness every day. I’m just trying to do the right things at the right times and attack each day.
“I’m trying to get myself into the best shape possible and when the season starts we will see how well it has worked out.”
Webster showed his quality with a huge hit during Scotland’s epic win over Argentina in Buenos Aires and says the large contingent of Edinburgh players made a difference.
He said: “It was really great and stuff. A lot of guys had played well throughout the season and deserved their chance; like Ben Cairns had played well.
“I really enjoy playing with Hugo in the back-three and I always have. Phil got his chance at stand-off and I thought he did very well.
“It was a good performance by Scotland and all the Edinburgh boys that played have got to try and take that level of performance into our club games.”
