The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Cockerill’s winning start as Edinburgh pull off Guinness Pro14 victory at Cardiff
Edinburgh give Cardiff a dose of the blues as they kick-off campaign with a 10-point win in Wales
Richard Cockerill made a winning start as Edinburgh head coach in the Guinness PRO14 as his side pulled off an impressive 20-10 victory in Cardiff.
It was the Scots’ first win in the Welsh capital for five seasons and the former Leicester boss can take a huge amount from a committed and spirited display.
The impressive Blair Kinghorn and Chris Dean scored Edinburgh’s tries, with Duncan Weir converting both and adding two penalties.
Josh Navidi was Cardiff’s try-scorer, with Jarrod Evans converting before kicking a penalty, but it wasn’t enough for Blues, who lacked the penetration to trouble a stubborn Scottish defence.
Edinburgh took an 11th-minute lead from a scrum 22 metres out when Sam Hidalgo-Clyne broke to send Kinghorn through a gap in the home defence with the full-back having sufficient strength to force his way over.
Television replays appeared to show that the scrum-half’s scoring pass was forward but the score stood, with Weir knocking over an excellent conversion to give his side a 7-0 advantage.
A handling error from Dean gave Cardiff the chance to get on the scoreboard but, despite threatening runs from Alex Cuthbert and Willis Halaholo, the Scots’ defence held firm and against the run of play they went further ahead when Weir kicked a penalty.
However, the greater enterprise and territorial dominance of Blues was finally rewarded when Evans’ neat kick was collected by Navidi, who crashed over for the try. The conversion by Evans left his side trailing 10-7 at the interval.
Blues lost forwards Nick Williams and Taufa’ao Filise with injuries late in the first half. Filise’s cut head was patched up to allow him to return after the interval but Williams was an absentee, having failed a head injury assessment.
That did not prevent the home side from starting the second half strongly and they drew level with a penalty from Evans after the Scottish pack were penalised at a set scrum.
Cockerill reacted by changing his entire front row before Weir put Edinburgh back in front with his second penalty, and Dean then scored an excellent try.
The visitors stretched Cardiff’s defence before Kinghorn made a telling burst for Dean to score, with Weir’s conversion giving his side a healthy 10-point lead which Blues never looked like pulling back in the final quarter.
The Cheetahs’ first taste of action in the new-look Guinness PRO14 saw them come out on the wrong end of a 42-19 scoreline at Ulster’s Kingspan Stadium.
The South Africans’ much-anticipated debut in the competition saw the former Super Rugby franchise play out a pulsating encounter in Belfast.
The hosts were good value for their maximum points from the game, however, scoring six tries in all and racking up their bonus point as early as the 32nd minute when the outstanding Charles Piutau crossed the Cheetahs line.