Sean Everitt admits he’ll be watching the Sharks clash with Zebre hoping for an Italian win to save his side travelling back to South Africa so quickly.

The Edinburgh head coach was pleased with his side’s efforts when they defeated Bayonne in the European Challenge Cup round of 16 and he’d be confident if his side has to travel back to Durban to face his old club in the quarter final.

That match takes place on Sunday and Edinburgh’s players and staff will be watching closely to see where who they will be facing as they try to push on in the tournament. The win over Bayonne was just their second knockout victory since reaching the final of this tournament back in 2015.

They had to work hard for their 33-15 victory and Everitt was asked who he’d prefer to win and he said: “Zebre certainly would help from a travel point of view.

“After doing a review of the Durban game - looking at the opportunities we created there and maybe some of the soft moments that we gave the Sharks - the players will have belief that they can go there and win. 

“This convincing win against a good team helps as well. We can’t underestimate the magnitude of this win even though it’s at home.”

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Edinburgh suffered defeat in Durban last weekend and they started slowly against Bayonne and went in behind at the break despite dominating the majority of the first half.

They had a number of opportunities to add to their score but they couldn’t quit doe it and that clinical edge is something Everitt wants his side to improve on.

He added: “We made hard work of it in the first half. We did everything right - we had 75 per cent territory in the first half - but only finished one out of six opportunities. That’s something that has been plaguing us for some time. 

“We had a good chat at half-time, came out, and Matt Currie had a good carry through the midfield to score. Then we scored another two in quick succession, which put us away.

“So I think we’ll take a lot of confidence out of that, because it’s an area that we have been working on. But I’m just really pleased that the guys got through.”