Lawrie: “The boys are aware of the challenge in Castres.”

Following a morale-boosting victory over three-times European Champions Toulon, Edinburgh Forwards Coach Stevie Lawrie is anticipating another proper test of character and quality as his side prepares for a physical European showdown against Castres Olympique in France this Sunday.

The win over Toulon was a testament to the team’s resilience, but Lawrie insists that the hard work is only just beginning as they target a crucial away victory to further strengthen their position in the Investec Champions Cup.

“I don’t like using the phrase turn the corner, because you’ve got to work every single week,” Lawrie said. “So I think it’s fair to say that we want to go there and we want to make sure that we win. If you want to go deep in this comp, you want to get a home tie in the round of 16.”

Lawrie acknowledged the unique challenge presented by the French crowd and the sheer physicality of their opponents. “The brass band’s going to be going, there’s going to be flares going off. It’s awesome. It’s awesome, and the boys are aware of the challenge,” he noted.

“They know the size of the pack that Castres have got, and they know the areas that we need to exploit to make sure that we do well.”

With a demanding run of fixtures ahead, rotation is inevitable, and Lawrie is excited by the opportunity to continue integrating the club’s burgeoning crop of young talent, who are already having a significant impact on the squad’s culture

“It is a heavy run of games, so you might see a bit of change coming in. There’ll be a few changes, but as Sean spoke to the guys about today, there’s going to be a lot of rotation within this 11 weeks, because it has to be,” Lawrie explained.

He singled out a group of promising youngsters whose attitude is helping to drive new standards at the club: “These guys – I’m talking about Liam McConnell, I’m talking about Freddy Douglas, Ollie, Jerry Blyth Lafferty, Tom Currie – all these boys are coming into this pack, and they’re not happy with mediocrity, they want to get better every single day, and for me, that’s exciting, and I think it’s also really important that they continue to do that for a step change for the mindset of Edinburgh.”

A standout performer from the win over Toulon was 20-year-old back-rower Liam McConnell, who delivered a mature and industrious Player of the Match performance.

“You asked about Liam, another guy who turns up every day, takes no nonsense, happy to call out senior players in meetings, knows exactly where he wants to go.”

Lawrie added that McConnell spent time last year preparing for the departure of former captain Jamie Ritchie, proactively improving the specific skills that would be vital to the team.

“He knew Jamie was moving on, looked at what Jamie’s strengths were for us within our game model, would be doing extras of whether it be tap the high ball back, or jackling, or whatever it be. So he’s another guy, if he just continues with his approach and his diligence, I think he’s a massive prospect as well.”

“He showed maturity against Toulon. That yellow card was a big moment. I was pleased with how we then didn’t let them off the hook and we really went to work on our power game, which was great, but that happens for a reason. That happened because of the pressure he put on them,” Lawrie said.

“He gets a push in the face, he doesn’t respond or do anything silly, he just looks at the touch judge and goes, ‘you can’t do that’, and then he got on board with his yellow card, because you can’t do that these days. I thought he showed a real maturity.”

The squad also receives a major boost this week with the return of centre Scotland Matt Currie, who is fit and available for selection following a difficult period recovering from vertigo.

Lawrie spoke of his relief and pleasure at having the midfielder back in the mix. “That’s a guy, every week, when he was playing, just produced great clps,” he shared.

“So yeah, we’re pleased for him that he’s turned the corner, because it’s been a funny sort of injury for him, and it’s one of those ones, how long is a piece of string? It just takes time. And he’s, again, we’re pleased that he’s back in a good spot. No risk would be taken if he wasn’t ready.”