The Heineken Cup is a showroom, but it can also be a repair yard. Andy Robinson arrived in last year’s competition a dented, shambolic, model, engulfed by the toxic fumes of English rugby’s ridicule. He left it with some of the old purr now audible; that extra gear having come to the fore once more.

Landmark wins over Leicester and Leinster were not enough for Edinburgh to reach the quarter-finals, but did interrupt a second pattern, that of Robinson’s perceived decline. The scalps on offer this year are similarly daunting but, for the former England coach, potentially even more rewarding. Should Robinson end up with Castres, London Wasps or Leinster pinned on the wall of the Murrayfield boardroom, the restoration of his reputation will surely be complete. Edinburgh would be on their way to the knock-outs and Robinson, well, who knows where he would be headed.

There is enough residual respect in the English club game from that 1998 European win at Bath, sufficient appreciation of his expertise, to make the 44-year-old’s name one that will be mentioned when the Premiership trapdoor begins to creak come January. Those chairmen in search of one last endorsement of his ability will train their sights on Edinburgh’s Pool 2 campaign, which starts at home to Leinster on Saturday.

The good news for Gunners fans is that Robinson’s own eyes look no further than the confines of his Roseburn domain. His unwillingness to discuss a future that doesn’t have Edinburgh at its core is borne not only of a respect for his employers but a genuine enthusiasm. This is the club that opened its doors while the rest put in extra locks postEngland; the club that saw something in his nature at a time when his name was mud. Robinson has given much to Edinburgh but the deal works both ways.

“They’ve been good, very good, for me,” he says. “There’s a humility here that I like. My passion is coaching. I love days like today [last Wednesday], when it’s pouring with rain, and you’re out there in the mud challenging yourself with players who’re right there with you in terms of attitude. The mentality here is that they’re prepared to go out and do it. You get enthusiasm from them and effort. The only thing I have ever looked for in a club is that the players want to get better, that there’s no bullshit when they say that. This team pushes itself. We keep pushing the barriers back, but they jump them. It’s an inspiring environment to be part of, actually.” The competitive beast within Robinson does not readily disgorge such compliments. One of Scotland’s 1990 Grand Slammers came across him in the warm-up to a Calcutta Cup game and as he went to shake the flanker’s hand, was told that his picture had been up in the Robinson household all that week, presumably not out of admiration. There is a relentlessness to Robinson’s character, a drive that relishes the uphill road. Relate the assumption that Edinburgh will, eventually, not be enough for him and he’ll agree - it is, indeed, an assumption. This year has shown the balance is a delicate one, four defeats in five league games caused in no small part by just three injuries (to Ross Rennie, Ben Cairns and Simon Webster), but Robinson retains an obvious equilibrium.

“All I want is to be involved in competitive rugby. So far this season we’ve had Wasps, Bath [both preseason], Munster, Leinster, Scarlets, Dragons and Ulster, then Leinster and Castres in the Heineken. That’s competitive, that’s exciting. Who knows where the journey goes for me, but at Edinburgh I’m able to coach and be part of a team that’s moving forward. It’s not ideal, because my family aren’t here, but they understand how much enjoyment I’m getting. Edinburgh is one of the best cities in Europe, and I feel it deserves a rugby team pushing to be the best in Europe as well. That’s what we all are striving for. Never say never about anything, but what I will say is that I’m happy.”

This is the thrust of Robinson’s reluctance to consider what he could have elsewhere: look at everything he’s already got at Edinburgh. A squad, lacking depth but not spirit, that revere him and present themselves as pliable. The opportunity to leave his imprint on what is ostensibly a blank canvas, without the need to consider the distracting details of the bigger picture that tended to waylay him at Twickenham. Pound-for-pound, Edinburgh were the best performers in last year’s Magners League, with Leinster, Cardiff and Munster, the only sides above them in the final table, all boasting far bigger budgets and crowds.

There were individual success stories too, Cairns and Nick De Luca evolving into a centre pairing of class and daring, while a host of other young or hitherto misfiring guns, from Rennie, through Geoff Cross to Andrew Turnbull, were given a chance and took it. The team may play in black, but its defining hue is tartan. Of the 38-man European squad only Ben Meyer, the third-pick scrum-half, and Ben Gissing, the lock, are not Scots-qualified. Both of Robinson’s main summer signings, Jim Hamilton and Chris Paterson, will likely spend nearly as much time playing or preparing for the national team as Edinburgh.

“Not a problem,” he says. “Edinburgh is part of a whole. I want every player here to play for Scotland, because it’s the ultimate thing and always will be. I love seeing Edinburgh beat Leinster, but I also love seeing Ben Cairns getting to a stage where he can go out and take an international by the scruff of the neck like in Argentina. Just because I’m now a club coach I can’t go changing the way I see the game - I cannot be that false. If that means resting players at certain times, I’ve got to do that. Part of my role at Edinburgh is to give the players the tools that will let them deliver at the highest level - international rugby.”

The next question, already pondered during Scotland’s lamentable Six Nations, is whether Robinson has any desire to return there himself. He was a failure as England coach, but also a victim; of circumstance, primarily. It is with a grim smile that he notes the recent introduction of a manager to the England camp, and the agreement of ring-fenced player access, both things he was asking for as early as 2004. The dynamics and imperatives of the Scotland job are different, but it is still the same arena.

“You don’t ever close off an avenue,” says Robinson, who went to Argentina as one of Frank Hadden’s assistants and was credited by the Scotland forwards as having hada sizable say in the second Test turnaround in Buenos Aires. “With England, even the difficult parts I enjoyed. It’s the real top of the sport, and I love being under pressure. Frank has asked me to contribute in the selection process for the Novemeber tests, and I’m happy to do that, but I won’t be out on the paddock.”

You can bet he’ll still be out on Edinburgh’s. Enjoying the experience as long as it lasts, just as we should do with him.