Sean Everitt insists he is not concerned about his position as Edinburgh Rugby head coach despite the 55-21 defeat to the Lions.  

Everitt’s team produced an abject first half performance, shipping seven tries as they turned around 48-0 behind in Johannesburg, before scoring three second half tries.  

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The Edinburgh boss admitted his team “didn’t stick to the plan” in the opening 40 minutes at Emirates Airline Park but knocked back questions about his future.  

Asked if he felt he was still the man to take Edinburgh forward, Everitt responded.  

“Yes, very much so. It's been a tough start. It's a tough game coming up against the Stormers, so we'll take every game as it comes.  

“We’ve played Leinster, we’ve played Bulls away, Lions away. We're going home to Hive Stadium to play against the Stormers, so we'll be confident that we can win at home.  

“This competition is unforgiving. Munster found out last week against Zebre that whichever opposition you play on any given weekend, it's going to be a tough game.  

“It's just the way the competition has grown and I think it's great for the comp that every week you're going to get a tough game." 

Everitt said he was angry at half-time after his side’s first half display.  

“It's very hard not to angry when you concede 48 points in 40 minutes, especially when it's in your hands.  

“Especially when you have a kick strategy and it's to kick the ball out into the stands and you don’t kick it out into the stands.  

“It does become easier in the second half when you stick to the plan and you stick to the strategy. When you tick all three boxes that you planned for, you come out with a 21-7 win after 40 minutes in the second half.” 

 Everitt rejected suggestions from former Edinburgh player John Barclay, who said in his post-match analysis for Premier Sports there would be “panic buttons going off everywhere” after such a heavy defeat.  

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Asked for a response, the South African said: “There's no need to panic. We're in round three of the URC." 

He also said his side must “respect the ball” better in future.  

“You learn a lot when you win and you learn more when you lose,” Everitt added.   

“You never want to learn while you're losing. I think we've got to look at the two halves separately and say, well, why did it work in the second half and not work in the first half? 

“I think it's blatantly obvious that we conceded five transition tries, so we know we need to respect the ball more. We know that we can't give opposition opportunities like we did. We can't give opposition field position like we did through giving away penalties and conceding turnovers. 

“When we tightened the game up and we took the bull by the horns and credit to the leaders for that in the second half, this team showed it can perform. So, yeah, it's a game of two halves for me.”