Heineken Cup: Tom Smith insists Edinburgh can compete with big guns

TOM Smith has always been an engaging individual, a real player’s player happy to do the hard yards when he played and someone who tells it straight now as a coach.

He was pleased yesterday to be talking about the composed, technically astute performance that brought Edinburgh victory over Treviso on Saturday, their first away win since beating the other Italians, Aironi, at the start of October last year. And, recalling reaching the semi-finals with Northampton, the former British and Irish Lions prop spoke glowingly of his enthusiasm for the Heineken Cup and belief that he has a squad of players capable of qualifying for the knockout stages, but was quick to inject a hefty dose of reality to any suggestion that Edinburgh have turned a corner by ending the long wait to taste victory on foreign soil.

“It was pleasing,” he said. “Patience was the key. We actually looked comfortable on the ball and, across the board in Scottish rugby, you can’t always say that. We kept building phases and pressure, didn’t feel we had to score here and now and got rewards through penalties. When they haven’t got the ball they can’t put you under pressure or score tries. Our game management was good. Harry [Leonard] did well. He has a long way to go but it was a step in the right direction – putting the ball in the right places, keeping the forwards going forward and playing rugby where we needed to play. The set-piece was good and a bit of luck and bounce of the ball is what it takes to win away from home.

“But we’re not getting carried away. There are things we could have done better, but the fundamentals were good. It wasn’t pretty, but that’s what winning away from home is.”

So, a good foundation from which to launch into the Heineken Cup, then, away to London Irish, who currently sit third in the Aviva Premiership?

“We sometimes get a bit negative about the Premiership,” he cautioned. “It is a very physical league and you’ve got to match that physicality. That gets you to step one, and then you have to start playing rugby, and doing well, being accurate, fast and skilful, and hopefully we have all of these attributes, but matching the physicality is the base level.

“We work hard on the breakdown, but consistency is the key for us. We have good young players and the challenge for them now is that we’re at the business end. These games matter and there’s no room for breathing. It used to be a case of win your home games and you might sneak through to the quarters, but these days you have to sneak one, possibly two, away wins. It’s a tough competition to do well in.

“But we don’t see this as a step in our development. We want to win and win well.” Last season, an Edinburgh team with similar players finished bottom of their pool with one win from six, and were royally stuffed 37-0 in their match away to premiership opposition, Smith’s old Saints, after a last quarter collapse at Franklin’s Gardens. There are bright shoots in Leonard, Matt Scott and David Denton, in particular, who have earned their Heineken Cup opportunities, but is it realistic to believe they can win four or five games against Irish, Cardiff and Racing Metro 92?

Smith paused, then replied: “I think so. Things are changing,” he said, referring to the new leadership at the SRU, “and we want to challenge for these competitions. It’s important for us and for Scottish rugby that we’re involved, not just in the pool stages, but when the eyes of the world are on this competition’s big games. It’s a huge motivation. Whether we’re capable or not, only time will tell. But it’s a huge opportunity and we have to grab it and perform. Standing here in a year’s time we’ll be able to answer that question more effectively, but I’m optimistic.”

Smith took cognisance of the manner in which Leicester exerted pressure on Irish’s scrum in Saturday’s 24-24 draw, and also the way Irish roared back into the game late on, and he, Michael Bradley and Billy McGinty have ideas on how Edinburgh can pierce Irish at the Madejski Stadium if the team front up physically and claim their place in the game. An improving front five is key to that.

“We know Leicester are strong so we wouldn’t make too many assumptions, but it [the scrum] remains an area where you have to get what you do right, eight men moving together with sound body position and effort, and I think we’re heading in the right direction.

“Some guys coming through are starting to step up, and that’s pleasing, but if you wanted a litmus test, maybe Saturday’s the day to come and check. I’m not going to single out players and start blowing smoke left, right and centre. We have to perform on this stage if we want to start patting ourselves on the back. We’re not quite there yet.”

Asked finally if he was still excited by the Heineken Cup, he added: “Definitely. I remember the first few tournaments and to have evolved into this and become so meaningful to players and supporters is great.

“You look across the draw at the fixtures and there are dream games of rugby to go and watch and support.

“It’s brought a new dimension to European rugby, a clash of cultures and styles of rugby all coming together and it’s done wonders for bringing on European rugby and international teams on the world stage.

“We want to be part of it. Our supporters don’t want us to sit on the sidelines watching from a distance at the back-end of the season and neither do we.”