AS NOT just a product of George Watsons College but one of its former headboys, you would think Stuart McInally would be exactly the kind of “polite public schoolboy” Richard Cockerill, his head coach at Edinburgh, berated this week as being part of the “soft underbelly” of the club.

Probably not though. Cockerill clearly rates his hooker and was anxious to sign him up on a long-term contract this week.

At the same time, while the criticism may not apply to McInally personally, he is happy with the analysis of where Edinburgh have been going wrong, over the years.

“I would agree with that,” was his reaction. “I think we have shown a harder edge over the last couple of years with some physical performances.

“I agree though, we need to be more devilish and the top teams in the league are a bit more bullyish at times. That is where we need to get to.

“Where we are this year, compared to where we were at this time last year, is like night and day. We can certainly get better.”

He may he polite and easy-going off the field, but McInally is adjusting to the demands of professional rugby in the front row, where there is no room for shrinking violets.

It was, he admits, a tougher transition than he had hoped, but after four years in his new role, the former Scotland A No8 feels he is a natural fit at hooker.

“I just feel more comfortable now, it is not new anymore, throwing in, the scrum, I am used to them,” he said.

“My scrummaging has improved and my problem solving.

“In the early years, when there was a problem in the scrum I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I would just know that we were going backwards and my face was getting dragged in the mud.

“Now Cockers [Richard Cockerill, the club’s head coach] has helped a lot with that just in terms of what I feel from the left or the right and what adjustments I have to make with my two props to counter that. Problem solving is better,” McInally added.

“It feels like a new club. Everyone is working harder and the standards are higher and you just feel like we have got a good foundation now to grow this club from.

“It is part of the reason I decided to stay for another two years and I am very confident – okay we are not going to win the league this year, but that is okay, we are really starting to grow,” McInally said.

All of which makes this weekend’s clash with Fraser Brown, his main rival for the Scotland hooker spot, an intriguing one.

They knew each other from way back when they were in the same Under 20s side – Brown at hooker and McInally in the back row – and he knows what he is up against.

“I have respect for him,” McInally said of his rival. “He only came back last week for Glasgow so he will be raring to go.

“Fraser is a brilliant player, but I try not to get caught up too much in individual battles.

“You are desperate to go out there and be better than your opposite man no matter who it is and training during the week is more about getting the detail right.

“In these big derby games the emotion just comes.”