Ten-try Edinburgh enjoy Russian rollover to lead Euro group
QUIZ of the week: How did a team capable of beating the reigning European Challenge Cup holders manage to concede ten tries and 73 points to Edinburgh seven days later?
It is not as though the Scots even had to be that spectacular to manage it. The Russian team that held their nerve to beat Stade Francais in the opening round of the competition were simply no match for them and tries flowed just about every time Edinburgh hung on to the ball and raised the pace of the game.
The biggest headache for coach Richard Cockerill was losing fly-half Jason Tovey, who hurt a knee in the 24th minute and was taken off on a stretcher. With Duncan Weir, the only other specialist in his squad, also injured and likely to be out of action for another two to three weeks, he could be forced to turn to a parttime No 10. Scrum-half Sam Hidalgo-Clyne and full-back Blair Kinghorn were both used there during the game.
The good news was that Tovey seemed to be moving more comfortably at the end as the team rushed for their flight back to Scotland, and has not been ruled out of next week’s game in Italy.
It must have been hard for the small but enthusiastic crowd that turned up to watch the Siberia-based team playing in Moscow, but rather more enjoyable for the handful of Scottish supporters who managed to make it to the outskirts of the Russian capital.
Krasny were up for the physical encounter the whole game and did finish with a try of their own as Andrei Kondakov, the replacement prop, just about reached the line after a series of pick and drives.
Edinburgh started well,
their first attack producing an opening try for Kinghorn as he took advantage of a defence distracted by two passes that bounced their way to the recipient.
Hidalgo-Clyne grabbed the second score and then Lewis Carmichael, one of two youngsters making their first starts of the season alongside Luke Crosbie, got the third. By 31 minutes, they had the bonus point with Neil Cochrane being driven over in a maul.
For all the size and physicality the Russians brought, it was Edinburgh’s pack that really did the job for them, with six of the ten tries going to the forwards — plus a penalty try for pulling down a maul.
The unlikely star of the second half was Murray McCallum, the replacement prop who had not been due to feature at all until Allan Dell pulled out with a groin problem just before kickoff. McCallum responded with two tries in six minutes, both short-range efforts through a pile of bodies, and all the more satisfying for that.