Ruthless Sean gets desired result with front row shake-up
Ruthless Edinburgh head coach Sean Everitt’s decision to hook his entire front row at half-time paid dividends against the Scarlets.
His side had been eight points down at the break but the introduction of the Scotland international trio of Pierre Schoeman, Ewan Ashman and WP Nel turned the game.
The fed-up coach gave his forwards an earful in the dressing room, taking off Boan Venter, David Cherry and Javan Sebastian, all of whom had had first-half stinkers.
The switch made a big difference with the win – courtesy of one first-half try and five in the second – keeping Edinburgh’s hopes of finishing in the top eight and making the end-of-season URC league play-offs very much alive.
Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend, who was watching from the stands, would have been impressed at how Edinburgh improved so much in the second half.
And he would have been especially pleased at the way Ben Healy controlled the game. The Scotland international put over five conversions and one penalty in a masterclass of fly-half play.
Scotland international winger Duhan van der Merwe also looked back to his best and was a constant threat to the Scarlets defence. Full-back Wes Goosen also had a fine game, scoring the opening try and was always looking to find space.
The poor first half will concern Edinburgh head coach Everitt but he will be pleased at how his side upped the tempo in the second period. They also kept their discipline well when the pressure was on with Jamie Ritchie doing well in the back row.
The home side didn’t make things easy for themselves early on and blew a chance to score in the first minute when Venter dropped the ball when he was over the try line. They were made to pay straight away when Tom Rogers scored in the corner for the visitors.
The home side made a mess of their next attack with a wayward pass from Mark Bennett going straight into touch rather than the hands of unmarked winger Matt Currie.
It was third-time lucky for
Edinburgh when Goosen ran through a gap in the Scarlets defence to score.
The Welsh side regained the lead with a long-range penalty from Sam Costelow and went further ahead when Ali Price had his clearance kick charged down by Sam Lousi with Gareth Davies winning the foot race to score.
For all their pressing for the last ten minutes of the half, the home side couldn’t penetrate a disciplined Scarlets defence.
The front row half-time changes made an instant impact with the forwards going through 15 attacking phases to set up a platform that created space for Van der Merwe to run through to score just three minutes after the restart.
Ben Healy put over a penalty to put his side two points ahead before Sam Costelow put the Welsh outfit back in front with a penalty from in front of the posts. On the hour mark, the Edinburgh forwards showed great discipline and patience to keep the ball alive until there was enough space to allow Currie a clear run to score under the posts. They did the same again when they kept the ball tight but didn’t need to get their backs involved as replacement Schoeman crashed over for the fourth try that secured the bonus point.
Van der Merwe thought he had added to the tally but play was pulled back by referee Eoghan Cross for a knock-on in the build-up.
The home crowd of 6,887 didn’t have to wait long for another try with Bennett running half the length of the field for a lung-busting try with Bill Mata being the sixth and final one for the home side.