A chilly night at Hive Stadium saw Edinburgh return to the capital for their first home match since the end of the Men’s Six Nations.
A spirited home crowd cheered on a 38-5 victory over the Dragons.
Five Scottish international stars returned to the starting XV, including fan favourites Duhan van der Merwe and Pierre Schoeman. The Dragons arrived in Scotland as the only side to have already been eliminated from URC play-off contention. Edinburgh started the evening with a chance to move into the top eight, at least until after Saturday’s games.
The home side started well, holding the ball deep in The Dragons’ half for much of the first ten minutes, but they seemed unable to find a breakthrough. An early stoppage in play was down to Edinburgh number four, Marshall Sykes leaving the field due to a nasty looking leg injury, followed by just returned star winger Duhan Van der Merwe also leaving the field, after hurting his ankle. The Dragons attempted to capitalize on this newly disorientated Edinburgh side when fullback Huw Anderson looked as if he had managed to slip through to potentially catch a high kick, but the ball rolled out the back of the field. Edinburgh rushed the ball down the other end of the field, earning a lineout before Paddy Harrison finally claimed the first points of the evening through a solid team drive in the left-hand corner.
Ross Thompson missed the conversion, but it wasn’t long before Edinburgh added to their lead, Darcy Graham kicking the ball away from a brawl before Paddy Harrison chased the ball down at breakneck speed to claim his second score of the night. Thompson’s kick was this time good to take the home side 12 points clear.
This second try boosted Edinburgh’s confidence right away, the side restarting aggressively, finding another five points after just another three minutes, this time it was Darcy Graham who snuck through the Dragons’ back line after a short kick from co-captain, Ben Vellacot. Another successful conversion made it 19-0.
Dragons number 11 Ashton Hewitt took out Ben Vellacot off the ball, receiving a yellow, the break in play however stopped the home side from scoring four tries in ten minutes.
The bonus point try did come before the half though, Pierre Schoeman touched the ball down under the posts in a real team effort, the Scottish side simply outmatching the strength of the Dragons. Ross Thompson’s successful conversion were the final points of the first half, and Edinburgh heading into the changing room with a lead of 26 points.
The Dragons scored first in the second half, an uncomfortable reminder of previous games, Aaron wainwright broke through in what, thankfully for Edinburgh, did turn out to be the Welsh side’s only try of the evening.
In the 55th minute, Sean Everitt switched out almost the entirety of Edinburgh’s front line, in an attempt to rejuvenate a slightly sleepy-looking team. The side managed to maintain the ball in the Dragons’ half before Boan Venter finally found the score in what was a much less eventful second 40. Cammy Scott having replaced Thompson, scored what was his third conversion for the side.
Edinburgh played out the rest of the second half relatively casually, maintaining much of the ball without the need to add extra points to the score, with very few chances for the Dragons to break back through. A final try eventually came in the 78th minute with Matt Currie breaking through on the left-hand side to grab a final five, before a missed conversion was almost the last action of the game.
Edinburgh will be as pleased as they can be tonight, with a bonus point secured and, at least for now, a spot back in the top eight. With four games left to play in the regular season, however, every URC game remains a must-win if Sean Everitt’s side is hoping to secure a playoffs place.
Everitt himself reflected on the result at full time: “There were some really good moments in that game. We had a lot of oppurtunities in the first 20 minutes and didn’t quite get over the line, but the pressure counted at the end and we got the scores that we needed by half-time. probably not a perfect performance. But we ut enough pressure on them and our dissaplined defence kept them out.
Edinburgh return to Hive Stadium next Friday night, with an EPCR Challenge Cup Round of 16 fixture against the Emirates Lions.
