Edinburgh robbed at the death by Martin drop goal
BENETTON 28 EDINBURGH 27
Edinburgh came within seconds of claiming a second five-point win in as many games in the United Rugby Championship yesterday – only to see victory snatched away from them.
Benetton substitute Leonardo Marin scoring a drop-goal with the last kick of the match.
Mike Blair’s side were 11 points ahead at one stage in the first half, and they led by nine points early in the second 40.
They played some excellent attacking rugby too, with scrumhalf Ben Vellacott putting in another outstanding display and scoring two of their four tries.
But they were simply unable to kill the Italians off in the match at Treviso’s Stadio Monigo, and in the end had to make do with two losing bonus points – one for the narrow defeat and the other for the four tries, with front-row forwards Willem Nel and Stuart McInally touching down either side of Vellacott’s brace.
Stand-off Jaco van der Walt added seven points with two conversions and a long-range penalty which put his team back in front late in the game after Benetton had rallied.
But the home side – who had been reduced to 14 men for ten minutes in the second half when replacement hooker Giacomo Nicotera was yellow-carded for obstructing Darcy Graham off the ball – still managed to have the last word.
“Pretty gutted,” was head coach Blair’s verdict. “We put ourselves in a position to win the game but didn’t do it. We let them back into the game, which was disappointing.
“When we got our game going we looked very strong on the ball, very strong in defence, but we just need to get that consistency and get that going throughout the full 80 minutes.
“Benetton did well to get back into it and it was an excellent kick at the end for the win – but we gave them that opportunity.
“We should have got the win today. This is about everyone understanding with three or four minutes to go we have to make sure we win this game.”
They certainly should have been able to see the game out in the last few minutes. But if they had cut down on the error count they might also have had the win wrapped up some time before then, as they were on top for much of the contest.
Benetton took an early lead through hooker Gianmarco Lucchesi, but Edinburgh hit back through Nel’s close-range touchdown and van der Walt’s conversion put them in front.
A Tomas Albornoz penalty made it 8-7 to the home side, but then came Vellacott’s two tries, the first of which was converted by the stand-off.
That put the visitors 11 points up, but perhaps crucially given the way the game panned out, Benetton replied before the break when winger Monty Ioane collected a punt to the corner and touched down. Albornoz’s conversion cut Edinburgh’s lead to 15-19 at the break.
McInally’s unconverted try was the first score of the second half and might have been the signal for the Scots to take charge. But Benetton were far from finished, and closed to six points when Marin knocked over a simple penalty
Then Lucchesi powered over for his second try, and Marin’s conversion put his team back in front.
That van der Walt penalty restored Edinburgh’s lead, but Marin had the last laugh.