Top-three hopes all but gone now
EDINBURGH 25 SCARLETS 27
Edinburgh’s hopes of a top-three finish in their PRO14 conference are all but over after they lost a hugely entertaining game at Murrayfield.
The home side were in the contest right to the death as they looked for the opening that would give Jaco van der Walt the chance for a match-winning drop-goal.
But a defiant Scarlets defence ensured that the chance never came for the stand-off, who had earlier missed two kicks at goal as his team tried to regain the lead.
The losing bonus that Edinburgh took from the game leaves them 14 points behind the Welsh team in the race to secure the top-three position that guarantees Champions Cup rugby next season. They have played fewer games, but even if they win all four remaining fixtures with bonus points, Scarlets will finish above them if they take six points from the two matches they have left.
“I think it’s going to be tough for us from here on in,” Edinburgh coach Richard Cockerill accepted.
“It’s a game we could have easily won, but we didn’t manage territory particularly well in the first half.
“We fell a little bit short. It finished three tries apiece, so it’s a game we could have won, but a bit of luck and fortune wasn’t on our side.”
Edinburgh may not have much to play for now in Conference B, but they are still in this season’s Champions Cup and next week will find out who their opponents are in the last 16.
“Europe is going to be the focus now, I suppose,” Cockerill added. “But we’ll try as hard as we can to get as many points as we can.”
The weather felt closer to summer than winter, and both teams made the most of it by attacking with the ball in hand for much of a crazy first half that saw the teams score two tries each. Edinburgh’s came from Magnus Bradbury and Darcy Graham, and with van der Walt converting both and adding two penalties, they went in at the break 20-17 ahead.
But Scarlets, whose first-half scores had come from converted tries by Tyler Morgan and Johnny Mcnicholl and a Dan Jones penalty, took control early in the second 40. Dane Blacker got their third try, and Jones converted and added a penalty to make it 20-27.
Edinburgh sub Dave Cherry got a try back from close-range, but Van der Walt failed to convert from out on the right, then missed a long-range penalty before his team’s final assault was repulsed.
Calum Hill enjoyed his dress rehearsal on the European Tour last season. And he has made the ideal start to the serious stuff for him in 2021.
Hill is currently over in Phoenix preparing for the Qatar Masters next month, having had a superb fourth place last time out in Saudi Arabia.
Following on from another good few days in Abu Dhabi, it has given Hill a flying start in his quest to keep his card for next year.
The 2020 season was unlike any other on Tour, but while he missed the chance to play in front of spectators, it did allow him the chance to learn the ropes with all existing playing privileges maintained for another year.
“It was very beneficial for someone like me, having never had a full European Tour schedule before,” he told The Sunday Post.
“It gave me a look at the majority of courses that are played in a season without the consequence of poor performance, leading to you losing your card. That was quite advantageous for me.
“I don’t think it made an overly drastic impact in playing tournaments as you’re still trying to play the best you can and win tournaments and I don’t feel any different this year as I did last year or the year before.
“But you know in the back of your mind that you have the ability to learn without the same pressure, which was nice.”
Four successful days in Saudi saw him end the week with his highest finish, biggest cheque and a Major-winning caddie on his bag.
The Crook of Devon golfer had serious company on the closing leaderboard. World No. 1 Dustin Johnson won the event, while Justin Rose and Tony Finau finished one shot ahead of Hill. He tied with Frenchman Victor Perez and was one shot clear of Tyrrell Hatton and rising European stars, Norway’s Viktor Hovland and Rasmus Hojgaard of Denmark. The 26-yearold obviously impressed veteran bagman, Phil Morbey ( inset), who caddied for Ian Woosnam when the Welshman won The Masters 30 years ago, as “Wobbly” was happy to turn their weeklong trial into a permanent arrangement.
Hill finished last year in 101st on the Race to Dubai
standings, although players were told straight away after lockdown that only winning a tournament would make a difference to their status.
So as a Challenge Tour graduate, it was a case of waiting for his opportunity in the big money events that started the season. Players like Connor Syme and England’s Matthew Jordan, part of the Class of 2019 on the second tier, finished above Hill in the Race to Dubai in 2020 but are back below him again.
Hill was the last man into the field in Saudi, but fortune favoured the brave as he took full advantage of his chance.
“I feel really fortunate to have snuck in at the back of both Saudi and Abu Dhabi, with bigger purses than the majority of events,” he said.
“Even more so when the likes of Connor and Matt, who had good results last year, are getting the rough draw of it with not being able to play.
“So it was very good to get into them and very nice to get a good result.
“I wouldn’t say, historically, I’m fantastic January to March time. But it was nice to see the things I’m working on continue to progress and my game improving.
“To have a couple of good tourneys in that period is great. Normally I’m a bit sloppy around then and usually my game picks up and the summer is good.
“But if I’m playing well now, hopefully it gets even better for me.”