John O'Sullivan looks at the Edinburgh set up as they prepare to face Leinster and suggests they are team going in the right direction.
Edinburgh captain, place-kicker and right wing Chris Paterson dedicated his return to the team for the first time since damaging his knee in a Magners League game against Munster to the physiotherapists at the club. He will lead his team out in the European Cup game against Leinster at Murrayfield tomorrow.
Paterson admitted: "I'm glad to be back, thanks to a lot of hard work with Stephen Mutch and the physio team. It was really frustrating having to watch the Agen game from the stands. Leinster had a good start to the Heineken Cup last week beating Gloucester.
"They have some great players and although we know them well from the Magners League and have beaten them already this season, it doesn't make them any less dangerous."
Assistant Coach Rob Moffat was delighted to have his captain back. "It is good to have Chris back as he is such a positive person, not just on the field but off it too, and influences those around him.
"This will be a different game to Agen and the pace will be quicker with a more frenetic start. Leinster play the same kind of positive game as Edinburgh.
"They're exciting, as they showed last week against Gloucester, with players that can punish you. The game should be a cracker."
The Scottish side have progressed under the astute guidance of Lynn Howells who took over at the start of the season. A native of the Rhondda Valley, Howells played for Tylorstown and Penygraig before spending a season with Pontypridd in 1971.
He returned to the club as assistant coach to Dennis John in 1991, guiding Pontypridd to the Swalec Cup in 1996 and the Welsh Premiership title the following season.
From there he moved to Cardiff where he spent three seasons, winning a Welsh/Scottish league title and reaching the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup before returning to Pontypridd. In 2003 he took over at the Celtic Warriors but within 12 months a "rationalisation" by the WRU saw the Warriors disbanded and Howells head for Leonessa in Italy.
During his time in Wales he coached the national A and Under-21 teams, had a short spell as assistant coach to the national side (1998) and took the helm for the Welsh team's tour of Japan in 2001.
When Frank Hadden was appointed Scottish coach in succession to Matt Williams, Edinburgh, chose former All Black Todd Blackadder to take charge initially before calling on Howells.
The team has developed under the Welshman's guidance and will be desperate to build on their one appearance in the knock-out stages of the European Cup. Edinburgh have known many ups and downs since playing in the world's first ever inter-district match against Glasgow in 1872.
The club have played under many guises including the Edinburgh Reivers when asked to merge with the Borders as the Scottish Rugby Union felt they could only support two professional teams at the time.
From the 2001-02 season, the Reivers label was dropped and the team were simply known as Edinburgh Rugby, nicknamed "The Gunners".
In 2005 the team incorporated the nickname into their official name, becoming the Edinburgh Gunners.
The term Gunners was dropped on September 29th, this year, one of the reasons being that the word Gunners is a registered trademark of Arsenal football club.
At the end of this season Edinburgh will become a private franchise headed by businessmen Alex and Bob Carruthers.
The SRU will retain a seat on the new company board and will continue to provide funding and support.
Having got things right off the field there is every indication that Edinburgh may be about to replicate that success on the pitch with a promising young team.
