Issues relating to the off-field behaviour of leading Edinburgh players having forced him to address the culture within the club almost as soon as he arrived, Richard Cockerill could have done without having to address questions relating to one of his major signings for next season as he finalised preparations for those that will define his first season in Scotland.

The capital club’s head coach was not, however, inclined to get overly worked up about a player and a situation that is not currently under his control after it emerged that Pierre Schoeman, the prop he has signed from South Africa’s Bulls, had been banned for six weeks because of a biting incident,.

“At least he’ll get some rest before he comes,” he quipped, before adding: “I’ve not seen the incident, I’m aware that he’s been suspended for six weeks, but it’s nothing to do with us. He’s not our player yet. I haven’t seen it so it’s hard to judge. You’d prefer him not to be suspended, but life goes on.”

Cockerill has been willing to give chances to former club captain Magnus Bradbury and his fellow Scotland back-row forward John Hardie following misdemeanours that have embarrassed the club and he seems set to do the same when the newcomer joins them from the Super Rugby outfit in the summer, adding that:“I think we all make mistakes. If it’s six weeks, then it’s six weeks. If it was horrific it would be a lot more than that.”

Sticking with darker matters, Cockerill was also prepared to address murmurings drifting across the Irish Sea regarding the prospect of the SRU-owned Scottish teams colluding to ensure his side gets the point it needs on Saturday to ensure involvement in the end-of-season play-offs for the first time at Ulster’s expense.

“Me and Dave [Rennie, Glasgow Warriors’ head coach] haven’t got a gentleman’s agreement at this point. I’m not sure we’ll have one by the time we kick off,” he said wryly.“Maybe the Irish should have a look at Ulster and Munster if that’s the case. No, Glasgow won’t want to lose and I’m sure Munster won’t at home either. I don’t think we’re that friendly with Glasgow to start making arrangements.”

In reality it would be a far bigger shock if Ulster claimed a bonus-point win at Munster and Cockerill seemed confident that, not least because they will see it as being in their own interests, Ireland’s southernmost province will ensure that Edinburgh take the field, later in the day, knowing that those based north of the border have fallen short.

“Purely from an Edinburgh point of view I was quite pleased that Munster lost [their European semi-final] because it means they will be hurting,” he pointed out. “Also, if you were Munster, they get the result and we go there the week after. Do they want to entertain Ulster back-to-back or do they want to bring Edinburgh to Thomond for the quarter-final. Logically speaking, they get it right and they entertain Edinburgh, which should be a rite of passage to the semi-finals. We’ll see.”

Reaching the play-offs has been his principal target all season and Cockerill sees getting on an even footing with Glasgow in that regard as helping reinforce his case that they deserve to be treated equally after years of apparent favouritism directed towards their rivals by their combined owners.

“The table doesn’t lie. They have been the form team of the competition so far, but we have proved that on our day we can compete with anybody, and that gap between Glasgow and Edinburgh is closing all the time,” he said, also taking the opportunity to suggest that .the Warriors’ breakdown tactics “are bordering on illegal.” 

“The days of them being so dominant and getting all the best players and being the favoured son, those days are over,” he continued.

“We’re catching them quickly and we want to get this rivalry as tight and as sharp as ever. I want Edinburgh to be a strong model so if there are players coming back to the country, young players coming through, project players arriving here I want them to be wanting to choose Edinburgh over Glasgow. It’s the capital city. It’s a great place to live and we want to offer the best rugby team and the best environment to develop. Why should I not be bullish about that because if I won’t no-one else will. That’s where we want to be. I’m not going to be shrinking violet. We want to be getting the best players, the best young Scottish players wanting to be here.

“Historically we haven’t attracted them, or we haven’t wanted them, which is not right. I’m here to drive Edinburgh forward and makes us as strong as possible.”