Solly gets Edinburgh over the line

Edinburgh ended a run of six successive defeats by beating two-time European Cup winners Munster in style on Saturday.

The 29-23 victory over the Irish province, in their opening Pool Five clash, was the first win since South African Alan Solomons took over as head coach of the Scottish outfit.

There was more joy for Leinster, however, the three-time Cup winners battling to a 19-9 victory over Welsh region Ospreys, French champions Castres also recording a close win in the same Pool One with their 19-13 victory over Northampton.

A try from Ireland flank Sean O'Brien converted by Kiwi fly-half Jimmy Gopperth, who also kicked four penalties, was enough for Leinster to scrape past perennial under-achievers Ospreys, for whom Dan Biggar notched up three penalties.

Leinster captain Jamie Heaslip admitted his side had "won the war of attrition".

"That game could have gone either way," the No.8 said.

"We've got a lot to work on for next week."

At Murrayfield, Scotland scrumhalf Greig Laidlaw was the driving force, kicking 19 points including converting the two Edinburgh tries as they made an impressive start to their campaign.

Munster, who also lost their opening pool match last term, took the consolation of a defensive bonus point in a Pool Six that saw Gloucester notch up a 27-22 home win over Perpignan.

Edinburgh burst out of the blocks against Munster, opening up a 10-0 lead after just 12 minutes thanks to a try by Matt Scott converted by Laidlaw, who also nailed a penalty.

However, the European heavyweights hit back to level at 10-10 in the 20th minute as Kiwi centre Casey Laulala scored, and was converted by Ian Keatley, who had got them off the mark with a penalty.

Laidlaw booted the hosts back into a 13-10 lead, only for Munster to reply with a close-range try through Mike Sherry, Keatley converting.

However, more ill discipline by Munster saw Laidlaw knock over another two penalties to give the hosts the lead once again at 19-17.

Keatley slotted over a penalty from wide out on the left in the 53rd minute to give the visitors a one point lead, 20-19 and the 26-year-old added another just over 10 minutes later.

However, the hosts went back in front with a fine try by Scotland's Dutch-born wing Tim Visser, whose electric pace proved too much for the two covering Munster defenders.

Laidlaw continued his faultless day as he converted for 26-23. He then made it seven kicks from seven attempts with just over four minutes remaining to wrap up victory.

Elsewhere, Scarlets recorded their first win in their last six trips to England with a thrilling 33-26 victory over Harlequins.

Scarlets, who endured a torrid European Cup last season with six defeats in pool play, enjoyed a terrific first-half at Twickenham Stoop rounded off in brilliant fashion by an individual try by Scott Williams, who took the ball inside his own half, broke two tackles, dummied Danny Care and touched down.

Rhys Priestland, who had created the first try, converted to send the Welsh side in leading 20-10 at half-time.

Nick Evans reduced the deficit with a drop goal four minutes into the second-half just after Scarlets Samson Lee was sin-binned.

However, Priestland landed two penalties during the 10 minute absence of Lee to give the visitors a 26-13 advantage only for Evans to score two of his own.

The Scarlets' more enterprising play was deservedly rewarded with another sparkling try in the 63rd minute.

Scott Williams turned the ball over, and when it was fed to Jordan Williams, 30 metres out, the winger darted down the left touchline, breaking two tackles and then cut inside breaking another to touch down.

Priestland, faultless throughout the game, converted for 33-19.

However, Harlequins got right back into it with just over 11 minutes remaining as England fullback Mike Brown scored his second try of the game, Evans converting to bag the invaluable bonus point.

Montpellier put Treviso to the sword, 27-10, in the remaining Pool 5 encounter, Ulster having beaten Leicester on Friday.

All Saturday's scores and scorers:

Pool One

Castres 19-13 Northampton Saints

The scorers:

For Castres:

Try: Martial

Con: Kockott

Pens: Kockott 4

For Northampton Saints:

Try: Hartley

Con: Myler

Pens: Myler 2

Yellow card: Ben Foden (Northampton Saints, 31)

Teams:

Castres: 15 Geoffrey Palis, 14 Romain Martial, 13 Romain Cabannes, 12 Remi Lamerat, 11 Max Evans, 10 Remi Tales (captain), 9 Rory Kockott, 9 Antonie Claassen, 7 Piula Faasalele, 6 Jannie Bornman, 5 Rodrigo Capo Ortega, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Anton Peikrishvili, 2 Brice Mach, 1 Mihaita Lazar.

