Press Pass: Blair on Tigers test

• 29 Mar 2023
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Get the latest from Head Coach Mike Blair ahead of Friday night's Heineken Champions Cup Round of 16 clash against Leicester Tigers at Welford Road (31 March, kick-off 8pm) with this week's Glen Moray Press Pass.

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On welcoming back Scotland internationalists

“It will be great to have Pierre Schoeman, Jamie Ritchie, Hamish Watson and Duhan van der Merwe back.

“It’s a testing period when guys are coming in and out and you’re not 100 per cent sure what you’re going to get and who’s available.

“We also see it as an opportunity for guys to put their hands up and show what they can do as well.

“We want to put some pressure on us that we’re going to be able to get a really strong team out – one that involves international players who have done really well during the Six Nations.

“We want them to come back and take a grasp of the game, show why they’re Scotland’s leading international players and show them doing it for the jersey, for Edinburgh.”

On the Connacht result

“The result clearly wasn’t good enough, and we didn’t play well enough for long enough to win the game. We had a team that should have won that.

“We dominated possession – 56 per cent possession, 65 per cent territory – some of our stats through the game were the best they have been this season. Yet we didn’t win the game. We were punished through our turnovers.

On preparing to face Leicester Tigers

“The psychology element of what’s happening this week is really important as well.

We need to understand it wasn’t good enough at the weekend, but we also need to say ‘Well, what did we do well?’  We did put ourselves in lots of good positions.

“We need to be more ruthless. We’ve talked about that all season. But we’ve also talked about actions speaking louder than words.

“We’ve got the answers, we know the reasons, but our actions have got to mimic the conversations we’re having. We understand where it’s not quite clicking, but our actions have to speak stronger.”