Edinburgh clinch epic pool decider over Harlequins
HARLEQUINS saw their proud home record end as Edinburgh took a giant leap towards booking a home Challenge Cup quarter-final.
After recording ten straight wins in all competitions on their own patch, John Kingston’s side turned in a lamentable display as tries from Fraser McKenzie and Allan Dell, plus 13 points from the boot of Duncan Weir, sent Edinburgh top of the Pool.
Delighted Edinburgh head coach Duncan Hodge said: “Our performance for large parts was outstanding. Our defence was superb throughout, our setpiece was solid, particularly at the lineout, and we scored two cracking tries as well.
“We said we wanted to come here and achieve something and we’ve done that by winning and moving a step closer to topthe ping the group.”
A tepid opening ten minutes produced little meaningful action before Weir slotted Edinburgh ahead after Harlequins had held on in the tackle.
Quins responded immediately, Tim Swiel banging over a penalty after Dave Ward had thundered through a gap, forcing Edinburgh off their feet.
Mike Brown’s sleight of hand created space for Kyle Sinckler, before Brown was heavily involved again, his booming touchfinder pinning Edinburgh back. But visitors secured the lineout before shocking Quins with the game’s opening try.
Phil Burleigh’s turn of speed created the initial danger before he sent Tom Brown racing down the left. The winger cut inside before recycling, enabling Edinburgh to build pressure that ended with Ben Toolis providing a scoring pass for McKenzie.
Harlequins were nearly undone again moments later when Damien Hoyland raced clear. Chris Dean drove for the line, drawing a penalty and a yellow card for James Chisholm, only for Ross Ford to overthrow the lineout, allowing Ward to mop up.
Weir soon added a penalty, to which Swiel swiftly replied, but Edinburgh went on the march again as Weir kicked to the corner after Quins collapsed a maul. Again Quins rode their luck as Edinburgh were pinged for crossing in midfield.
Edinburgh deservedly led 13-6 at the break, with Quins having failed to fire a shot, but, prompted by Danny Care, there was greater intent from the home side after the restart as Clifford, Sinckler and Dan Murphy drove into Edinburgh’s 22.
Edinburgh dug deep, their twin towers McKenzie and Toolis putting in a superb shift as Harlequins hammered away. Care darted, Jack Clifford
charged and Marland Yarde raided off his wing, but Dell pulled off a crucial turnover to end the danger.
Quins’ frustration grew as a bout of fisticuffs resulted in Sinckler being sent to the cooler, before Care reacted sharply to deny Burleigh from Weir’s chip.
Edinburgh came again, though, and bagged their second try when Dell was the joyful recipient of Hamish Watson’s scoring pass after a break from No.8 Cornell du Preez.
Quins rang the changes in an effort to turn the tide, but successive lineout steals kept Edinburgh on the front foot and Viliame Mata’s fine offload to Magnus Bradbury forced Yarde and Luke Wallace to scramble back.
Ward saw yellow for killing the ball after Blair Kinghorn had collected Dean’s looped pass, enabling Weir to extend Edinburgh’s lead to 17 points, before Quins responded with late tries from Mat Luamanu and Joe Gray to salvage a losing bonus.