Rugby: John - We're ready to Rec home fans' hopes

Published on Friday 11 December 2009 09:26

EDINBURGH winger John Houston believes silencing the vociferous home support in Sunday's Heineken Cup clash at Bath's Recreation Ground can help lay the foundation for the Capital side to move a step closer to a place in the knockout stages of the competition.

Edinburgh travel to face the 1998 champions, knowing there is little margin for error, but with confidence high after last week's Magners League win at Scarlets.

Houston has experienced the passion of the Bath supporters, albeit only in friendly matches, and he knows that the West Country side's fans can become restless if the opposition gain the upper hand.

"We've played them a couple of times pre-season in the last few years. It's a great club with a great tradition and we are looking forward to it," he said. "They are not going too well this season but everyone raises their game for the Heineken Cup. The games they have been losing are by points so they are not a bad team at all.

"But we go there to win, there is no doubt about that. We have to win to keep the Heineken Cup alive."

And, alluding to the compact ground that has been the venue for many Bath successes over the years, he said: "You get a feeling of how close the supporters are at both ends and the dead ball areas are very shallow.

"When the home crowd gets behind the team it always gives them a boost so to silence the crowd you have to play well and stop them playing, which is always the aim when you play away from home."

Houston's inclusion in the starting line-up is one of three changes to the side which took to the field in Wales last weekend. Scotland stand-off Phil Godman returns at the expense of David Blair, who is on the bench, while Ross Ford also resumes at hooker with Andrew Kelly also among the substitutes.

Houston is relishing the opportunity to be involved, adding: "It's great to be back in the side. It's a huge game for the club and I'm pleased to be starting – no-one likes being on the bench."

Confidence is high in the Edinburgh ranks and the 26-year-old is in little doubt that the side will travel with realistic expectations of securing the first leg of a double success before welcoming the same opponents to Murrayfield next Saturday.

That belief is built on an impressive record of success in tight matches, something Houston attributes to good game management. "We now know how to close out games and we have become good at doing it. If you are in the lead away from home and there's five minutes left, it's not about playing rugby, it's about running the clock down.

"If you look at the games we have won away from home, we've always been in the ascendancy in the last few minutes." Houston admits that he would prefer to be starting at centre, but Edinburgh coach Rob Moffat has hinted that the player may have his wish granted, depending how the game unfolds.

The coach said: "We still see John Houston as a 12 but John has played on the wing and he has played well. It's about utilising our resources. We don't know how the game is going to go. We might keep it like that, we might bring John Houston in."

Moffat's counterpart Steve Meehan will be hoping that the match will deliver the breakthrough his side desperately need after a torrid start to the season that has seen Bath post only one win and two draws in ten Guinness Premiership starts to sit second from bottom in the table, and lose both Heineken Cup matches so far.

Meehan has not yet finalised his team, although one man who will feature on the day is Andy Beattie, the flanker for whom it will be a landmark occasion as he makes his 200th appearance for the club.

However, the Edinburgh coach insists that it would be a serious misjudgement to underestimate the magnitude of the task facing his players.

"We expect Bath to be a wounded animal because that's what they are in a way just now," he said.

"When you play in the Guinness Premiership you tend to play a physical game which is what they will play. But they tend to really play rugby as well with a lot of width. They like to keep the ball live and offload. That's why we think it has the makings of a cracking game."

And Moffat knows that victory will hinge on Edinburgh's ability to dictate the play.

"We need to control the game and play at the tempo we want to play at not the tempo Bath want to play at," he concluded.