END OF THE ROAD
Edinburgh’s European dream crashes to a halt against Cardiff
Edinburgh 6 Cardiff 20
EDINBURGH head coach Richard Cockerill has spoken of his side being at just 60 per cent of where they need to be to halt rollercoaster rugby in the Scottish capital — and this European Challenge Cup exit showed him to be accurate.
More accurate than his team, certainly. This burgeoning Edinburgh side fell behind to a clever Cardiff kicking game and two fortunate tries by Blaine Scully and Ellis Jenkins on a bitterly cold night and, despite going on to enjoy long periods of possession in the second half, they lacked the accuracy and precision in the final third to come close to denying the Blues a semi-final trip to Pau in the south of France.
When the players lifted their heads to look outside for the first time yesterday, on an Easter weekend to see rain, hail, sleet and snow, and pitched up at Murrayfield to sub-zero temperatures, they will have grasped that this European ‘glamour’ tie was going to be all about grit.
Under Cockerill, Edinburgh have undoubtedly strengthened — with signs of a new steel emerging in a run of 18 wins in 24 games this season, and an ability to come from behind and finish strongly.
They came into this one with 14 wins in their last 15 home games in the Challenge Cup, but their solitary defeat came at the quarterfinal stage last season, against La Rochelle, and history repeated itself last night as they again stumbled on a big night.
Cardiff were also on a good run, with eight wins in eight, and while not the greatest attacking side they have one of the best defences in the competition.
A loose pass from WP Nel and first chip over the top of the Edinburgh defence by Cardiff flyhalf Jarrod Evans had the alarm bells ringing early in the home camp, and while John Hardie was on fine form at the breakdown, Josh Navidi, the openside playing blindside for Cardiff, showed that he was a match for the Kiwi.
Navidi superbly robbed Edinburgh of ball early and ended a fine attack off Duhan van der Merwe’s break, and generally went on to become a real menace with countless turnovers. He deserved ‘Man of the Match’ honours.
Evans missed his first kick at goal but Jaco van der Walt was on target to put Edinburgh in front.
However, while the air was dry, the wet pitch did influence proceedings and duly pulled the legs from Edinburgh’s effort. First, Nathan Fowles lost a hanging crossfield kick from Evans in the wind and let it fall, bouncing nicely off his shoulder for chasing flanker Jenkins, who gleefully dived on it for the opening try.
When Gareth Anscombe copied the tactic, it brought another try after 29 minutes. Blair Kinghorn couldn’t gather the full-back’s grubber and again it bounced nicely for Cardiff centre Rey Lee-Lo, who then fed the Blues’ American winger Blaine Scully for an easy dive over amid scrambling Edinburgh bodies.
The home lineout lacked consistency and the scrum was outsmarted at key moments. Too often, Cardiff dominated the collisions and all of that played a part in ensuring Edinburgh struggled to grasp a foothold against a team they undoubtedly had the quality to overcome.
Evans started the second half as he had the first, falling short with a penalty and, similarly, Van Der Walt rewarded a spirited start by Edinburgh by converting his first opportunity. The breakdown battle continued to be a holy riot and Navidi and Nick Williams secured another penalty, which Evans this time turned into three points ten minutes into the second half.
Cockerill started sending on replacements after just 15 minutes, but it was full-back Kinghorn who continued to be the most likely to bring the hosts back into the game with his mazy running through traffic and sprints into open prairie. He was also a key figure in defence, halting a fine run by Owen Lane.
Final replacement Duncan Weir replaced Van Der Walt, sparking memories of his 16-point matchwinning finale against Connacht last week. When he came on Edinburgh were 11 points behind but thanks to another Evans penalty, he soon faced a 14-point deficit with 15 minutes to go.
Edinburgh dominated the final stages and had the possession to come back, but couldn’t score.
Another scintillating Kinghorn break up the middle of the park came close to a try.
Although Cardiff lost Jenkins to the sin-bin when he knocked on as Edinburgh strove to turn the second phase into a score, they clung on with a combination of cute defence and poor Edinburgh passing and receiving — Weir, Van der Merwe and Neil Cochrane being notable culprits.
This meant Scotland’s European hopes followed all remaining heat out of the Murrayfield cavern and into the dark Edinburgh night.