Sykes: Cork trip is our chance to ‘do something special’

That’s precisely what Marshall Sykes and the rest of the Edinburgh Rugby squad experienced last weekend when their eagerly awaited clash against Ulster at Hive Stadium was postponed due to storm force winds.

But according to the industrious lock, that thwarted momentum has simply been repackaged as ‘pent-up energy’ ready to be unleashed in the more familiar confines of a competitive away day.

“Yeah, it was a bit of a weird feeling,” Sykes reflects on the anticlimactic Friday. “You get yourself ready the night before, carb-loaded up ready to go and then you wake up Friday and there’s no game. I think there’s a lot of pent-up energy this week but’s transferred pretty well because we’ve trained really well over the course of yesterday and today.”

This Friday night, that energy is pointed straight at Virgin Media Park, as the capital side heads to Cork for a massive URC test against Munster. It’s a trip that, for Sykes and his teammates, carries the significant weight of past success and a clear roadmap for redemption.

Last season, an away victory against Munster proved to be a pivotal moment for the squad, offering a much-needed reset after a challenging run of form. Sykes is looking to tap into that very same spirit of resilience.

“Yeah, it was definitely a catalyst for our season last year,” he explains. “We came into that mid-point and there was a bit of soul-searching after the Zebre loss… We used that (Munster) game as a real chance to group together again.”

The echoes of that recent history are loud, especially since Edinburgh’s only game this season so far resulted in a disappointing away loss to Zebre on the opening weekend. Now, much like last year, they seek to right the ship on Munster turf.

“Ironically, we have not had a game again since Zebre and we came up short there, so it’ll be another great opportunity to go over to Cork and do something special,” Sykes affirms.

Sykes’s confidence in the face of a tough away fixture comes from a deep-seated belief in personal investment.

Last season was a significant breakthrough for him, transforming from a player on the fringes to a regular starter in the engine room of the pack. He credits the Edinburgh coaching setup for backing him, but is quick to point out the rigorous work he put in to earn that trust.

“It was brilliant. It was testament to the coaches, who really put their trust in me and the onus was on me to pay them back there,” he says. “I had to do a lot of work the previous summer, after missing out on the (Scotland) summer tour… I worked a lot through that summer and then when you get the opportunity, you have to take it and thankfully, I felt like I have.”

The work wasn’t purely on the training pitch; it was a wholesale lifestyle overhaul. Sykes detailed how he focused on his Strength & Conditioning, dialed in his diet, and created better habits – less about “extreme changes” and more about the consistency of small, daily actions.

“I did no processed foods for a while, I found that quite good,” he admits, having effectively cut out the “shite food/takeaways” that can undermine performance. “You find a routine and I’m pretty comfortable in a routine, that’s what helps me.”

This commitment to personal excellence is infectious within the Edinburgh squad, which Sykes believes is a cornerstone of their strength. “We have a great squad of players here. We are all pushing each other so no-one is comfortable, which is a great thing to have in the environment because everyone is at such a high level.”

The most significant validation of Sykes’s toil came not in an Edinburgh shirt, but in the blue of his country. After a four-year hiatus, his consistently strong performances earned him a call-up to the Scotland Six Nations squad.

“That has been a massive goal,” Sykes beams, recalling the call from assistant coach John Dalziel. “A lot of it had been ‘you’re close but you need to do this or you need to do that’. To get that news after a half-decent start to last season just spurred me on.”

Returning to the international fold for the Six Nations game against France away, after such a long time away, was a profound moment. “For me, having not touched a Scotland shirt for four years, it was pretty significant to get back into it. Then obviously the summer tour, culturally, was amazing but just getting more into the group again, the better it was.”

Now, with a clear focus, a well-defined routine, and a debt of pent-up energy to expend, Marshall Sykes is ready to anchor a performance that could again serve as the “catalyst” for Edinburgh’s season. The aim? To leave Cork having achieved “something special.”