Edinburgh run riot in style to slay the sorry Dragons
EDINBURGH 44 DRAGONS 6
Edinburgh dispatched the Dragons in style last night to get their URC campaign off to a winning start.
They were behind early on and only led 15-6 at the break, but a brace of tries from Darcy Graham early in the second half set them firmly on the way to a convincing victory.
Dragons stand-off JJ Hanrahan opened the scoring with a third-minute penalty, then doubled the Welsh team’s lead after 12 minutes. Midway through the half a high tackle on Chris Dean gave Edinburgh their first scoring opportunity of the night with a penalty just inside the 10-metre line, but Mark Bennett’s kick went wide.
Edinburgh needed to do something to shake things up a bit, and they did exactly that with 25 minutes played when Ben Vellacott took a quick tap penalty and sprinted deep into Dragons territory. The scrum-half was stopped five metres short of the line, but the forwards carried on the attack and battered away at the line for several phases.
Eventually Vellacott got the ball again, and from no more than a metre out he dabbed the ball down on the line for the opening try of the night. Bennett’s kick at goal was successful this time, putting his team in front for the first time.
The one-point lead became six a few minutes before the break. Damien Hoyland did well to catch a low pass and hare up the left wing, and this time when the forwards took it on, they finished the job, with lock Glen Young touching down. Bennett’s conversion attempt was wide this time, but at 12-6 the scoreline still had a far healthier look going into the break than it had done at the midway point of the half.
The Dragons suffered another blow just before the break when prop forward Lloyd Fairbrother was yellowcarded for a tackle off the ball. It looked like Fairbrother had done little more than allow his momentum to carry him into an Edinburgh player, but the referee deemed otherwise.
Another offence in the closing seconds of the half gave Bennett a chance to extend Edinburgh’s lead further, and this time he made no mistake to make the score 15-6 at the break.
What the Dragons lack in finesse they often make up for in spirit, and Edinburgh knew they would have to keep their foot on the gas in the second half. They did exactly that, with Darcy Graham scoring their third try within three minutes of the restart after a maul had set up a good position. The conversion attempt was wide again.
Graham then scored the try of the night, picking up a loose ball on the far side and slaloming his way through a tiring defence for the bonuspoint score. Bennett added the two points.
Hoyland added a fifth thanks to a long, looping pass from substitute stand-off Blair Kinghorn. Then Kinghorn went from provider to scorer, kicking a loose ball ahead and gathering it just before the line to touch down in the corner for another unconverted try.
The Dragons tried to hit back, but lost the ball deep in the Edinburgh half and were punished when Chris Dean ran in his team’s seventh try. The conversion by Bennett took his team’s tally to 44.
Edinburgh’s Nick Haining was sin-binned in the last minute.