MARK ROBERTSON stands on the brink of scoring a try in three successive Heineken European Cup games.
However, with the memory of a 16-25 defeat by London Wasps which effectively ended qualification hopes still fresh, the winger says it is more important Edinburgh re-assert themselves in Sunday's re-match at High Wycombe.
"I think we can bounce ba
ck because we don't want to lose to a team like that too much. They weren't that impressive a side," said Robertson in a reference to the counter-punching tactics of a team content to feed off opposition mistakes.
At the same time, Robertson acknowledges the effectiveness of the Wasps approach.
"Maybe we played the wrong game in the first half to find ourselves 0-12 down.
"We were running the ball and getting penalised in the rucks.
"I know my first instinct is always to have a run when I get the ball but under new laws sometimes you have to kick the ball in the air, a point (coach) Andy Robinson made to me.
"We need to win a series of smaller battles which is not as exciting for spectators, no doubt, but sometimes has to be done.
"Maybe we were just too concerned with the ethos of attacking rugby in failing to get the balance right."
The message is that as professionals Edinburgh will adopt a 'needs must' policy more, while always trying to entertain in the manner which brought Robertson his try.
"It was a rehearsed move in as much as we knew Wasps adopt a blitz defence which is to say they cover from outside in.
"When I spotted their full back out of position I called to Phil Godman that the move was on. Fortunately I got a favourable bounce after he'd put in a cross kick for me to dive on."
Roberston then showed good awareness of the in-goal line while holding off defenders to complete the score. Any good fortune which accompanied that touchdown to add to one scored by Robertson in Castres surely contrasted with events leading up to the most influential incident of the match. Many felt the contest flipped on a controversial sin-binning of flanker, Ross Rennie, with Edinburgh 16-15 ahead inside the final quarter. While claiming to be unsighted at the yellow card incident for an allegedly dangerous tackle, Robertson felt on firmer ground when highlighting a situation he felt offered clear evidence Edinburgh hadn't been given the rub of the green – in one instance, anyway.
"The advantage never came when (Mark) van Gisbergen knocked-on in a move that ended with us getting penalised before Ross was sent off for ten minutes. In the second half we came back and controlled the game and were definitely going to take it," said the man who, in terms of Heineken Cup try-scoring, is on course to emulate team-mate Ben Cairns' feat of home and away touchdowns against Gloucester followed by a further strike in Leinster during the 2006-07 campaign. What is certain is that he'll be on familiar ground at Wasps' Adams Park.
"I made my first appearance there for Borders in a pre-season friendly a few years ago and compared with then I feel I'm much more experienced than when going in against two international wingers in Josh Lewsey and Paul Sackey back then."
Meanwhile, Edinburgh's Phil Godman should figure at the start of a Six Nations Championship for the first time, a former Scotland and Lions legend believes.
In giving a massive vote of confidence to his stand-off successor in the current edition of Rugby World magazine, Craig Chalmers says: "Scotland have moved on a lot this year. The inclusion of Phil Godman at fly-half is fundamental to the improvement.
"He's not a big guy but he's brave, he plays flat and he gets the line moving, bringing players on to the ball.
"He makes things happen as he did when breaking the line in the build-up to Nathan Hines' try against the Boks.
"Instead of giving Dan Parks 20 minutes at the end of a game Scotland should keep Godman on for the full 80 minutes provided he's playing well.
"The Godman-De Luca-Cairns midfield unit must be allowed to develop."
