Weir slays the Dragons in Ebbw Vale as Edinburgh pick up a bonus

DRAGONS

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Stand-off Duncan Weir would have been more used to spending this weekend preparing to face England at Murrayfield, instead he was clinching a Pro14 victory for Edinburgh.

This game was played at Ebbw Vale’s Eugene Cross Park, one of the traditional club grounds of Welsh rugby which has seen better days.

It is also one of the few stadiums with a temperature gauge on the clubhouse wall so everyone can see just how cold it is – a psychological ploy that would work better with teams not used to Scottish weather.

Certainly Edinburgh started the better of the teams, a solid first half which brought a comfortable ten-point lead.

They were able to get the ball over the line, but not on the ground, however play was taken back for a penalty under the posts which Sam Hidalgoclyne converted.

They were then confident enough to go for the corner rather than attempt another three points, but the driving lineout was set up perfectly to give hooker Neil Cochrane an armchair ride for the try. Hidalgo-clyne converted.

Edinburgh also started the second half strongly and a neatly delayed pass from stand-off Jaco van der Walt put centre Chris Dean through for an unconverted try.

The Dragons fought back with two tries by lock Rynard Landman, but Weir then clinched the Edinburgh win finishing off a good move.

A bonus-point try came in injury time, thanks to another lineout drive, this time being finished off by replacement hooker Cameron Fenton.