EDINBURGH rugby skipper Ally Hogg has hailed the contribution of star stand-off Phil Godman to reviving the team's fortunes.
Going into an eventual 38-8 success against Connacht, which puts Edinburgh in fine fettle ahead of another home clash in the Magner's Celtic League, against Cardiff on Friday, the Capital outfit had endured three successive win-less encounters.
Bu
t, in bouncing back to form following a draw at Newport preceded by defeats against Munster and Toulouse, there was sufficient style and quality shown by Edinburgh to garner a four-try bonus point for only the second time this season.
According to Hogg, much of that was down to the swashbuckling style of Godman, who also slotted six shots at goal out of seven to stand tenth in the league goal-kicking stats with a 67.39 per cent success rate.
Hogg said: "Godders is the type of stand-off who loves to run with the ball. He really interests defenders.
"That is key for getting Nick (De Luca] and Ben (Cairns] into space and running great lines.
"Having Godders inside and holding up the defenders lets them get over the gain-line. That also allows our pack some go-forward.
"In the first half against Connacht we struggled to get guys in the right places.
"In the second half we scored good tries off turned-over ball. That meant getting momentum that Godders thrives off."
And, while Edinburgh have never won more than three of their concluding six games in a Celtic League programme, Hogg hints they are well placed to ensure they kick-on this time.
"(Coaches] Andy Robinson and Rob Moffat have us well drilled and the conditioning staff have us in good condition. We're training hard and playing hard, everybody is just enjoying playing alongside each other.
"Godders doing his stuff allows Ross Rennie to get his hands on the ball and Nick De Luca to run great lines."
Friday's tussle could see Edinburgh leap from fourth to second and the good news so far as Hogg is concerned is that there is more to come.
"We are never happy with our performance and there is always something we can work on."
Such a view strikes a chord with coach Robinson, who says: "Let's not get carried away with ourselves. There's a lot to do."
Reinforcing those claims, Robinson, who admitted flanker may require a fitness test after taking a knee knock which caused him to be replaced at half-time against Connacht, spoke of a potential Cardiff backlash to an 11-10 home defeat by Edinburgh at the beginning of this year.
"Cardiff will be disappointed by the home loss to us and will be looking to respond," he said.
Reasons to be wary also include Cardiff's desire for a dress rehearsal ahead of the biggest game of their season.
Robinson added: "They are in the quarter final of the European Cup (at Toulouse]. They will have their best players back."
But the ex-England flanker and coach could not conceal his satisfaction overall at the performance against Connacht. He said: "When we do play at real pace, we look a cracking team."
However, Robinson qualified his remarks. "Too often we force that last pass or drop the ball or turn line-out ball over.
"I was really disappointed with our line-out. I thought that was average. That is something that is frustrating but I'm pleased we got away with it."
If the line-out will be subject to the special attention promised, it seems likely the overall approach will be retained.
"We wanted to raise the pace of the game (because] we thought if we could keep the tempo high it would pay off for us," added Robinson.
"We started speeding up the ball at the breakdown where Connacht were skilful at slowing it down. As soon as we got that, we looked a different team.
"The message at half time (with the score at 10-8] was that we had to up our workrate and the accuracy at the breakdown to get the speed of ball. We had to keep playing at that pace.
"If you look at the next set of games, with all due respect to Connacht, that was a good game for us to be playing at home.
"I'm not trying to disrespect them in any shape or form. They are an improving side. But, with them having not won away and being at the bottom of the table, it was a game we had to target for five points. And we did.
"We've got Cardiff next and then top of the table Leinster, followed by Ospreys. It is quite a challenge, the next four games.
"We have got to keep our level of performance right up there. The pleasing thing is that it is better being challenged.
"We will know where we are. There is no guarantee we will win any of these games.
"It is about the work we do. We showed in patches how we can play. We really have to knuckle down."
In preparing for an encore, though, Robinson feels Edinburgh have a secret weapon.
He said: "Credit is due to the (Murrayfield] groundstaff.
"We were looking for a fast track and are grateful for that. Without that it could have been a tough pitch to play on."
And the firm going perhaps holds the key to more match- winning displays from the silky midfield trio of Godman, De Luca and Cairns.
The full article contains 927 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
