“I thought that was the best we’ve defended all year,” Grant Gilchrist said of the 30-26 loss at the StoneX Stadium in north London. “We’ve got to make sure that’s a minimum standard for us.
“I’m really proud of the boys, but absolutely gutted, because what we put in I felt was enough to win the game,” the lock forward continued. “But I’m disappointed that we made errors at a few lineouts in the second half and that costs you at Champions Cup level. It's like a Test match, and if one area of the game doesn’t quite go right, it costs you.”
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Hide AdThe troubling thing about the 38-17 home loss to Munster was not so much the defeat in itself but rather how devoid of drive and direction Edinburgh were in the second half, after appearing very much on their game in the first. “I think that was the first Edinburgh performance I’ve been part of in the last few years that has been like that,” Gilchrist added. “So we never let that happen again – it was unacceptable.
“And we just draw a line in the sand under that. We never go back there again. But Sunday was a lot more like it. Barring a little error here and there at set piece, I thought we were the better side.”
Gilchrist believes Edinburgh will need a similar or better level of performance at home on Saturday if they are to beat Castres in the second round of pool matches. “We just hope for a big crowd on Saturday, and hope that with a performance like that we can really drag the home crowd with us. It would be an awesome win and put us right in the mix, having at least left Saracens with a point.”