The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Edinburgh take control with win over Falcons
CHAMPIONS CUP: Kingston Park victory leaves visitors in box seat for last eight
NEWCASTLE FALCONS 8 EDINBURGH 21
Edinburgh took a mighty step towards the Heineken Champions’ Cup quarterfinals by comfortably beating Newcastle Falcons in their backyard and seizing control at the top of Pool 5.
Second-half tries by James Johnstone and Duhan van der Merwe at Kingston Park were just as the capital side deserved as they dominated the Guinness Premiership side after the interval, scoring 15 unanswered points having enjoyed the best of the first half but finishing two points behind.
With a touch more control and patience Edinburgh might have clinched it long before van der Merwe powered in from 30 metres out for the clinching try, but it would be churlish to be to critical of a crucial European win and their first away from Murrayfield this season.
It leaves Edinburgh with 15 points from four games and a three-point lead in the pool going into the final two rounds in January against Toulon and Montpellier.
Edinburgh enjoyed most of the possession and some pressure in a physical first-half that saw the Falcons lose two men to injury but finish with a narrow two-point edge.
The visitors’ bright start was blunted with a couple of basic fumbles in midfield, and one multi-phase attack that took them to the shadow of Falcons’ posts only for the ball to be lost in a turnover from Hardie.
The ex-edinburgh flanker was involved a lot in the early going receiving and handing out hits with equal ferocity, but Newcastle were most dangerous from open play and counterattack with their Pacific Islander wings and struck from halfway after 19 minutes.
Jaco van der Walt’s high cross kick was well fielded just over halfway but Edinburgh’s chasers left a gap in behind, fully exploited by Goneva down the touchline and then by the blistering pace of Sinoti who raced away from the cover for the unconverted try.
Newcastle had already withdrawn lock Rob Green in the warm-up and lost Jonny Williams and Nemani Nagusa to injury inside the first 20, Edinburgh hitting back quickly with a penalty for Flood not rolling away from the tackle, but the veteran former England standoff replied with three points after another dangerous Sinoti run had Edinburgh in retreat.
The visitors enjoyed their best pressure just before the half winning penalties at scrum and lineout in the home 22 with Newcastle visibly buckling, but they chose to take the three points through van der Walt to take it to 8-6 at the break.
But Edinburgh started the second half as they had ended the first, and made the key breakthrough in their first attack.
After van der Merwe had made good ground and forced a lineout up the left touchline, Pyrgos’ perfectly weighted chip from lineout ball found Johnstone juggling the bouncing ball but hanging on to score under the posts, van der Walt converting.
They should have added to their lead in a strong 10-minute spell camped in the Newcastle half, but a wild van der Walt pass killed one move and an unwise offload from Chris Dean as Darcy Graham made the break cost another chance.
But at a scrum on the Falcons’ 22 on the hour mark Edinburgh exerted their set-piece superiority again and van der Walt kicked them eight points ahead.
Sinto threatened on Newcastle’s first real attack of the second half but even when the Falcons won a penalty, they overthrew the lineout and Edinburgh fought their way clear with a turnover won on the deck.
And that provided the spark for Edinburgh to close it out as they recaptured a kick chase, got the ball wide to van der Merwe and the wing blasted through tackles down the line for the unconverted try that clinched the win.
There were few minor defensive manoeuvres to be completed but Edinburgh stuck to the task and managed to prevent the Falcons claiming a losing bonus. Attendance: 7174
Newcastle: S Hammersby; V Goneva, C Harris, J Williams, S Sinoti; T Flood (capt), S Takulua; S Lockwood, K Cooper, T Davison; G Young, T Cavubati; M Wilson, J Hardie, N Nagusa.
Replacements: G Mcguigan for Cooper 60, S Mavinga for Lockwood 60, R Burrows for Young 40, G Graham for Nagusa 15, T Arscott for Williams 10.
Edinburgh: B Kinghorn; D Graham, J Johnstone, C Dean, D van der Merwe; J van der Walt, H Pyrgos; A Dell, S Mcinally (capt), WP Nel; B Toolis, G Gilchrist; L Hamilton, H Watson, V Mata.
Replacements: D Cherry for Mcinally 68, P Schoeman for Dell 45, S Berghan for Nel 66, C Hunter-hill for Toolis 75, L Crosbie for Watson 75, N Fowles for Pyrgos 77, S Hickey for van der Walt 75, J P Socino for Dean 77.
Referee: A Ruiz (FFR).