Edinburgh's final fling: Mike Blair on his future, praise for Henry Pyrgos and finding their own motivation

Edinburgh will bring the curtain down on a disappointing season in Belfast on Friday evening with a tough final fixture against high-flying Ulster.

Mike Blair, left, thinks departing scrum-half Henry Pyrgos has the attributes to be a coach. (Photo by Mark Scates / SNS Group)

The match will signal the end of Mike Blair’s two-year tenure as head coach and also represent a final bow for a number of players, most notably Stuart McInally, the former club captain who announced on Wednesday his intention to retire when his contract expires. The hooker has been named on the bench.

There is still no clarity on who will take charge of the club next season following Blair’s announcement in February that he was stepping down to become a dedicated attack coach. Blair remains open to the prospect of doing that at Edinburgh under the auspices of the new boss. “If it works for me and if it works for the new head coach then it’ll be a discussion that will be had and that could well be a positive solution but I’m genuine when I say that I don’t want my mind blocked up with that kind of thinking at the moment,” he said.

While there is nothing tangible at stake for Edinburgh, Ulster will be looking to finish the regular United Rugby Championship season in second place to boost their play-off chances. “It could be the difference between playing in South Africa or playing at home,” noted Blair. The coach said Edinburgh would find their own motivation. “For us there’s very much stuff to play for,” he said. “For the leavers who will be pulling on the jersey for the last time, there’s individual motivating factors, and there are motivating factors of those who want to play for them and give them the right send-off. But as I mentioned last week, there are players who are competing for World Cup camp places, and hopefully the bit that underpins it all is playing for the jersey and putting a strong performance out for the last game of the season.”

Edinburgh did that last weekend, scoring seven tries as they beat Ospreys 45-21, but it was too little too late in a campaign that has yielded just six wins in 17 URC games and only two since November. The club announced this month that 13 senior players are to leave, and McInally can now be added to the list. Some have been selected to face Ulster, notably scrum-half Henry Pyrgos and centre Cammy Hutchison, while others such as Damien Hoyland, Nick Haining and Henry Immelman are denied a final farewell because of injury.

Blair paid tribute to Pyrgos who has spent the past five seasons at Edinburgh after eight years at Glasgow. “Henry [Pyrgos] is an outstanding man, really professional and he’s 100 per cent an excellent coach in the making,” said Blair. “It was a difficult decision that Edinburgh Rugby made to let him go. He started our knockout against Leicester and played really well. We’ve got some quality on the bench with Ben Vellacott, and Charlie Shiel has shown really well this year as well, so there’s options there.”

Edinburgh have also signed Scott Steele from Harlequins for next season who, at 29, is four years Pyrgos’ junior. Blair added that he hoped Hutchison could use Friday’s game as a shop window to help the 24-year-old centre find a new club.

Ulster v Edinburgh: URC, Kingspan Stadium, Belfast, Friday, 7.35pm. TV: live on Viaplay.

Ulster: Mike Lowry; Rob Baloucoune, James Hume, Stewart Moore, Jacob Stockdale; Billy Burns, John Cooney; Andy Warwick, Rob Herring, Jeff Toomaga-Allen, Alan O’Connor (c), Kieran Treadwell, David McCann, Nick Timoney, Duane Vermeulen.

Replacements: Tom Stewart, Callum Reid, Gareth Milasinovich, Sam Carter, Harry Sheridan, Nathan Doak, Luke Marshall, Craig Gilroy.

Edinburgh: Emiliano Boffelli; Darcy Graham, James Lang, Cammy Hutchison, Duhan van der Merwe; Blair Kinghorn, Henry Pyrgos; Pierre Schoeman, Dave Cherry, Luan de Bruin, Glen Young, Sam Skinner, Jamie Ritchie (c), Hamish Watson, Viliame Mata.

Replacements: Stuart McInally, Boan Venter, WP Nel, Pierce Phillips, Connor Boyle, Henry Pyrgos, Mark Bennett, Nathan Sweeney.

Referee: Andrea Piardi (FIR).