Jamie Ritchie has a simple solution as Edinburgh mull over URC play-off permutations

With four places realistically up for grabs, five teams within two points and two more just one win further back, Edinburgh remain in ninth place and currently narrowly missing out on the knockout stages.

Man-of-the-match Ritchie led the way in his team’s victory in Cardiff, while hoping their inability to add a fourth try and bonus point does not come back to haunt them.

His solution to the complication is simple, win their remaining three games and they will qualify – which is technically correct as teams play each other, but also there are rivals in that race with tougher remaining fixtures than Edinburgh.

“All we can do is try to keep winning, everything else unfortunately is out of our control so all we can do is keep focusing on ourselves, keep putting ourselves in a position to win and try to get bonus points,” said man-of-the-match Ritchie.

“It is in our hands. We have got the next two games at home where we love playing and back ourselves to put in a good performance, but one week at a time at the moment and then in three or four weeks time we will see where we are at.

“That was definitely an important win here in Cardiff, we are aiming to win all our games in our run in and that is another one ticked off.

“It is a massive result for us, we knew it was going to be tough coming down here and I would say it was a very emotional game for them, but I am proud of the way we stuck in there and got the W.”

The win was confirmed with only a handful of minutes to go and Edinburgh were unable to add the fourth try that would have made a difference in the table.

All three tries came from close range forward efforts, but over the course of the game Edinburgh were not especially efficient at converting in Cardiff’s 22, needing a penalty kick at goal to give them enough of a buffer to take into the final quarter.

Ritchie believes the Edinburgh squad do not need to spend too much time poring over the league table, remaining fixtures and possible permutations.

Some teams in that race will play each other, trips to South Africa or Dublin will be tough to win, while Munster will also play a huge part as they entertain Ulster and Connacht either side of a trip to Edinburgh.

“I think the table is one of those things you need to have an awareness of but is not necessarily something that the whole group has to worry about,” said Ritchie.

“That is probably just the guys who are driving the game forward and making the decisions in and around ‘do we go for points, do we go for the corner’ and things like that.

“It is definitely important to have an awareness and it adds a bit of an extra motivation.”

Zebre in a fortnight should be a bonus point win, home advantage against Munster will be important before a final weekend in Italy to face Benetton with all to play for.