Replacements: 16 Marc-Antoine Rallier, 17 Karena Wihongi, 18 Michael Coetzee, 19 Christophe Samson, 20 Pedrie Wannenburg, 21 Julien Tomas, 22 Remi Grosso, 23 Daniel Kirkpatrick.

Northampton Saints: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Ken Pisi, 13 George Pisi, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 George North, 10 Steve Myler, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i, 8 Sam Dickinson, 7 Calum Clark, 6 Tom Wood, 5 Christian Day, 4 Courtney Lawes, 3 Salesi Ma'afu, 2 Dylan Hartley (captain), 1 Alex Corbisiero.

Replacements: 16 Mikey Haywood, 17 Alex Waller, 18 Tom Mercey, 19 Samu Manoa, 20 Phil Dowson, 21 Lee Dickson, 22 James Wilson, 23 Jamie Elliott.

Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)

Assistant referees: Gary Conway (Ireland) ,Eddie Hogan-O'Connell (Ireland)

TMO: Simon McDowell (Ireland)

Ospreys 9-19 Leinster

The scorers:

For Ospreys:

Pens: Biggar 3

For Leinster:

Try: O'Brien

Con: Gopperth

Pens: Gopperth 4

Teams:

Ospreys: 15 Richard Fussell, 14 Ben John, 13 Andrew Bishop, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Eli Walker, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Joe Bearman, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Ryan Jones, 5 James King, 4 Alun Wyn Jones (captain), 3 Adam Jones, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Duncan Jones.

Replacements: 16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Ryan Bevington, 18 Aaron Jarvis, 19 Tyler Ardron, 20 Sam Lewis, 21 Tom Habberfield, 22 Matthew Morgan, 23 Jeff Hassler.

Leinster: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Brendan Macken, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Dave Kearney, 10 Jimmy Gopperth, 9 Isaac Boss, 8 Jamie Heaslip (captain), 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 Kevin McLaughlin, 5 Mike McCarthy, 4 Devin Toner, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Sean Cronin, 1 Cian Healy.

Replacements: 16 Aaron Dundon, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Martin Moore, 19 Quinn Roux, 20 Rhys Ruddock, 21 Eoin Reddan, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Luke Fitzgerald.

Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)

Assistant referees: Roger Whitfield (England), Paul Dix (England)

TMO: Geoff Warren (England)

Pool Four

Harlequins 26-33 Scarlets

The scorers:

For Harlequins:

Tries: Brown 2

Cons: Evans 2

Pens: Evans 3

DG: Evans

For Scarlets:

Tries: R. Williams, S Williams, J Williams

Cons: Priestland 3

Pens: Priestland 4

Yellow cards: Samson Lee (Scarlets, 42), Rob Evans (Scarlets, 77)

Teams:

Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Tom Williams, 13 Matt Hopper, 12 Ben Botica, 11 Sam Smith, 10 Nick Evans, 9 Danny Care, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Chris Robshaw (captain), 6 Maurie Fa'asavalu, 5 George Robson, 4 George Merrick, 3 Will Collier, 2 Rob Buchanan, 1 Joe Marler.

Replacements: 16 Dave Ward, 17 Darryl Marfo, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Tom Guest, 20 Luke Wallace, 21 Karl Dickson, 22 Paul Sackey, 23 Charlie Walker.

Scarlets: 15 Liam Williams, 14 Kristian Phillips, 13 Jonathan Davies (captain), 12 Scott Williams, 11 Jordan Williams, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Rhodri Williams, 8 Josh Turnbull, 7 John Barclay, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 George Earle, 4 Jake Ball, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Emyr Phillips, 1 Phil John.

Replacements: 16 Kirby Myhill, 17 Rob Evans, 18 Jacobie Adriaanse, 19 Joe Snyman, 20 Craig Price, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Steven Shingler, 23 Gareth Maule.

Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)

Assistant referees: Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland), Olly Hodges (Ireland)

TMO: Marshall Kilgore (Ireland)

Pool Five

Treviso 10-27 Montpellier

The scorers:

For Treviso:

Try: Loamanu

Con: Botes

Pen: Botes

For Montpellier:

Tries: Pelissie, Combezou

Con: Pelissie

Pens: Paillaugue 4, Pelissie

Yellow cards: Mamuka Gorgodze (Montpellier, 23), Enrico Ceccato (Benetton Treviso, 44), Robert Barbieri (Benetton Treviso, 58), Maximiliano Bustos (Montpellier, 76)

Teams:

Treviso: 15 Brendan Williams, 14 Ludovico Nitoglia, 13 Luca Morisi, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Michele Campagnaro, 10 Luke McLean, 9 Tobias Botes, 8 Robert Barbieri, 7 Alessandro Zanni, 6 Simone Favaro, 5 Marco Fuser, 4 Antonio Pavanello (captain), 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Enrico Ceccato, 1 Michele Rizzo.

