No Cockerill but Edinburgh force the issue with sheer will
THE scoreline may suggest otherwise but this was as hardfought a win as they come. Without head coach Richard Cockerill — stranded back home because of a delay in processing his pre-match Covid test — and left to play the final 10 minutes with 13 men after George Taylor had been sent off, Edinburgh dug deep to eventually see off a plucky Zebre side.
It was attritional stuff in the closing stages after WP Nel was lost to a yellow card and then, with him still in the sin bin, Taylor saw red for a high tackle just five minutes into his first appearance for three months.
A rare turnover, though, led to a Jaco van der Walt penalty and Edinburgh knew by that point they had done enough to claim a precious win on the road.
Jamie Farndale, only called into the starting line-up when Blair Kinghorn also missed out because of the Covid botch-up, ran in a late intercept try to put an extra sheen on the scoreline.
Mark Bennett proved pivotal at both ends of the pitch, scoring Edinburgh’s first try and also executing a crunching tackle to deny Antonio Rizzi, while Van der Walt was virtually flawless with the boot.
Defence coach Calum MacRae, filling in for Cockerill, praised his players’ endeavour in the face of adversity. He said: ‘I’m really proud of the effort and resilience the boys showed.
‘Obviously in the second half, there were some pinch points when both teams were tussling for ascendency and the bits when we really needed to dig in, we did.
‘The situation (with Cockerill) threw us a bit of a curveball. But he did have input during the game in terms of messages because he was watching it at home.
‘He’s very happy with the win and the resilience the boys showed, particularly in the second half.’
The visitors went in front after five minutes. Zebre were pinged for not rolling away and Van der Walt — who extended his stay with Edinburgh earlier in the week — booted over the long-range penalty.
There was a let-off for Edinburgh when Carlo Canna missed a fairly straightforward kick but the respite was temporary. Luke Crosbie was penalised for offside and this time Canna made no mistake to draw his team level after 25 minutes.
It was a scrappy, tight affair, making Edinburgh’s try six minutes before half-time a rare moment of quality.
Farndale gathered the long kick forward and dashed up field before offloading to Bennett, who touched down between the posts. Van der Walt made no mistake with the conversion.
Zebre were looking for a fourth successive win for the first time in four years and boosted those aspirations early in the second half when they drew level.
Sloppy defence from Edinburgh gave the Italians a scrum just five metres out. And when the ball emerged, Mick Kearney powered over the line to touch down. Canna added the extra two points.
It was anyone’s game at this point. But Zebre were penalised for not rolling away and Van der Walt was lethal with the boot, before adding another penalty soon after to give Edinburgh a six-point advantage.
The Italians weren’t finished, however, and their cause was helped when Nel was shown a yellow card for offside on the hour mark.
It seemed inevitable that Zebre would eventually find a way through as they forced scrum after scrum, only for strong defence to deny them.
Taylor was sent off for going too high in the tackle but Edinburgh defended heroically before Van der Walt and then Farndale made sure of the win.
SCORERS: Zebre — Try: Kearney. Con: Canna. Pen: Canna. Edinburgh — Tries: Bennett, Farndale. Cons: Van der Walt (2). Pens: Van der Walt (4).