Ulster Rugby v Edinburgh

R O D N A W N

Richard Cockerill is not someone, as a player or coach, who has ever knowingly taken a backward step.

EDINBURGH WILL BE ‘IN YOUR F

then new ambitions instantly formed in a mind which is brilliantly attuned to the physical demands of the modern game, which is consistently inventive in strengthening frailty and constantly improving players’ individual qualities. Now it is Edinburgh where he plies his trade, not perhaps the most obvious rugby home for a rugby pitbull Englishman who has played with and worked with some of the game’s most ruthlessly gifted and consistent talents. The Scottish club, despite many advantages, would never claim that consistency has been a hallmark of an erratic history in league and European rugby. Alan Solomons and Andy Robinson made some progress, but the challenges of shaping an authentic rugby identity and a reliable, enduring style have proved considerable, and though there have been many victories, they have been small and too infrequent to frame a really competitive side. Cockerill, on arrival last year, seemed to instantly imbue a steel and collective sense of purpose which other coaches and many other players did not quite tap into on a weekly basis. The Head Coach of tonight’s visitors to Kingspan Stadium studied his squad and in one short year his team has earned a regard.

The former England hooker played the game hard, made everything of his front row skills, and if a belligerent nature gave him an ‘edge’ he made the most of it for his team and for himself. Leicester is the club with which he is synonymous: over 250 appearances for a club which set the standards for so long in England. Between 1992 and 2002 he was integral to an intimidating pack of forwards who forged the platform for the Midlands side to release generations of brilliant three-quarters. When, as seemed such a natural course, he was appointed Head Coach in 2005 Cockerill brought immense experience and a daunting reputation to the role: as a player. He was demanding of himself and his team-mates, and that didn’t change in the 12 years he was at the helm until he left in 2017. He was, and remains, hugely respected, because he scorns the mediocre, relentlessly chases success and has developed in players a similar hunger and appetite to work, to improve, to be the best. Martin Johnson was for so long his club captain, and the two shared a common goal for Leicester and no concessions were ever made on the field as Cockerill’s targets were set, so often achieved and

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