Hamish Watson wants Edinburgh to embrace favourites tag

Edinburgh back-row Hamish Watson feels his club should shed their underdogs label and embrace their new tag as Scotland’s dominant force.

Having spent much of the last decade in Glasgow’s shadow, Richard Cockerill’s team are now setting their sights on eclipsing Warriors’ trophy-winning feat of 2015.

Murrayfield is the setting for two back-to-back 1872 Cup derbies – the first on Saturday – with Edinburgh needing just a point to secure a place in the PRO14 semi-finals.

The bookmakers are putting their faith in Cockerill’s team after pricing them firmly odds-on to emerge victorious and reach the last four for the first time.

But Watson knows those expectation levels might not sit so comfortably with a team written off time and time again down the years.

The Scotland flanker said: “Yeah I think (we’re favourites) – and we’ve got to get used to being called the favourites.

“That’s not a bad thing. We’ve been the underdogs before and underdogs also have a chance of winning games.

“It can still be dangerous and Glasgow will be really dangerous too. They have new coaches and fantastic players so it’ll be a really tough game.

“But I think we have to get used to going into games as the favourites and relish that.

“Sometimes those games are tougher when you’re favourites as you have more expectations on your shoulders.

“We need to get used to that now and not just think we always want to be the underdogs.”

For so long the top dogs, Glasgow are now getting used to the new order in Scottish Rugby.

🗨️ "I'm looking forward to the games immensely!"

He's been a busy man in lockdown, but @pierraSCHOEMIES can't wait to get back to doing what he does best. 👊

— Edinburgh Rugby (@EdinburghRugby) August 14, 2020

Off the pace in Conference A, new Warriors coach Danny Wilson needs a miracle to rescue their play-offs hopes.

But Watson warned: “That creates its own problems. We know what we were like when we only had the 1872 Cup to play for and that’s the be all and end all, so Glasgow will be dangerous in a different way.

“Normally they’re dangerous in that they’re near the top of their conference and playing for the play-off spots, whereas that’s us this year and they’re sort of at the other end.

“They’ve got a lot to prove and still want to be the strongest team in Scotland. We know how dangerous that is.”

Glasgow became the first Scottish side to claim major silverware with their league triumph five years ago.

At that point, Edinburgh’s prospects of making a similar trophy tilt looked distinctly remote.

But Richard Cockerill’s 2017 arrival transformed a club seemingly content to dish out the odd upset in their local skirmishes with Warriors into a team capable of conquering all.

As well as their PRO14 ambitions, Edinburgh are also eyeing up a European Challenge Cup semi-final against Bordeaux-Begles next month.

So it is little surprise that the Scottish Rugby Union is keen to tie down Cockerill on a new deal before his current agreement expires at the end of the campaign.

“If Cockers signs I think that will be the longest a coach has been at Edinburgh for a long time,” Watson added. “We needed that continuity.

“It’s good to have a figurehead like Cockers stay around for a long time. You see that in any successful team, you need a coach to be there for a long period.

“You can see the environment he’s bringing to the club and where we’ve come from in the last three years, so it’s massive for the club. We’ll see how long he signs for and hopefully we can build from this season and finish it on a high.”