A painful lesson for Edinburgh
EDINBURGH’S quest for an extended run in the European Challenge Cup suffered a setback after a bruising loss in Bordeaux.
Their efficient and clinical French opponents proved too classy and the result leaves Richard Cockerill’s side reverting to Plan B and seeking a bonus-point win against Agen at BT Murrayfield to reach the knockout phase.
Should they qualify, they will now face an away tie, with Bordeaux among their possible opponents.
Cockerill learned a good deal about the depth of his squad, particularly how far they are behind the French outfit.
‘They are a very good side with a big budget. At the moment, who are a better side in Europe than Bordeaux?’ said Cockerill.
‘We learned some lessons. If you make errors or give opportunities to big teams, you’ll be punished. We did that. I thought we stuck to the task and our character was big today. We stayed in the battle the whole time.
‘But they deserved to win. They are a better team than us at this point in time and they were better today.’
The Englishman rested some of his more experienced players and was pleased with how the replacements measured up, adding: ‘There were little parts of our game that were pleasing and we’ve got to keep learning and building. There are some guys getting some really good exposure and experience.
‘It’s good that we’ve experienced what it’s like to come to a big French side. Last year, we went to Montpellier, who were low in confidence. This year, we’ve come to a team that’s top of the table and not disgraced ourselves in any way, shape or form.
‘They had to work very hard for their victory.’
A crowd of 17,553 watched as Bordeaux continued the progress that has been made by Christophe Urios, who took over as coach at the start of the season.
The current pacesetters in the Top 14 had never finished higher than third in the pool stages of a
European competition and went into yesterday’s match looking to set that unwelcome record straight.
Urios had 10 internationals in his side, among them five players named in France’s preliminary Six Nations squad earlier in the week.
Edinburgh had secured a draw in the reverse match, making them one of only four sides to take something from a match with Bordeaux this season.
Cockerill demanded a committed, high-energy effort from his players and they issued an early statement of intent with several attacks that stretched the home defence.
But it was the boot of Jaco van der Walt that opened the scoring when he slotted a 10th-minute penalty for Edinburgh.
Matthieu Jalibert responded in kind then saw the hosts into a 17-3 lead at half-time when he kicked both conversions after Semi Radradra had powered his way over for the first try of the afternoon before setting up Santiago Cordero for the second.
Edinburgh responded with the first try of the second half when Mark Bennett intercepted inside his own 22 and fed Hamish Watson. He then provided the pass for Duhan van der Merwe to race 60 metres and touch down, leaving Van der Walt the conversion to cut the deficit to seven points.
However, that was as close as Edinburgh would get, with the hosts claiming a further try through Yann Lesgourgues, converted by Jalibert, who then added a further three points with a penalty to ensure there was no chance of the visitors fighting back in the final quarter.
The task for the hosts was to secure a bonus-point try. That came when Peni Ravai Kovekalou blasted his way over from close range to clinch the crucial score.
There was time for Edinburgh to sign off with another try and, this time, it was Bennett who obliged, racing through a tiring Bordeaux defence to dot down, with Simon Hickey slotting the kick to complete the scoring.
However, it was mission accomplished for the home side, who will travel to meet Wasps next weekend, knowing that their spot in the last eight is already secured.
‘We played the game the way we wanted to play it — with pace, moving the ball and we were precise,’ said Urios. ‘I thought we dominated the match, physically.’
For Cockerill, the objective now is to ensure there are no slip ups on home turf. With that in mind, he will be looking to beef up his squad with some of his more battle-hardened campaigners, notably the locks Grant Gilchrist and Ben Toolis, who were rested yesterday but look set for a comeback on Saturday.
Cockerill conceded that he had not picked his strongest side but he was happy with some of the stand-in players — although he is promising that the focus will be firmly on dispatching Agen at BT Murrayfield.
‘We could have picked other bodies in the team that may have made us stronger,’ he said. ‘We wanted to use the opportunity to look after players. It’s been a big World Cup and it’s going to be a big Six Nations.
‘As a group, we’ve taken a step forward today. Sometimes winning isn’t the outcome that takes us a step forward from where we are as a club. I will pick as strong a side as I think is available.’