Edinburgh coach Richard Cockerill says pressure is all on Vern Cotter

Edinburgh coach Richard Cockerill has turned the heat on Montpellier counterpart Vern Cotter, insisting the pressure is all on the former Scotland boss ahead of this afternoon's Heineken Champions Cup opener in south of France.

Edinburgh head coach Richard Cockerill. Picture: Gary Hutchison/SNS/SRU

The capital side are playing in the top-tier of European competition for the first time in more than four years and face a tough reintroduction at the affluent French club. Cotter’s side are not at their strongest, with giant Fijian winger Nemani Nadolo the latest injury setback, out for four months, which includes the November Test against Scotland, ahead of knee surgery. Aaron Cruden, Francois Steyn and Johan Goosen are also sidelined.

That offers a glimmer of hope to Edinburgh and Cockerill said: “It’s one of those things when you’re the underdog and when you have a team like Vern’s...

“I’ve been there myself with Leicester and Toulon. Everything you do is probably not good enough. When you win, you should do, when you lose, it’s probably a little bit of a disaster. The pressure’s all on the home team. We can go and play and do our thing and see where we get to because no-one thinks we can go there and win. We’re looking forward to it but it’s going to be difficult.”