Edinburgh Rugby forwards’ coach Tom Smith today welcomed the club’s opening Heineken cup encounter which sees the capital club line up against a familiar foe.
Following on from Saturday’s 22-11 win away over Treviso at the Stadio Monigo, the capital club take to the road once more against London Irish at the Madejski Stadium in round one of European rugby’s premiere competition.
The former Scotland and British Lions great has 63 Heineken and Amlin Challenge Cup appearances to his name, as well as a Challenge Cup winner’s medal from his last season at Northampton Saints in 2009, before he joined Edinburgh Rugby as coach.
Smith is once again relishing the prospect of locking horns with London Irish following eight seasons propping at Franklin’s Gardens in the English Premiership.
Edinburgh Rugby defence coach Tom Smith
He said: “The Heineken Cup always sits as a watershed in the season in terms of its importance and status, with so many teams aspiring to be successful.
“It’s often a clash of rugby cultures and a meeting of different styles, with our match this weekend requiring us to prove that we can cope with their physicality and them seeing if they can cope with our running game and our strength as a pack of forwards.
“To have a big start against a side like London Irish provides great motivation for the players, especially after the win at the weekend, so hopefully we can put in a performance and get a good win.”
Occupying Smith’s old loose-head post in the current Scotland squad is the weekend’s try-scorer, Allan Jacobsen, who faces an international front-row rematch with England prop Alex Corbisiero, while the London Irish squad may also field Scotland’s own Joe Ansbro and England internationalists Delon Armitage and Shontanye Hape at full-back and centre.
Speaking on the key battles for the Edinburgh Rugby men, Smith added: “Line speed is big part of London Irish’s game. They like to get across the line quickly, get the shoulders on and be physical in the tackle area, then follow that up at the breakdown where they’ll try and challenge for the ball and snuff out play.
“Every game will throw up individual encounters that are crucial to the game. If there’s parity in the set-piece then those battles will move on to different areas.
“They have some big names and key players who are used to doing a job for them so the onus is on us is to step up, stop them and create try scoring opportunites. Are we capable of that? Absolutely.”
Edinburgh Rugby forwards’ coach Tom Smith today welcomed the club’s opening Heineken cup encounter which sees the capital club line up against a familiar foe.