Lawrie: “We’ve got to be in the battle every single weekend.”

Edinburgh Rugby Forwards Coach Stevie Lawrie gave an honest assessment as he spoke with media following Edinburgh Rugby’s defeat against Ospreys on Saturday afternoon.

Leading 7-10 at half-time, the capital side slipped to a 22-13 loss as the Welsh region scored 15 second-half points to take four-points at Dunraven Brewery Field.

Edinburgh Rugby have started this year’s Championship with two excellent bonus-point wins at home, and four losses, three of which have come on the road in both Wales and South Africa.

“It’s quite simple: 12 points at home and one away would be the story of it for me,” said Lawrie.

“We’ve shown in those two games that we can play – but we’ve not got it right on the road.

“We’ve got to be in the battle every single weekend. There’s been growth in a lot of areas, but we need to see that away from home as well.

“We need to make sure that we stay on task. We’re not a million miles away. I know people say that a lot, but you’re really not – you’re never as good as you think you are and you’re never as bad as you think you are and that’s a great way to look at it.

“We’ve just got to make sure we’re driving those one-percenters every single day. And it’s relentless, because there are no bad teams in this league.”

Edinburgh looked to be in control heading into the second period in Bridgend however with the penalty count turning against the capital side, Ospreys were able to turn the screw and turn pressure into points.

And while Lawrie believes there are still areas where the team need to be better, he is understanding that the team are still trying to push an overall game model.

“We’re still trying to push an overall game model. Attack is one aspect of it, counter-attack is another. I’ve actually seen massive growth in the squad in terms of our ball-shifting. There are still some areas where we need to be better at taking different options,” continued Lawrie.

“Scott [Mathie] is an excellent coach and we’re enjoying working with him. We need to make sure that we’re listening, that we’re adaptable to new ideas and implement them well enough so we get over the line.”

The defeat sees Edinburgh Rugby sitting in 10^th place, on 13 points, heading into the Autumn Test break with Benetton Rugby next up at Hive Stadium on Saturday 30 November (kick-off 7.35pm).

“The break gives us a huge opportunity to fix a few of our ills, but also work on the bits that have gone well. We’ve shown the ability to score bonus points, so that’s great, but we need to be better in adapting to how to win games,” said Lawrie.

“Away from home you have to get your physical markers and your discipline right. On Satuday we didn’t do that.

“Discipline away from home is huge and that comes through winning physical battles, because if you win the physical battles the referee is going to be on your side.

“There’s a huge opportunity here for the group to kick on. We’d rather be sitting at the top of the table, but we’ve given ourselves a base.

“We’ve got the opportunity to reflect honestly, and we’ve got to make some change. Twelve points at home and one away – it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out what we need to do.”