Cardiff Blues coach Danny Wilson has warned his team they will need to be up for a scrap when they face pugnacious Richard Cockerill’s Edinburgh on Saturday evening.
The Blues are at Murrayfield for their European Challenge Cup quarter-final on the back of five successive victories and a feelgood vibe unfamiliar for almost a decade at the Arms Park.
But Wilson – who is keen to end his spell at the region on a memorable high – has stressed that the opposition are far from the soft touches they used to be in European competition and much of that is down to their English head coach.
“Any side that is coached by Richard Cockerill will be hard over the ball, defensively, and have a real contact area presence,” said Wilson.
“A decent set-piece is another fundamental part of a Richard Cockerill side, and they will generally be a well-organised and gritty team. Edinburgh have proven this year that they are very difficult to beat and difficult to breakdown, with one of the best defences in the league.
“Our attacking game, we’d like to think, has the fundamentals and the capabilities of testing Edinburgh’s strength in defence but we’re fully aware it will be one of, if not the best defence we’ll have had faced recently.”
Edinburgh second row Grant Gilchrist is relishing the opportunity to make amends for 2012 when Edinburgh fell at the semi-final hurdle in the Heineken Cup.
“A quarter-final of a European Cup…it’s a massive game and we want a big crowd at Murrayfield,” said Gilchrist. “Knockout rugby is exciting it what everyone wants to big involved with. We believe we can win it, if we get things right.
“I always believed that we have a really good group of players and every year we build up and turn things about. It’s all credit to Cockers [coach Richard Cockerill] and the way he’s got us playing. I’ve always seen the potential and it’s about realising that potential.
“We need to make sure that every time we take the field, that we earn more and more respect. That’s the goal and has always been the goal at the start of the season – and we are starting to turn a corner.
“At times people need a rocket and at times people need an arm around them. Cockers is an experienced head coach; he knows how to get the best out of players. The boys have really bought into the mentality he wants.
“When you’re winning you have the confidence to see out these close games and any doubts seem to disappear.”
Edinburgh: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Dougie Fife, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Chris Dean, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Jaco van der Walt, 9 Nathan Fowles, 1 Jordan Lay, 2 Stuart McInally, 3 WP Nel, 4 Fraser McKenzie, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 6 Magnus Bradbury, 7 John Hardie, 8 Bill Mata
Replacements: 16 Neil Cochrane, 17 Rory Sutherland,18 Simon Berghan, 19 Lewis Carmichael, 20 Cornell du Preez, 21 Sean Kennedy, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Phil Burleigh
Cardiff Blues: 15 Gareth Anscombe, 14 Blaine Scully, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Willis Halaholo, 11 Owen Lane, 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Tomos Williams, 1 Gethin Jenkins, 2 Kristian Dacey, 3 Dillon Lewis, 4 George Earle, 5 Josh Turnbull, 6 Josh Navidi, 7 Ellis Jenkins, 8 Nick Williams
Replacements: 16 Kirby Myhill, 17 Rhys Gill, 18 Anton Peikrishvili, 19 Seb Davies, 20 Macauley Cook, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 Garyn Smith, 23 Matthew Morgan.