EDINBURGH Rugby captain Mike Blair has welcomed the chance of a "fresh start" to a disappointing season so far as a break in domestic league duties sees Leinster help kick off another Heineken European Cup campaign at Murrayfield on Saturday.
"It is a kind of fresh start and, although we have still got to build on things we have done well in previous games, you get a little bit of relief from the Magners Celtic League stuff. It gives us a different focus and something we can crack on from
at 0-0 again," said scrum half Blair.
"We look forward to a change of tournament and really giving Leinster a hard game."
Adding to the intrigue of this weekend's showdown is that whereas Edinburgh were on the receiving end of a 6-52 defeat at Leinster in the league earlier this season – one of four losses from five starts – the reigning champions have just been humbled to a remarkable degree.
An 18-19 setback against perennial basement boys Connacht in Galway provoked intakes of breath that might have been heard across the Irish Sea with the competition's official website referring to "the upset of the season so far", while the Irish Times described the result as "famous and thoroughly unexpected".
So, does that offer Edinburgh encouragement – or plant concerns of a backlash from the men from Dublin?
"I don't know if that is good news or bad news without having seen the game," admits Blair. However, the Scotland star is unequivocal that nothing has changed so far as Edinburgh's focus or what is at stake next time out is concerned.
"We have still got to approach the game as though Leinster had won and that means - concentrating really hard on our own game. We have to work on a couple of things that have not gone well."
The message from Blair is that Edinburgh can go a long way to erasing the memories of their chequered start, while recognising that of, all their games so far, the stakes for this one will be highest.
That's because of the cut-throat nature of the Northern Hemisphere's blue riband event, which will have its final staged at Murrayfield next May.
Edinburgh are in a pool which also includes London Wasps and French side Castres and Blair, speaking at the official competition launch, said: "This game is massive because, if we lose, we are struggling straight away.
"If we win, we will be in a great position to go to Castres and see how we go against an unknown quantity, who have not had a great start to the French Championship. Castres have quality players but it is a winnable game. If we get off to a good start we will certainly be targeting a win over there."
If Blair is reluctant to read too much into Leinster's latest form, he was convinced Edinburgh could do well by tightening up their game with some fine tuning, while building on some quality individual displays.
Prop Geoff Cross in particular has put himself on the brink of a first start in Europe for coach Andy Robinson since joining Edinburgh from Borders.
Blair said: "Geoff has been outstanding and last weekend (during a defeat in Ulster) came off the bench and shored our scrum up."
Ultimately, Edinburgh were edged out 9-13 but Blair says the switch of scene can be what's required.
"We saw three weeks ago how well a fantastic team like Leinster can punish slip-ups but, for Edinburgh, it is about getting that final pass to stick. We know Leinster don't like coming here (they have lost on their last four visits with only one win out of seven in the Capital) and what we have to get back to is the way we were performing last season.
"The only difference is that last year we were scraping wins in the last five minutes," he said in a reference to how three of the four Edinburgh defeats have carried a losing bonus point.
"The encouraging thing is that, although we have not been playing as well as we can, we have still been in there with a shout at the business end of a match."
On such a wafer edge can seasons be made or broken – "if the narrow losses had been wins we'd have been sitting third or fourth in the table," says Blair – but the motivation for Edinburgh is to make their own good fortune to kick start the season.
Will Leinster be the first victims of a new era that arrives with a fresh competitive challenge?
EDINBURGH'S POOL TWO RIVALS
Leinster:Official tournament publicity is referring to the Dubliners having to "lay a Murrayfield bogey". Edinburgh have won the previous four meetings on Scottish soil and six out of the last seven here. But to extend that record Edinburgh will have to engineer an amazing turnaround having been thumped 6-52 at the RDS in the league three weeks ago.
Key man: Brian O'Driscoll
Castres Olympique:The former club of ex-Scotland cap record holder Gregor Townsend have made a faltering start to their domestic campaign with only one winand a draw from their first seven starts.
But they have a renowned leader in French captain and second row Lionel Naillet who could galvanise them into a formidable force, especially at home.
Key man: Lionel Naillet
London Wasps:Edinburgh have already beaten the two-time winners in a pre-season game but that will count for nothing when they clash back-to-back in the middle of the group. By then Edinburgh will know if they are in a position to challenge at the expense of the English club whose team of talents includes England's hottest property – utility back Danny Cipriani.
Key man: Danny Cipriani
The full article contains 973 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
