JAMIE HODGSON insists that losing their unbeaten competitive home record last weekend will not dent Edinburgh’s confidence when they take on Wasps tomorrow in the Challenge Cup quarter-final.
The capital club were beaten 16-10 at the DAM Health by Ulster in a hard-fought battle which ended their hopes of a top-four finish in the URC - something that would have given them a home tie in the first round of the play-offs. But Hodgson believes that his team performed well enough in that match to go into the Wasps game in confident mood, while he can also point to some good results against other English Premiership sides already this season.
“It was a tough game - it was a really physical game,” the Scotland lock said of that Ulster match. “We were really close to doing a job on them, but our discipline let us down at times and we obviously had opportunities to take as well.
“So there was a lot of good there. You can be doom and gloom about it and be frustrated, but at the same time we’re excited as well. We know how good an outfit Ulster are, and we took them to the wire and showed that we were more than capable of beating them. Especially coming into the next few games it’s going to be important against teams like that.”
In December, Edinburgh won at former European champions Saracens in the pool stage of the Challenge Cup in what was arguably their best performance of the season, then a month later lost at London Irish by a single point. Since then they have enjoyed a convincing victory over Bath in the last 16 of European rugby’s second-tier tournament.
“We know that we’re more than capable of beating Premiership sides,” Hodgson continued. “We beat Wasps home and away two seasons ago. Everyone’s just buzzing to get going again into the knockout of the Challenge Cup and the league as well.”
If Edinburgh beat Wasps and Glasgow win in Lyon, the Scots sides will meet in the semis at the DAM Health Stadium. But Hodgson insisted he did not want to think that far ahead.
“Yeah, there’s been whispers here and there saying that we could have Glasgow back to back, but we’re concentrating on this week. If we win this game we’re through to a European semi-final, so regardless of who we’re playing, we’re fully focused on what’s in front of us this weekend.”
