Heineken Cup
Laidlaw reserves praise for Bradley
ESPNscrum Staff
April 9, 2012
Edinburgh's Greig Laidlaw kicks for goal, Edinburgh v Toulouse, Heineken Cup, Murrayfield, Scotland, April 7, 2012
Greig Laidlaw guided Edinburgh to a famous victory at Murrayfield on Saturday © Getty Images
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Players/Officials: Michael Bradley | Greig Laidlaw
Tournaments/Tours: Heineken Cup
Teams: Edinburgh | Scotland

Edinburgh skipper Greig Laidlaw has hailed the influence of coach Michael Bradley after their historic Heineken Cup victory over Toulouse.

The former Ireland boss took charge of the Scottish side in May last year and despite teething problems in the RaboDirect PRO12 - where they lie 11th - their European form has been outstanding.

Their Murrayfield triumph over Toulouse - four-time European champions - secured a first-ever Heineken Cup semi-final for a Scottish team and Laidlaw believes that a great deal of credit lies with Bradley.

"Michael's been hugely important," he told BBC Sport. "He has been a breath of fresh air for the club this year.

"He has brought in a sense of real direction on how he wants us to play the game.

"We knew before the game we could win as we have a lot of belief in our squad. It ranks highly up there as one of the best victories in my career."

Laidlaw, capped seven times by Scotland, also believes that the bumper-crowd of 37,881 shows that there is a market for professional rugby in the city after several years of disappointing attendances and national and provincial level.

"It was a great achievement for the club and the players were extremely satisfied with their performance and it was great to see a massive crowd at Murrayfield," he said.

"It really caught the imagination of the Scottish rugby public this game. It just shows that, if Edinburgh, and Glasgow as well, are going to be involved in these big games at the end of the season, I truly believe there is a big support there for the pro teams in Scotland."

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