IT’S A DIFFICULT task to make Michael Bradley smile. But why should he?
Sure, he’s just taken the first Scottish team into a Heineken Cup semi-final. The vanquished, no less a team than Toulouse.
His venue? the Aviva, the best possible platform for an Irish coach possibly with half an eye on returning home to bigger and better things.
Edinburgh, though, have enough of a Jekyll and Hyde streak to make the city’s famous son proud.
When Robert Louis Stevenson scribbled down his Strange Case in 1886, could he have been inspired by a frustrating Edinburgh District XV?
Probably not, but there’s little doubt that the split personality of the modern day club side playing in the echoes of Murrayfield should be a cause of unease. Bradley, though, insists that it is only luck and “the bounce of a ball” that eludes them in the Pro12:
“The results have been disappointing, the performances have been good, we just haven’t been able to take our chances on the day.” Says the Corkman, adding, ”It’s been the other way with the Heineken so we just need to address that in the future.”
Ever since his arrival in Scotland, Bradley has been battling to prove himself. The locals heard talk of Eddie O’Sullivan to replace Andy Robinson: rather than a man with a proven international track record, they got the coach of Ireland A and Connacht.
This year, Bradley has proven his ability at the top table. They won five games to top Pool 2, including the impressive sight of narrow away victories in England and France; the latter a feat which Brian McLaughlin readily admits Ulster have never achieved.
Neither McLaughlin nor his South African stalwarts can quite figure out the Edinburgh enigma.
“That’s the thing with Edinburgh you just don’t know quite what to expect.” Says Stefan Terblanche, unsure how the team in black can be sized up, even after facing them twice in two months this year.
“With Munster you know they’re going to come round the corner, you know they’re going to run hard, O’Gara’s going to kick well.
“With Edinburgh it’s a little bit different: you’re not quite sure what to expect and you have to stop it sot that will be the challenge for us.”
Immediately following the 54-13 win over their fellow semi-finalists, Leinster coach Joe Schmidt observed an Edinburgh team who were only really interested in one competition.
Bradley, as you would expect, contests the charge. But to rest second-bottom of the league, while being amongst the final four in Europe is strange indeed. In seven Heineken Cup games this term they have ran in 18 tries. A ratio of just over 2.5 per game.
In the league, that rate drops to just over 1.75 tries per game thanks to a total of just 37 maximum scores in 21 outings. Only Connacht, Aironi and the Dragons have managed less.
Alter ego
So, even after claiming the scalp of the best team in the tournament’s history, and a track record of winning on the road, the Scots remain clear underdogs. Bradley will rally his troops with a quick reminder of Scotland’s shock 2010 win in Croke Park and he does not expect the atmosphere brought by the Ulster roadshow to unduly affect his side:
“I think you’re talking 10, 11 or 12 international players. They’re used to playing international matches away from home – well used to hostile atmospheres.”
“Hopefully, on the day, those Scots that do come will make enough noise to make it feel like a 50-50 in terms of the crowd.”
A balanced atmosphere may well be just enough to shock Ulster out of their rhythm. An upset would surely force Bradley to reveal to the world; his smiling alter-ego.
