Blair hitch project on the road

Gutted Mike Blair admits his Edinburgh outfit gifted Benetton victory with the final kick.

The Gunners had led by 11 points in the first half and nine early in the second but never killed off the home side in Treviso.

Blair’s boys paid for it with replacement stand-off Leonardo Marin’s drop goal nearly five minutes into stoppage time.

The Edinburgh head coach was left “pretty gutted” and said: “We put ourselves in a position to win but didn’t do it. We let them back into the game, which was disappointing.

“When we got our game going, we looked very strong on the ball, very strong in defence.

“But we just need to get that consistency and get that going throughout the full 80 minutes.

“Benetton did well to get back into it and it was an excellent kick.

“But we gave them that opportunity. The upsides are there for everyone to see. There was positive stuff in there but it was frustrating as we should’ve won.”

The single biggest upside was the form of Ben Vellacott.

The scrum-half was man of the match in his previous two outings and kept up that run of form with two first-half tries as his team fought back having trailed to an early Italian try. Forwards WP Nel and Stuart McInally also touched down to secure a try bonus point while they flew home with another for the narrow defeat.

Jaco van der Walt chipped in with two conversions and a penalty, leaving Edinburgh with seven points from two games.

Blair added: “We have to learn our lessons quickly. This is about everyone in terms of overall game management, understanding with three or four minutes to go we have to make sure we win.”