AT the end of a long and gruelling season of professional rugby, attention is usually, and rightly, focused on the players, and their need to rest their bruised and battered bodies. But there are types of attrition other than the simply physical, and coaches may be just as deserving of sympathy after a fatiguing campaign.
That is certainly the case at Edinburgh Rugby, where, no matter the poor results since the turn of the year, the coaching team can hardly be accused of lacking commitment to the cause. Duncan Hodge, in particular, has had the most demanding of tasks this season, being promoted from attack coach to interim head coach in September after the abrupt departure of Alan Solomons.
The 42-year-old made a swift impact after his elevation, as Edinburgh embraced a more positive style of play and won several games. But then, as results worsened, the picture looked increasingly ominous for him, and in February it was announced that Richard Cockerill would take over as head coach for next season.
Hodge’s position as attacks coach for the coming campaign was confirmed yesterday, but there has been no word yet on forwards coach Stevie Scott. Defence coach Peter Wilkins and strength and conditioning coach Ashley Jones will both leave, however, being replaced by Calum MacRae and Nick Lumley respectively.
No matter how disappointed he might be by the changes at the team, Hodge insisted that he was looking forward to concentrating on the role that has been his main focus for some time. “I suppose from a personal point of view, coaching attack is what I love doing and it’s what I’ll continue to do,” he said.
“Richard will have his visions and his role pretty much mapped out and we haven’t had time to discuss that, but he’ll say ‘This is what I want’ and exactly map that out. I’m pretty sure he’ll want to change things, be authoritative and start addressing some of the issues the way he sees them.
“Making these calls is a tough thing to do at the minute for him until he’s got his foot in the door.
“There’s certain things you try and change; the issue is time. Personally, taking it over three months into the season is hard, and the thing for Richard will be getting a good pre-season.
“In pro rugby, when you’ve got games back to back, [pre-season] is when you can make the most gain. That’s when you can make the gains, so that’ll be a big thing for him.”
The malaise at Edinburgh stretches back well beyond the start of Hodge’s time on the staff, and Cockerill would be far from the first coach to find it hard to change certain elements of the organisation’s culture. But whatever chronic defects there may be in the set-up, Hodge remains confident, that by and large the current playing squad can be trusted to perform a lot better than they have done this season.
. We’ve had injuries, but every team has them. Our consistency of performance and that mental ability just to deal with stress, that’s where we’ve compounded a couple of errors in the past, so it’s just about that ability to be resilient.”
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