Richard Cockerill to take over as Edinburgh coach for next season

[Saint4805]

Let's hope he can re-discover old glories

 

[Will]

Edinburgh are a team full of talented players though they lack some heart and consistency. I would hope that Cockerill would be the man to put a rocket up them because it certainly was not Solomons when he was in charge. And as much as I would always like to either Edinburgh or Glasgow to have a Scottish coach (what with Glasgow having Rennie in charge from next season), Cockerill is a proven winner and I think it has the potential to be a great appointment for Edinburgh.

 

[iINDOMINUSxx]

I think this was an appointment Cockers needed, a new challenge which is different to the challenge at Leicester.

However i would have preferred Hodge to keep going with coaching never or less Cockers i'm sure will do us good. Overall happy with him here but felt we could have maybe done a little bit better. Like maybe Jake White I would be chuffed with since he is getting replaced at the end off the season by Vern Cotter.

+ I also hope be doesn't do a Andy Robinson and go on to be Scotland coach in the future

 

[Saint4805]

+ I also hope be doesn't do a Andy Robinson and go on to be Scotland coach in the future

There's a good chance that either Dave Rennie or Cockers will be in contention to succeed GT if they do well and for some reason Gregor struggles to get results or decides to venture south in a few years. Things are looking rosy with Gregor, Rennie and Cockers in the three top coaching jobs.

 

[munstermuffin]

No harm if either were aiming for international job. Every coach has that ambition

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Commentators for the Edinburgh match emphasising Cockerills focus on the set piece and maul. He sounds like a fantastic appointment if it was ten years ago, but now?

I completely fail to see the continued attempts to make sure Edinburgh and Glasgow play totally opposite styles of play. It must make it hard on the Edinburgh lads in the national setup but presumably Townsend was consulted on the appointment. All a bit puzzling to me.

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Commentators for the Edinburgh match emphasising Cockerills focus on the set piece and maul. He sounds like a fantastic appointment if it was ten years ago, but now?

I completely fail to see the continued attempts to make sure Edinburgh and Glasgow play totally opposite styles of play. It must make it hard on the Edinburgh lads in the national setup but presumably Townsend was consulted on the appointment. All a bit puzzling to me.

Every team needs a solid set piece and maul to really progress even now 10 years ago has nothing to do with it.

 

[munstermuffin]

Every team needs a solid set piece and maul to really progress even now 10 years ago has nothing to do with it.

100% agree. It's a main source of procession.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Edinburgh have arguably had a comparable or even superior set piece to Glasgow for years under set piece orientated coaches. Their forwards have done the basics solidly even this year. They've also languished at the foot of the table each year. I would put money on Edinburgh not getting top 7 finish under Cockerill if he gets the same level of player quality as his predecessors. That is if it is accurate that he focuses on set piece.

I think the greatest value from forwards in the modern game is contesting the breakdown, contributing to passing movements as available runners and looking to keep the ball off the deck through offloading (although Munster buck that trend a little as a top team with a focus on set piece dominance). A coach thinking along those lines and/or with proven experience of developing a smoothly operating backline would have been my priority for Edinburgh's situation. It is such a stylistic contrast to getting David Rennie on board at Glasgow.

If he is a good motivator he could have a positive impact in the short term. This Edinburgh side don't show much in the way of backbone as typified by their collapse again today. Plus Hodge is doing alright with the backs. It could be a masterstroke combination I guess. :s

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39034492

He's certainly a credible communicator and appears to have a grasp of all of the issues around Edinburgh. I also didn't know Leicester's slump kind of coincided with him being a director of rugby rather than head coach? Glad he is name checking Duncan Hodge, hopefully he will be retained. It'll all be interesting to watch if nothing else.