Capital display has the perfect timing
Kinghorn had to go off with a knee injury. Mark Bennett took over.
The home side needed a good start to the second half to steady the nerves and they got it thanks to some great skill from HidalgoClyne five minutes in.
He came round the side of a ruck before putting in an expert grubber kick that Van der Merwe gathered and ran in to score. Hidalgo-Clyne put over the conversion.
Replacement Crosbie got the sixth try in 57 minutes with HidalgoClyne again converting.
Replacement Duncan Weir then picked up a loose ball in his own half before running to the opposition 22-metre line. He found Bennett, who went over the line. Weir added the extras.
Edinburgh kept their best worked try to last. It came from a line-out with replacement hooker Neil Cochrane playing an arrow pass into the arms of Fowles.
He ran through the line-out and brushed aside two Scarlets defenders to score. Weir completed the rout with his conversion.
THEY say timing is everything. Edinburgh will be hoping that proves to be the case as they are peaking at just the right moment in the Pro14. Richard Cockerill’s team ran in eight tries — their most in the league this season — to take a giant step towards the end-of-season play-offs.
The 52 points they scored against Scarlets is their highest number in the league campaign as they come to the boil when it matters.
The task left in front of them now is simple. Take a winning or losing bonus point in a fortnight against Glasgow Warriors at Murrayfield in the final game of the season and they will qualify for the play-offs.
On this form you wouldn’t bet against them. Four touchdowns within the first 24 minutes secured a speedy bonus point and laid the foundations for victory. The other four in the second period simply emphasised their superiority.
Two tries came from South African winger Duhan van der Merwe, who was a constant thorn in the side of the Welsh outfit. His raw power helped him break through tackle after tackle and his finishing for his touch-downs were superb.
It was mostly one-way traffic throughout the match, with the home side never in trouble.
They dominated all areas of play with the only concern being an injury to full-back Blair Kinghorn, who left the stadium with his right leg in a boot. Before he left the field he scored a try of his own in what was a top-class performance.
Edinburgh’s other scorers were Magnus Bradbury, Sam HidalgoClyne, Luke Crosbie, Mark Bennett and Nathan Fowles.
The home side had luck on their side when a controversial try was awarded in their favour after just six minutes. South African referee Stuart Berry failed to see a blatant forward pass from James Johnstone to Kinghorn, who scored in the corner. Hidalgo-Clyne was so concerned that the official would realise his mistake and refer the incident to the TMO that he took — and missed — a quick drop goal conversion attempt.
Two minutes later, the home side went further ahead after a great solo try from Van der Merwe.
The winger brushed off attempts by Tom Varndell and Rhys Jones to stop him before touching down. Hidalgo-Clyne converted.
The third try came after 18 minutes when Bradbury stripped the ball from Ryan Elias. He fed Jaco van der Walt, who played in Hidalgo-Clyne for the score. The same player got up to convert.
The fourth try, which secured the bonus point, came after just 24 minutes. Set up by Chris Dean, it was touched down by Bradbury. Hidalgo-Clyne put over the extras.
In their first real attack, Scarlets winger Varndell scored in the corner after poor marking by Dougie Fife. Dan Jones converted.
Jones then went over for a try in the corner after some great work from his forward pack. He converted his own try.
Edinburgh suffered a blow a minute before the break when