Richard Cockerill knows he faces a battle to keep a raft of his leading players who come out of contract at the end of the season at Edinburgh – but insists that nobody has jumped ship yet.

Duhan van der Merwe was linked with a move to Worcester Warriors over the weekend, while fellow winger Darcy Graham, full-back Blair Kinghorn, and flankers Jamie Ritchie and Hamish Watson are also reaching the end of their current deals.

“Like all our players who are out of contract and we want to keep, we are having discussions and we don’t really comment on speculation,” said Cockerill.

“There is going to be lots of guys interested in certain players because they are very good players. There is always going to be speculation, especially around players of that quality. But at this point there is nothing to report.”

Scottish Rugby picked up a £20 million government funding package last week and have now received £17.8m from CVC Partners private equity house as part their share in the sale of a 28 per cent stake in the Guinness PRO14, but the governing body’s finances remain on shaky ground meaning Cockerill isn’t holding out for a major boost to his budget any time soon.

“I think all clubs are in the same boat, aren’t they? Everyone has got to manage their finances, and as a governing body we are trying to make sure we look after the game as a whole and not just as a professional game,” he said.

“Certain clubs in England are in a stronger position than others so some agents want to wait, and some players want to wait and see what the potential English market looks like.

“No-one really knows what the market is going to be like. For some players in key positions the market is still going to be very strong.

“We’ll keep all lines of communication open and do our very best to keep our squad together and our players at Edinburgh Rugby.

“It’s a bit of a moveable feast at the moment around what’s happening, so you’ve got to be a little bit flexible and a little bit patient. We’re working with all the players as best we can to try to keep the squad together and keep our best players in Scotland.

“We want to be competitive as an Edinburgh team. Guys want to play for their country, and this is a good place to be to play for Scotland.”