RUGBY ace Chris Dean said his match-winning try for Edinburgh over Glasgow Warriors over Christmas “will stick with me for a long time”.

North Berwick’s Dean was a replacement in both legs of the traditional festive 1872 Cup matches against Glasgow Warriors, scoring the winning try in injury time of the pre-Christmas match at BT Murrayfield after Edinburgh had lost prop Simon Berghan to a red card in the fourth minute.

When it came to recalling the match-winning try that came from the back of a maul, the former North Berwick High School pupil admitted he was not 100 per cent sure the score had been given as he touched down.

He said: “I just joined the back of the maul and Neil [Cochrane] was telling me to take the ball. I thought I heard the ref shout that we had advantage so I just broke off the back.

“I’m not sure what was going through Lee Jones’ head but I thought he would make the tackle, but he didn’t – he just stopped – and I went in at the corner.”

While the 23-year-old admitted the score was “not the most glamorous”, he added: “It shows what we’re about because we stuck in that game for 75 minutes with 14 men and got the result.”

And he lauded the impact of Richard Cockerill on the squad since the ex-Leicester Tigers and Toulon boss took over in the summer.

“When you’re a kid you want to play rugby to have fun and maybe we lost sight of that in the last couple of years,” said the centre. “Cockers has come and changed things.”

He had good words too for defence coach Calum MacRae and Roddy Grant, the ex-club skipper who helps with the forwards, as well as new team-mate Mark Bennett.

“Calum’s got a very good defensive system and he works hard to make sure we all understand our roles. Roddy’s got such an aura about him from his playing days,” he said.

Scotland centre Bennett made his first Edinburgh appearance in the win over South African side Southern Kings at Myreside, where Dean joined him off the bench after replacing Phil Burleigh early on.

While the North Berwick man admits missing out on the starting XV is frustrating, he sung the praises of the ex-Glasgow star.

“He’s been great since he came in – he was a marquee signing for the club and it’s great to see him back fit again,” Dean said.

“It is frustrating not to be in the team but Cockers has said he feels I’m more of a 12 – I’d like to think I can do a job at 13 as well which probably makes me perfect for the bench at the moment.”

There were kind words too for Robbie Freuan, the New Zealander who looks set to call time on his career due to a heart problem.

Dean said: “Robbie has been great – he and Mark have come in and been totally open about offering their experience to the rest of the boys – that’s maybe not something I’ve been used to in the past.

“It’s been really good to learn from them both.”

Dean, who laid on a try for Blair Kinghorn in the win over the Kings, was hoping that his side could now focus on chasing third-place Ulster as they battle for a quarter-final spot in the Pro14.

He added: “That is our aim for the rest of the season – to chase down Ulster for that third place.”