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Grant Gilchrist: 'Externally, people thought we’d be deluded'
By Bryn Palmer
Co-captain Grant Gilchrist believes Edinburgh played some “world-class rugby” to progress to the Challenge Cup semi-finals as they target a European trophy to make it a “really special year” for the club.
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The capital side will welcome Bath to Hive Stadium in the last four on 3 May after a bruising 34-28 victory over South African powerhouses the Bulls on Saturday.
Edinburgh led 24-7 at half-time after scoring three tries with some excellent attacking rugby and extended their advantage to 31-7 after Scotland lock Gilchrist stretched over for their fourth try two minutes into the second half.
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But thereafter the Bulls got on top at the scrum and the breakdown, scoring three more tries of their own and chasing a winning score with the final play before Pierre Schoeman’s turnover secured a nailbiting victory for the hosts.
“We made that a little bit harder than I was hoping to make the second half but we were playing a top-quality side and we knew that was their game,” Gilchrist said.
“Our discipline and our scrum in the second half needed to be better but hey, we have just won a quarter-final and set up a home semi-final in Europe. That is something to be really proud of.
“This team is getting better and better each week. That first half was world-class rugby and we know we have got more in us, an 80-minute performance, but it is a good place to be. Every time we have played we have got a little bit better and we just have to keep doing that between now and the end of the season. This could be a really special year for this club.”
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Edinburgh’s rollercoaster season – including a 55-21 thrashing by the Lions and a no-show in their first 1872 Cup derby with Glasgow at Hampden Park – hit a new low in mid-February when they lost at home to Zebre in the URC.
But a surprise 34-28 victory over Munster in Cork has been a springboard for greater consistency of performances, despite a late lapse costing them an away win against Benetton in their next fixture.
Three successive home victories since against the Dragons, Lions and now the Bulls have put the squad in good heart ahead of a third straight game against South African opposition – “the guys are labelling it the Biltong Series,” quipped head coach Sean Everitt – when they host the Sharks in the URC on Friday. Edinburgh currently sit eighth, the final play-off spot, with four matches left.
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“We know we can be better in all areas, but we are starting to see us getting that clunkiness out of us we had,” Gilchrist said. “We are the first to admit some of our performances have been a bit disjointed, not really consistent.
“But what we’ve seen from post-Zebre onwards is a level of commitment and energy and accuracy, and that clunkiness is coming out of us game by game. We look more and more of an attacking threat.
“We knew we had to generate quick ruck ball and move the ball against the Bulls. I thought for the first half we did that brilliantly. Our breakdown and the speed we played at gave our centres and outside backs the chance to do what they do. In the back 20, our scrum probably conceded a bit too much and let them in, but we fought to stay in there and came out with a result, and that is all that matters.”
With Lyon winning at Ospreys and Racing 92 edging Connacht in a pulsating clash in Galway, one French team will be in the final in Cardiff on 23 May.
Ten years on from their only previous appearance in a European final, a 19-13 defeat by Gloucester in 2015, Edinburgh hope home advantage can help them overcome Premiership opponents in the semis and make another Challenge Cup final.
“It is something we spoke about in the pool stages,” Gilchrist added. “We knew getting that third seeding was going to be really important. Externally, people thought we’d be deluded to be thinking about home semi-finals but we knew when we got big days like this, the rewards would be even higher if we got that seeding.
“The point the boys got away at Gloucester [a 15-10 defeat in their opening pool game] now looks huge. It changes the whole complexion. We bring Bath here rather than going to their place. That’s going to be a really special day for the club.”
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