Youthful Exiles are roasted by Rasolea
EDINBURGH head coach Richard Cockerill gave his side plenty of plaudits as they made a winning start in the European Challenge Cup with a bonus-point triumph away at London Irish.
A double from Solomoni Rasolea sealed it for last season’s quarter-finalists who proved too much for a youthful and inexperienced Exiles side who are now six games without a win.
Cockerill said: “To come away from home and get a better performance with ball in hand was important. I was disappointed last week how we played against Zebre, and I thought we were much better here, certainly in the first half. We had three tries that were all well-constructed.
“If we had been a little more accurate and a bit more ambitious at times we could probably have got a little bit more than that.
“Maybe the score flattered us in the end, but it’s a good win for us going into next week. We have to keep building on these victories as winning is a good habit to have.”
Irish began well in Reading with Theo BrophyClews putting them into the lead with a penalty.
Edinburgh soon settled and sneaked ahead when Damien Hoyland battled his way over with Jason Tovey kicking the extras. And soon it was two when Rasolea capped off a fine team effort which which saw the Scottish side handle with pace and precision.
Prop Ollie Hoskins bulldozed his way over for the hosts’ try to keep Edinburgh honest. Sam Hidalgo-Clyne added a penalty before Rasolea scored his second of the game. The former Western Force man picked a gap in midfield and powered his way to the corner.
Brophy Clews kept the Exiles within reach with a penalty just before half time. The young fly-half missed an effort after the interval, but redeemed himself with three points soon later.
A lacklustre phase followed with both sides failing to take a real grip on things, but Hidalgo-Clyne extended Edinburgh’s lead to eight. It left Irish needing two scores to have a chance of leading.
Conor Gilsenan was binned for the hosts in the dying moments for a breakdown infringement, paving the way for Edinburgh to find the bonus-point try through Jamie Ritchie. Hidalgo-Clyne remained slick from the tee, with the tiring Irish failing to halt Luke Crosbie from adding try No.5.
Irish director of rugby Nick Kennedy admitted his frustration at the result but says his side can take on Stade Francais in Paris next week with confidence.
He said: “It was difficult at the end there and we conceded those two tries. The scoreboard doesn’t lie, Edinburgh took their scores well. They had that period in the first half where they did well and then they finished very strongly.
“There’s always next week and we are looking forward to it. We have things to get right, we need to go there and fight for everything we’ve got and come away with a result. Stade are a big team with a big stadium, but it’s a huge game. We want to get stuck into them.”