SENSE OF BELONGING

Edinburgh prove too good for Toulon

NO wonder proud Edinburgh captain Stuart McInally could not stop smiling after the final whistle. After all, it’s not every day you lead your side to a vital bonus-point European Champions Cup win over one of the best teams in the world.

His men made the superstars of Toulon look ordinary, with heroes all over the park such as McInally, man-of-the-match Viliame Mata and young winger Darcy Graham.

From the first whistle to the last, they played an up-tempo game that had the big men in the French side — particularly their captain Mathieu Bastareaud — huffing and puffing as they struggled to get anywhere near the ball.

The four tries that secured the winning bonus point came from Ben Toolis, Henry Pyrgos, McInally and replacement Chris Dean on what was one of the greatest days in the history of Edinburgh Rugby.

They attacked and defended equally well, with the pick of the brave tackles coming from prop Simon Berghan, who managed to stop Fijian flyer Josua Tuisova in full flow just before he touched down in the corner.

Scotland and Edinburgh captain McInally hailed the win as one of the best of his career and one that puts his team back into the mix for Heineken Champions Cup qualification.

‘It’s one of the best-ever results and I do think it was one of the best displays ever,’ he said. ‘I look back at other performances during my time in rugby and that is right up there.

‘I am really proud of the team and the way they played. We kept the pace of the game up for the 80 minutes and that was a complete performance.

‘We didn’t want to wait and see what Toulon would bring. We wanted to go at them in that first 20 minutes and that is what we did.

‘We got a lead against one of the best teams in the world and kept it. That win gives us a great chance of qualifying from our European group, which is what it is all about.’

There was only one team in it from the first whistle, with Matt Scott the first to bring the crowd to life with a fine break that caught Toulon napping after just two minutes.

The French outfit were so desperate to keep the centre out that Anthony Meric strayed offside when Scott offloaded to give away a penalty.

Jaco van der Walt, preferred to Simon Hickey, who had started at No10 for most of the season, put over the penalty from in front of the posts.

A pass from Dougie Fife to Hamish Watson created another break but, after eight attacking phases, Edinburgh gave away a penalty yards from the Toulon posts.

Six minutes later, the home side increased their lead in spectacular fashion. First, Fife broke through, then the unlikely figure of prop WP Nel split their defence even more.

The ball was recycled four times before the boot of Anthony Belleau stopped McInally from grounding behind the line.

Edinburgh kept their cool and, in the next attacking phase, Toolis got the ball down just over the line. The try was confirmed by referee JP Doyle after consulting with the TMO David Grashoff. Van der Walt put over the conversion.

On 20 minutes, Toulon got a try in their first attack. Former All Black Julian Savea was involved in a move that ended with Romain Taofifenua going over. Belleau put over the conversion.

Four minutes later, Blair Kinghorn played a clever pass to Scott, who took out two defenders before offloading to Pyrgos who was on his shoulder to score. Van der Walt put over his second conversion.

Toulon lock Juandre Kruger — in his first start for five weeks — gave away a needless penalty by barging into Pyrgos off the ball. Van der Walt put over his second penalty and was at it again a few minutes later with a long-range effort that secured his team another three points.

In the last play of the half, Van der Walt put over another successful kick to give his side a 26-7 lead.

Edinburgh got their third try four minutes after the break. Started by Van der Walt, the ball was carried on by Graham then Nel, who found McInally to roll over the line.

It was seven out of seven kicks for Van der Walt — four penalties and three conversions — when he put over yet another kick.

There was also some superb defending from Edinburgh with Berghan making probably the best tackle of his career to keep Tuisova from scoring in the corner.

Graham relieved some of the Toulon pressure with a superb run as the home side did their best to keep out a French outfit that was becoming more and more desperate.

With nine minutes left, Bastareaud made a quick tap and go inside his own 22 that caught the Edinburgh defence napping. It took just two passes to give replacement Daniel Ikpefan an easy run in for Toulon’s second try. Francois Trinh-Duc put over the conversion.

Any hope of a fightback ended with six minutes to go when replacement Dean picked off a telegraphed pass from Trinh-Duc to score under the posts. Replacement Hickey put over the extras.

At the final whistle, Edinburgh head coach Richard Cockerill bearhugged his captain McInally with the two grinning from ear to ear.

The home fans stayed behind to cheer their side off and savour a match that will live long in the memory.

The only negative on a stirring day was Magnus Bradbury being forced off with a shoulder injury.