The Scottish Mail on Sunday

Duhan helps deal capital punishment

- By Rob Robertson AT DAM HEALTH STADIUM

Edinburgh 53 Benetton 8

EDINBURGH head coach Mike Blair praised the performanc­e of returning winger Duhan van der Merwe as he scored two of his side’s nine tries in their ruthless destructio­n of Benetton.

The Scotland internatio­nal, who rejoined the club after two years at Worcester Warriors, was in superb form for a home side that put in their best display of the season.

‘Duhan got a bit of ball and was shrugging guys off in the first half but not getting anywhere,’ said Blair.

‘He was boxed into a hole at times but once he got a little bit of space he showed what he can do with his two tries. It is fantastic to have him back at the club.’

A mix of forwards and backs got the rest of the touchdowns in a masterclas­s of attacking play from the home side.

It was the forwards who dominated the early scoring, with Sam Skinner, Luke Crosbie and Pierre Schoeman all going over. The backs then took a turn with Van der Merwe (below) and Darcy Graham both getting the first of their two tries. The others came from WP Nel and Emiliano Boffelli.

‘We controlled territory in that first half as well as you can into the wind, then when we got points after half-time it gave us some impetus and we were able to stay on top of Benetton after that,’ said the Edinburgh head coach.

‘They made a few changes from last week but they had quality players and an internatio­nal front row, so they still had a strong team and still needed putting away. But our energy and intent was better and we did just that.’

The only time Edinburgh were even slightly challenged came when they went behind to a Tomas Albornoz penalty after just three minutes. Most of the next 20 minutes was bogged down in a battle of the forwards before the first Edinburgh try came from an unlikely source.

Blair Kinghorn set the chance up with a looping pass that took out two defenders and found its way to second row Skinner, who dived over in the corner for his first try for the club.

That score gave the home side lots of confidence and they got a crucial second just before the break through Crosbie. Boffelli put over the conversion.

Within a minute of the restart, Edinburgh went further ahead and again it was the forwards who deserved all the credit. They showed patience close to the Benetton line before Schoeman crashed over.

Four minutes later, the fans were on their feet for the first try of his second spell at the club from Van der Merwe. He broke through two despairing tackles and side-stepped another before touching down under the posts. Boffelli put over the conversion.

It was all one-way traffic with Graham getting on the scoreboard with a move that went straight up the middle before going wide right. Kinghorn started it before Mark Bennett played the scoring pass to his winger.

The tries kept on coming with Nel going over for one converted by Boffelli. The Argentine then got one of his own moments later for his side’s seventh try.

Van der Merwe went over for the eighth after Boffelli had done all the hard work. He helped break up a rare Benetton attack and sprinted straight down the pitch. He didn’t have the legs to finish off the move so played a try scoring pass to his winger who was on his shoulder. The Argentine put over the conversion.

With Edinburgh taking their foot off the gas and making lots of changes the Italians got their first try through flanker Toa Halafihi six minutes from time.

Graham got his second try in the corner in the last play of the

game.

SCORERS; Edinburgh— Tries: Skinner, Crosbie, Schoeman, Van der Merwe 2, Graham 2, Nel, Boffelli. Cons: Boffelli 4. Benetton — Try: Halafihi. Pen: Albornoz.

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