The key to Heineken Cup success is winning away from home, Andy Robinson, the Edinburgh coach, says. At least by the time the European competition comes along next week, his players will have had plenty of opportunity to practice doing just that, last week’s disappointing draw in Connacht in the Magners League being followed today by a far harder test in Cork as Munster gear up for their own Heineken Cup campaign.

With all the Ireland stars except for Paul O’Connell back in the home side, this is a step up again for Edinburgh and will provide concrete evidence of how close they are to being able to challenge the likes of Toulouse and Leicester over the following fortnight.

So changes to Robinson’s side have been kept to a minimum, Craig Smith dropping out with a calf strain at prop to be replaced by Allan Jacobsen in a shuffled front row. On the bench, Roland Reid is getting married (booked before the club signed him) meaning a recall for Fergus Pringle, the former club player now playing his trade at Boroughmuir, while Phil Godman comes in for Ali Warnock on rotation.

Robinson knows that the key to being able to challenge Munster is to keep up the pressure for the entire game. He saw something of his side’s potential last week when they swept in to a 14-3 lead but then a few penalties and a couple of mistakes swung the momentum of the match towards the Irish.

“You will make errors and they can be costly in the way the dynamic of the game changes” Robinson said. “A drop in concentration and technique and they were back in the game with the wind under their sails and starting to play well. We have to concentrate for the entire 80 minutes, remember that the game can turn on a couple of decisions, or a dropped pass.

“That was the disappointment for the squad, we had the game going the way we wanted, dropped a couple of passes and suddenly we were under pressure. That is something we have to guard against this week. We are working on it but you have to look at the opposition as well and realise that they are improving as well and have the ability to look after the ball.”

Neither side has had a fantastic start to the season and both were badly hit by World Cup demands that stripped them of all their key players. Only two points separates them in the league, though the winner could rise as far as third place depending on results elsewhere.

This weekend sees the Scots and Irish teams catch up in games played with the Welsh clubs, which were given an early start to the season to allow them space for the EDF Energy Cup, but now that the stagger has unwound, we will see a table that reflects the standings of the sides, and Edinburgh, who won at Munster last season, know that a win over the former Heineken Cup champions would be the perfect launchpad for his season’s campaign.