Edinburgh plot path through fog to secure second successive win

EDINBURGH CARDIFFBLUES

T he Auld Reekie fog was as much a distraction for Edinburgh as the Cardiff Blues as the capital side won their second successive Guinness PRO14 game in tough weather conditions at BT Murrayfield last night.

Two tries scored at close quarters by debutant Lee-Roy Atolifa and hooker Dave Cherry, and some powerful defence, was enough to shut out the Blues from the scoreboard.

Young stand-off Nathan Chamberlain struck two penalties and a conversion and generally kicked well.

Edinburgh were guided brilliantly by captain Henry Pyrgos, who piloted his young side through the fog and kept the game under control almost from the start.

The pack had the advantage throughout and probably should have forced more tries until the fog fell and made the game something of a lottery for the last 20 minutes.

Edinburgh should have had more than a sixthminute penalty from rookie 10 Chamberlain for their early dominance, but kept losing attacking ball to Cardiff ’s jackallers at the breakdown.

However, on 24 minutes it was an Ally Miller steal in the Blues 22 that set up the lineout drive, and Edinburgh showed greater security on their ball and patience in battering out a gap for prop Atalifo to squirm over near the posts. Chamberlain converted.

Ex-Edinburgh 10 Jason Tovey hit the post with the Blues’ only scoring chance of the half.

Cardiff were repelled when they tried to maul and then batter their way over early in the second half, and Edinburgh showed them how to do it with a powerful lineout drive for Cherry’s unconverted try on 53 minutes.

Then the fog really set in, and the error count from both sides multiplied in the glaur.

Edinburgh missed a chance to seal it after multiple drives near the Blues line, and Cardiff had a great chance when Hall am Amos burst through but he held on when he should have passed.

Chamberlain’s second penalty as the Blues became ever more desperate concluded the contest.

Edinburgh: Blain; Sau, Bennett, Dean, Farndale; Chamberlain, Pyrgos (capt); Schoeman, Cherry, Atalifo; Ferreira, Hodgs on; Bradbury, Crosbie , Miller. Replacements: Willemse for Cherry 55, Gamble for Atalifo 53, Sykes for Ferreira 65, Boyle for Crosbie 65, Groom for Pyrgos 78, Johnstone for Dean 72. A much-changed Glasgow Warriors outfit was thrashed in Belfast last night as Ulster ran in six tries to claim a 40-15 victory at the Kingspan Stadium.

The hosts extended their winning run over their Conference A rivals, with tries from TJIoa ne and Grant Stewart the only response from Danny Wilson’s men, who slumped to a four th defeat in five matches.

Ulster secured the bonus point before halftime with tries from John Andrew, Marcell Coetzee, Sam Carter and John Cooney. Further scores from Sean Reidy and Matt Faddes increased the hosts’ lead.

Glasgow are not in action again until Monday November 23 when they host Munster, their meeting with Dragons this Sunday called off due to a Covid-19 outbreak at the Welsh club.

Glasgow: Brice; Tagive, Fergusson, McDowall, Matowalu; Horne, Dobie; Seiuli, Stewart, Pieretto, Harley, McDonald; Wilson (c), Gordon, Ioane. Replacements: Matthews, Allan, Rae, Bean, Bain, Lokotui, Kennedy, Thomson.