EDINBURGH will play at the DAM Health Stadium on Friday night for the first time since 4th March when they take on Pau in their final match of this season’s European Challenge Cup pool stage.
It will be only the third home match played by the capital club at their 7,800-capacity stadium on the back pitches at Murrayfield since mid-October, and only their sixth ever competitive game there since the venue opened at the start of this season.
However, should Mike Blair’s side come out on top against their French opponents this weekend then not only will they qualify for the last 16 of the Challenge Cup, but it will also initiate a run of home matches in both Europe and the URC which could stretch to seven consecutive weekends (and perhaps nine weekends out of the next 10) if results go their way.
For a club which has struggled over the years to really capture the heart of a city with one of the richest rugby pedigrees in Europe, this has the potential to be a game-changing couple of months.
A combination of uninspiring performances on the pitch and being based in the cavernous international bowl at Murrayfield where it was almost impossible for four-figure crowds to generate any sort of atmosphere has limited the club’s profile for more than a decade – but those who run Edinburgh have grounds to be hopeful that they are standing on the precipice of a new era.
It is still early days, but it looks like head coach Mike Blair might be developing a successful and entertaining brand of rugby and the atmosphere at the DAM Health Stadium for those half dozen games played so far has been excellent. It is worth noting that of those games five have been home wins, with one draw in there too.
“We’re proud of our record at home but we recognise that our focus is purely on Pau,” said assistant coach Steve Lawrie. “The competition is structured as such that we’ll get the advantage of a home last 16 game, and if we win that we’ll get the home-quarter. So, to put ourselves in the best position to win the comp we need to win on Friday.
“In terms of fans and the Edinburgh public, you want to create a bit of momentum, because sometimes the league can be quite bitty and we’ve not had a home game for a wee while now,” he added. “So, the onus is on the team to make sure that we do win, and we continue to win, so that we can start building that buzz at home.
“It is a rectangle of grass or synthetic grass depending on which way you look at it, but home advantage makes a difference, and that’s undoubtedly down to the fans and the atmosphere they create. So, yes, I think it is important that we start well on Friday with a ‘W’ and then progress from there with a few more, to make sure we are packing in the fans for what will hopefully be play-off rugby come the end of the season.
“We do want to be bringing play-off rugby to the DAM, that’s really important,” Lawrie continued. “We’ve done it in fits and starts in the past. Previous to last year we had a home quarter-final against Munster – I was at that game as a spectator and it was fantastic. Then you think about Toulouse in that Heineken Cup run [in 2012] when we eventually went to the semi-final. It will be great for the game in this city if that can become a more regular thing.
‘I also think it is important for the confidence and belief of the group. You’ve got to get used to being in knock-out games if you want to go on and win the comp. That’s what Glasgow did. They were consistently in semis, then in finals and then won the final. You have to be competing at that level consistently to have a realistic expectation of getting over the line.”
First things first, however, and Lawrie was quick to reiterate that Pau on Friday night is the absolute focus this week.
“They are going really well in the Top 14 and they’ve had good away wins of late against the likes of Bordeaux and Biarritz,” he said. “They have loads of threats. We know Jordan Joseph well because he was involved in the massacre at Racing last year and got man of the match. They have a good centre in [Tamua] Manu and they play an excellent brand of rugby.
“We know how tough it is going to be but we're looking forward to getting your teeth into them.”
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