CAPITAL GAINS
Ten-try Edinburgh earn bonus point as Brive are blitzed
SWASHBUCKLING Edinburgh put hapless Brive to the sword by running in ten tries and conceding just one penalty during a dominant 80 minutes of rugby.
This was a big step towards qualification to the last 16 of the Challenge Cup for the capital club, and that could be assured if results elsewhere this weekend go their way.
It is a results business, so the bonus-point win was the most important thing, but head coach Mike Blair will also be delighted with how several fringe players performed — creating the sort of selection headache for next week’s visit to Ospreys in the United Rugby Championship that he will savour.
The cherry on the top of a great night for the home side was it came in front of a crowd of 6,165, a record at the DAM Health Stadium.
Brive took an early lead through a third-minute penalty from Thomas Laranjeira.
But Edinburgh bounced right back and soon had a chance to square it when a ruck offence offered the chance of three easy points from in front of the posts.
They opted to go for the jugular instead and that boldness was rewarded three phases later when Glen Young rumbled over from after only five minutes. Emiliano Boffelli added the conversion.
It was an excellent way for second-row Young to mark his first start for the club after his move from Harlequins in the summer. He missed the first four months of the season with a pectoral injury.
Laranjeira should have put the visitors back in front, but was off target with two penalty attempts.
The hosts also passed up a scoring opportunity when they again opted to run a kickable penalty, but this time ended up being penalised for holding on at the next ruck.
It got even better for Young, though, on 25 minutes when he charged down Brive scrum-half Enzo Sanga’s box-kick on halfway and thundered all the way to the try-line.
Edinburgh’s tails were up, and they snatched try number three four minutes later in equally thrilling style.
Pierre Schoeman and Blair Kinghorn combined to send Charlie Shiel clear. The scrum-half didn’t quite make it, but a quick recycle allowed Mesu Kunavula to send Jamie Ritchie over.
And the bonus-point was in the bag for Edinburgh on 33 minutes when another sweeping attack was finished by Darcy Graham.
Not to be outdone, debut winger Freddie Owsley — a former British Under-20s sprint champion — got in on the act just before half-time, showcasing his pace when Edinburgh turned the ball over near their own line and cleared to halfway.
Fast Freddy chased the kick down and then hacked forward twice before flopping on the ball as it bounced over the try-line, setting up an easy conversion for Boffelli.
Owsley struck again just two minutes into the second half, coming off his wing to take a neat pop-pass out of contact from Kunavula and streaking home on a diagonal run from 25 yards.
It wasn’t quite one-way traffic but when Brive did manage to get over the line on a peel round the front of a line-out, the ball was spilled in a contact and the chance was gone.
The only real negative on the night for the home side was the head injury picked up by Stuart McInally soon after his arrival on the park as a half-time replacement.
With Scotland beginning the build-up to the Six Nations on Monday, both the hooker and national team head coach Gregor Townsend will be hoping that this doesn’t lead to a lengthy lay-off. Ben Muncaster announced his arrival on the pitch as a 49thminute substitute for Jamie Ritchie by muscling over on the left a few minutes later, with Boffelli once again nailing the touchline conversion.
There was something of a lull midway thrugh the second half and it wasn’t until 66th minute that Edinburgh struck again. Centre Cammy Hutchison made the initial dent off a line-out thrown over the top and Hamish Watson finished on the left to bring up the half century.
Mark Bennett then Henry Pyrgos helped themselves to tries number nine and ten late on, with replacement stand-off Charlie Savala slotting both conversions for good measure.