AGONY FOR EDINBURGH AFTER FRENCH EPIC
Cockerill knows electric Edinburgh should have edged Cotter’s team but takes solace from display
Capital men go down fighting—
BACK in the ring for their first bout at European heavyweight level in five years, Edinburgh lost narrowly on points. But Richard Cockerill can be confident that his team will bloody a few noses before the campaign is over if they continue to play like this.
If Edinburgh had won this game, Montpellier could not have complained. Cockerill’s side were magnificent, ripping up the script and running their big-spending hosts far closer than anyone could have predicted.
They scored two superb tries through captain Stuart McInally and Dougie Fife, were touching a remarkable 70 per cent in both territory and possession, and, even in the dying seconds of the match, continued to flirt with the history books.
On what was to prove an agonising afternoon in the south of France, they didn’t quite do enough to win this Champions Cup encounter. But they will have won plenty of admirers.
Among them will have been Vern Cotter. The former Scotland head coach, who is now in charge of Montpellier, had the look of a mightily relieved man come full-time. As well he should; his team did not score a single point in the second half.
Edinburgh will return home with a losing bonus point, which is not to be sniffed at. But it will feel slightly hollow, with the knowledge that a victory was within their grasp.
‘We should have won — 100 per cent,’ said Cockerill (below). ‘But full credit to our lads because we put Montpellier under huge pressure.
‘We stayed in the game when they came at us with a couple of quick tries at the end of the first half. The Edinburgh of old would maybe have capitulated, but we’re stronger than that now.
‘They maybe expected to steamroller us, but we were never going to let that happen. We stayed calm and worked our way back into the game.
‘But, my God, it’s frustrating. We squandered some really good chances to score. I hate being a plucky loser — it’s not my style. ‘From a qualification point of view, it’s not a disaster. Toulon certainly won’t fancy coming to play us next week if we perform like that.
‘There was a lot to like about our performance, so it’s not all doom and gloom. Let’s see what next week brings.’ Despite being funded by Syrian billionaire Mohed Altrad since 2011, Montpellier’s record in Europe has been uninspiring. They have qualified from their pool on only one occasion, back in 2013. Their lack of genuine European pedigree as a club, though, is rather offset by the individual brilliance of Ruan Pienaar. The supremely gifted South African was a key part of the Ulster side that reached the final of this competition in 2012 — and he was a thorn in the side of Edinburgh, particularly in the first half. After some powerful work from French No8 Louis Picamoles, it was the dancing feet of Pienaar that unlocked the Edinburgh defence in the sixth minute, before his offload allowed full-back Henry Immelman to dive over. Pienaar slotted the conversion for an early 7-0 lead. But Edinburgh stormed back with a fantastic try in the 21st minute. Montpellier made a mess of a grubber-kick, but that shouldn’t detract from what followed. Viliame Mata, who was excellent throughout, started the move with a great offload to Grant Gilchrist on the halfway line. He found Simon Hickey, who then fed his half-back partner Henry Pyrgos. Pyrgos was scampering in to score, only to be tackled just five metres from the line. The scrum-half was agonisingly short, but McInally was first on the scene, picking up the loose ball and diving over from close range. Hickey’s conversion levelled the scoreline. It was a wonderful flowing try from the Scots; brimming with enough flair and je ne sais quoi to have the locals drooling with jealousy. It would not be the last champagne rugby we would see from either side. The try pumped some confidence through the veins of the Edinburgh players. They grew visibly in belief and took control. It came completely against the run of play, then, when Montpellier scored a second try. From a Scottish perspective, it was soft: a rash of missed tackles allowing winger Benjamin Fall to race in and score. Pienaar kicked a tough conversion from out wide.
If that was fortunate, then Montpellier served a sharp reminder of their quality with an outstanding try just four minutes later.
A sweeping counter-attack from inside their own half climaxed with a cross-field kick from Pienaar. The bounce of the ball evaded Darcy Graham and popped up into the grateful arms of home winger Gabriel N’Gandebe. His touchdown was converted by Pienaar.
Two sucker punches in quick succession could have floored Edinburgh. But a Hickey penalty on the stroke of half-time reduced the deficit at the interval to 21-10.
The performance of Pienaar had, at that point, been the difference. A World Cup winner with the Springboks in 2007, the scrum-half was proving to be a classy deputy for absent All Black Aaron Cruden at fly-half. Montpellier were also shorn of the talents of Nemani Nadolo, the giant Fijian winger ruled out with a knee injury. But the absence of some key players for the home side had nothing to do with Edinburgh.
They were excellent and Cockerill’s men, who were written off and priced at 6-1 with some bookies at the start of play, embarked on a second-half onslaught. It should also be noted that, like Nadolo, Edinburgh were also without their own flying winger Duhan van der Merwe.
The Scots continued to batter away the door, aided by a yellow card for Montpellier hooker Bismarck du Plessis in the 47th minute.
Pounding away, with 70 per cent in territory and possession, Edinburgh finally gained more tangible rewards with a second try on 57 minutes.
They built the phases with some patient work. From inside their own half to within the opposition 22, it was Mata who again provided the X-factor when it was needed, spinning back infield and offloading for Fife to score. Jaco van der Walt’s conversion was narrowly wide.
But, camped inside the Montpellier 22, Edinburgh just couldn’t quite get over the line. They butchered a couple of chances, the most agonising when Magnus Bradbury went over, only for play to be pulled back for obstruction by Simon Berghan.
Under such sustained pressure, it was easy to forget that this was a Montpellier side who thumped Toulouse 66-15 just a couple of weeks ago. That, in itself, illustrates how impressive this was from Edinburgh.
It may have yielded only one point, but the belief this game will have brought will be immeasurable.