He has made quite the impression on the Edinburgh Rugby community having arrived in the capital this summer, and this week Pierre Schoeman spoke to the media about his experience of Edinburgh so far, the opportunities that playing in the northern hemisphere presents and his aspiration to possibly play for Scotland.

Despite it being confirmed this week that centre Mark Bennett will be out of action for five to six months, Edinburgh head coach Richard Cockerill is remaining positive that the depth of his squad will ensure that he is able to continue remodelling this Edinburgh side.

Edinburgh’s return to their home-ground of BT Murrayfield on Friday highlighted the performance of new signings, returning fan-favourites and a determined forward back from injury. All of them helped to secure the capital side’s first home win of the season. Erin McRitchie takes a closer look.

Friday night saw Edinburgh Rugby run out at BT Murrayfield for the first time this season. The match, against Connacht, was error strewn but this was not reflected in the penalties given – a fact which did not sit well with Edinburgh’s Richard Cockerill.

Despite Edinburgh sitting on two losses from two at the start of the season, and a more than scrappy on-field performance in their first match, new boy Simon Hickey is enjoying his first three months in the capital city and feels the performances on the field are improving.

Speaking at a press conference yesterday, the capital side head coach looked back at the loss to Ulster, gave an update on squad injuries and discussed why Edinburgh need to keep their composure against Connacht this week.