Ben Healy knows first-hand what it takes to win the United Rugby Championship having guided Munster to last season’s title, and he believes Edinburgh have all the tools to get their hands on the trophy come the end of June.
Healy played his part from the bench as Munster avenged final defeats in 2015, 2017 and 2021 with victory over the Stormers in Cape Town.
Lifting the trophy was Healy’s final act as a Munster player before making the move to the capital.
It is nine years since Edinburgh reached a final – the 2015 Challenge Cup where they lost to Gloucester.
While they reached the last four of the Pro14 in 2020, were Heineken Cup semi-finalists in 2012 and Celtic League runners-up under Andy Robinson in 2009, they’ve failed to take the next step and get their hands on a trophy.
Sean Everitt said recently time is running out for some of his squad – and acknowledged they are under-performing.
But Healy believes the squad has what it takes to go all the way this season.
“I definitely think we have what it takes to win a trophy here,” the fly-half said.
The primary difference is the Munster side that won the URC last season had a group of players who had experienced winning major trophies.
At that stage Peter O’Mahony, their talismanic captain, had won the Six Nations four times, all of them alongside scrum-half Conor Murray, while Tadhg Beirne and Keith Earls had one apiece.
O'Mahony, Murray and Beirne were all part of the Ireland squad that lifted the Six Nations title this year.
Healy compared their wins to the successes some of his Edinburgh team-mates have enjoyed with Scotland. While that is admirable, and yes Scotland have won trophies, including four Calcutta Cup wins in a row, they don’t compare to winning Six Nations titles.
“It’s hard to tell if that made a difference or not last year,” Healy added.
“The experience of winning trophies does help but it’s not something that’s necessary because we have to start somewhere.
“I think we have all the ingredients here.”
Munster’s route to the title 12 months ago saw them successfully negotiate five consecutive away matches, including three in South Africa.
Edinburgh are just back from a Challenge Cup loss to Sharks, while they were beaten by the same opposition and the Stormers on a URC trip last month.
They could still end up back in South Africa for a quarter-final, depending on how results pan out.
Healy said Edinburgh will take belief from the weekend’s results, where his former side beat the Bulls and Ospreys triumphed over Stormers.
“It’s obviously a tough place to go,” he added.
“We’re still learning how to win there. We could still be down there in the play-offs, so hopefully we’ll learn quickly.”
Healy’s importance to this Edinburgh team cannot be overstated. He has started every match of their URC season so far, and played every single minute of the league campaign. Healy also tops the league's points-scoring charts with 138.
The only game he’s missed this season was the Challenge Cup defeat at Clermont, but the 24-year-old insists he’s happy to keep going.
He added: "I’m happy with the amount of rugby I’m getting. I feel good, no complaints.”
It hasn’t all been plain sailing in his first year. The appointment of Sean Everitt brought a tightening of the laissez-faire style employed by his predecessor Mike Blair, and Edinburgh’s attack has been criticised in some quarters.
It showed signs of its promise in the second half of the URC win over Scarlets and the Challenge Cup success over Bayonne recently, and Healy is encouraged by the team’s progress.
He said: “It’s a new coaching set-up, with a new attack coach and head coach for all the team so it’s never going to be perfect from the start, particularly with attack.
“I think that’s usually the last thing to come because your overall game, your kicking game, defence and set-piece, can be embedded quite quickly.
“Attack has a lot of moving parts and tends to be the thing that changes the most from week to week, depending on what sort of defence you’re coming up against.
“I think it is starting to click. We’ve been good at times throughout the season but we’re just chasing that 80-minute performance and backing it up with another 80-minute performance.
“I think it is starting to come and hopefully it will come together at the right time towards the end of the season.”
Healy knows Edinburgh will require that full 80-minute performance they’ve been craving if they are to beat Cardiff in the Welsh capital on Saturday.
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He continued: "It’s a proper, proper test. They’re a proper team and they’re coming into good form so we know it’s going to be a real test down there.”
After a long season that started with Rugby World Cup training camps last summer, you could forgive Healy for wanting the summer off.
But having played only a bit-part during the Six Nations and with Finn Russell expected to be given the summer off – whether or not he’s recovered from his groin injury – Healy has his sights set on making the tour to the Americas.
“I met [Gregor Townsend] last week and we chatted about a few things. He just said ‘keep on going’.
“Hopefully I’ll get on that plane and hopefully I’ll get opportunities over there.”
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