Edinburgh excited by fresh challenge

The Scottish capital outfit have only made the knockout stages once in the tournament's 16-year history but skipper Greig Laidlaw is looking to emulate their 2003/04 success this time around.

Edinburgh kick off their campaign with a trip to 2008 semi-finalists London Irish on Saturday, November 12 and Laidlaw and co are ready to put a mixed start to the season firmly behind them at the Madejski Stadium.

"The Heineken Cup brings a freshness to things," said Laidlaw, who enjoyed a superb individual season last term.

"We've been struggling a bit in the Rabo but we can look forward to the Heineken Cup in a fresh light. We've got nothing to lose going into the competition and that's the attitude we'll take into it.

"I've only played against London Irish once and that was last year in pre-season. It'll be a different ball game by the time the Heineken Cup comes around but it's a nice stadium and the boys are looking forward to going down there for a tough opening game.

"They chuck the ball about and so do we so it should be a good game. They're strong at home as well and not many sides go down there and turn them over.

"Edinburgh have only made the quarter finals once and that was a long time ago so we're looking for a good standard this year. The knockouts stages is everyone's target at the start of the competition and that's definitely the case for Edinburgh."

If Edinburgh are to make it into the last eight, they will need to replicate their European form at Murrayfield on the road.

Scottish Rugby's HQ has become something of a fortress in recent seasons for the stadium's resident club side, with the likes of Leicester Tigers, Stade Francais and Bath all being put to the sword, but wins away from home have been hard to come by.

Laidlaw admits that picking up points in Reading, in Cardiff against the Blues and in France against Racing Metro 92 will be crucial, while winning at home is an absolute must.

"We need to go away from home and win. That's something that we need to work on as it's not a great strength of ours," added Laidlaw.

"We need to look at ourselves in that. We maybe don't know the answer as to why yet but we need to take confidence from the way we play at home and try and take that on the road.

"We've got good self-belief at Murrayfield. It's a nice, big pitch for us. The brand of rugby we like to play is fast and open and the pitch allows us to do that. We've been turned over a couple of times up there this season, though, and we're definitely looking to stop that rot.

"After feedback from the fans, they've changed the side the supporters sit on at Murrayfield. The supporters are closer to the pitch on the East side and there's track-side standing now as well and that adds to the atmosphere.

"It's been well documented that we've struggled for crowd numbers in the past but they're creeping up slowly. We're doing everything we can to encourage the crowd to turn up but it's performances that will really help that and it's up to the players on the pitch to get the results."

New coach Michael Bradley is in his first season of Heineken Cup rugby having being something of an Amlin Challenge Cup maestro during his time with Connacht and Laidlaw has been impressed with his boss' early influence.

Bradley has made a point of putting his faith in young Scottish talent as he looks to build a squad not just for the present but also for the future - a move that has been welcomed by Laidlaw and his team-mates.

"Michael's settled in well. He's brought some new ideas. He wants to change the perception of Edinburgh and he wants us to toughen up a bit. He's putting his own stamp on things and, hopefully, things will work well for him.

"It's a good thing that Michael's signing up our good young players. In the past, they've been left hanging on for too long with a lot of uncertainty and that's not good for the Club. What Michael's trying to do is right and that can bring stability to Edinburgh in the long-term.

"Personally, I've been enjoying it so far. It's been a tough couple of months but I don't think we're too far away. It was a big year for me last year and I'm looking to push on. The Scottish boys coming back in will help massively and the Heineken Cup is a challenge we're looking forward to."