Everitt: Euro win fuels momentum, but focus remains sharp for Black Lion

• 12 Jan 2025
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Edinburgh Rugby Head Coach Sean Everitt says ‘it feels great’ to get the team’s first away win of the season, but insists the capital outfit aren’t resting on their laurels ahead of next Sunday’s final group stage clash against Black Lion at Hive Stadium.

Everitt’s side sit at the top of pool 3 after Saturday’s impressive bonus-point victory away to RC Vannes and will finish as the group winners – with a home Round of 16 and Quarter-Final guaranteed – should they beat Georgian team Black Lion a week today.

He said: “It feels great. You know, I think sometimes you just need that one game.

“I think we were good last year away from home. We won five of the seven games away from home. And then obviously the tough start this year, and you’ve got to look at it realistically.

“But yes, to get the monkey off our backs is great. You know, Jamie Ritchie mentioned exactly that after the game. And it’s about now taking the positive out of this game and taking that same mental preparation that we’ve put in this week into the next time we play away from home, which will be Scarlets in the URC.”

With 11 points secured, Edinburgh sit atop pool 3, two points clear of second and third placed Gloucester and Bayonne.

Attention now turns to Black Lion on Sunday with the Georgian side looking to bounce back from their Round 3 16-41 defeat to Bayonne in Tbilisi.

Everitt said: “We want to get a result against Black Lion, for us it’s about performance. Obviously the five points are valuable on the road, and it’s a good win for us, and hopefully we turn the corner as far as that’s concerned.

“In this competition, you can’t rest on your laurels. And you know that if you don’t finish at the top, you end up like we did last year where we had to go and play the Sharks in Durban for a one-off fixture. That’s what you try and avoid.

“We know that we play well at home. So knockouts at home is really important for us. But before we talk about that, it’s about putting in a really good performance for our fans at home next week.

“Obviously, it will be the last time that we’ll have an opportunity to probably select our top international players, if they’re selected for the Six Nations. So it’s important for us to build some momentum on the last two wins that we’ve had.”

Saturday’s away win could prove a pivotal moment for Edinburgh Rugby who are building momentum heading into the Six Nations window.

The European victory follows on from last month’s come-from-behind derby win against Glasgow in the second-leg of the 1872 Cup, with the capital side more than alive on both fronts.

“I’ve said it before, although we’ve been inconsistent in our performance, the team wants to do well, and I think they also knew today that if they get the result, they’ve got the foot in the door to be able to go deeper into the competition.

“The team was well led today, as it always is, by Jamie. Once again, we wanted to show the team we were away from home, unlike what we did against Glasgow at Hampden, and the guys certainly did that today.”