Replacements: 16 Giovanni Maistri, 17 Ignacio Fernandez Rouyet, 18 Pedro di Santo, 19 Valerio Bernabo, 20 Dean Budd, 21 Christian Loamanu, 22 Fabio Semenzato, 23 James Ambrosini.

Montpellier: 15 Anthony Floch, 14 Anthony Tuitavake, 13 Thomas Combezou, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Yoan Audrin, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Benoit Paillaugue, 8 Kelian Galletier, 7 Mamuka Gorgodze, 6 Alexandre Bias (captain), 5 Robins Tchale Watchou, 4 Jim Hamilton, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Charles Geli, 1 Na'ama Leleimalefaga.

Replacements: 16 Mickael Ivaldi, 17 Yvan Watremez, 18 Maximiliano Bustos, 19 Thibaut Privat, 20 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 21 Jonathan Pelissie, 22 Enzo Selponi, 23 Yohann Artru.

Referee: Dudley Phillips (Ireland)

Assistant referees: Kieran Barry (Ireland), Eanna O'Dowd (Ireland)

TMO: Kevin Beggs (Ireland)

Pool Six

Edinburgh 29-23 Munster

The scorers:

For Edinburgh:

Tries: Scott, Visser

Cons: Laidlaw 2

Pens: Laidlaw 5

For Munster:

Tries: Laulala, Sherry

Cons: Keatley 2

Pens: Keatley 3

Teams:

Edinburgh: 15 Jack Cuthbert, 14 Douglas Fife, 13 Nick De Luca, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Harry Leonard, 9 Greig Laidlaw (captain), 8 David Denton, 7 Cornell Du Preez, 6 Dimitri Basilaia, 5 Sean Cox, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Willem Nel, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Alasdair Dickinson.

Replacements: 16 Aleki Lutui, 17 Lodewikus Blaauw, 18 Geoff Cross, 19 Ollie Atkins, 20 Roddy Grant, 21 Sean Kennedy, 22 Joaquin Dominguez, 23 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne.

Munster: 15 Felix Jones, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 James Downey, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Conor Murray, 8 James Coughlan, 7 Niall Ronan, 6 Paddy Butler, 5 Paul O'Connell (captain), 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Mike Sherry, 1 Dave Kilcoyne.

Replacements: 16 Damien Varley, 17 James Cronin, 18 BJ Botha, 19 Donncha O'Callaghan, 20 CJ Stander, 21 Duncan Williams, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 Denis Hurley.

Referee: JP Doyle (England)

Assistant referees: David Rose (England), Roy Maybank (England)

TMO: Trevor Fisher (England)

Gloucester 27-22 Perpignan

The scorers:

For Gloucester:

Tries: Cowan, May

Con: Twelvetrees

Pens: Twelvetrees 5

For Perpignan:

Try: Hook

Con: Hook

Pens: Hook 4

DG: Hook

Yellow cards: Nicolas Durand (Perpignan, 42), Matt Kvesic (Gloucester, 52)

Red card: Lifeimi Mafi (Perpignan, 74)

Teams:

Gloucester: 15 Rob Cook, 14 Jonny May, 13 Mike Tindall, 12 Billy Twelvetrees, 11 James Simpson-Daniel, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Sione Kalamafoni 7 Matt Kvesic, 6 Tom Savage (captain), 5 James Hudson, 4 Elliott Stooke, 3 Shaun Knight, 2 Huia Edmonds, 1 Yann Thomas.

Replacements: 16 Dan George, 17 Dan Murphy, 18 Rupert Harden, 19 Gareth Evans, 20 Akapusi Qera, 21 Dan Robson, 22 Ryan Mills, 23 Martyn Thomas.

Perpignan: 15 James Hook, 14 Wandile Mjekevu, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Lifeimi Mafi, 11 Sofiane Guitoune, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Nicolas Durand, 8 Luke Narraway, 7 Alasdair Strokosch, 6 Justin Purll, 5 Romain Taofifenua, 4 Dan Leo, 3 Paulica Ion, 2 Guilhem Guirado (captain), 1 Sebastien Taofifenua.

Replacements: 16 Romain Terrain, 17 Kisi Pulu, 18 George Jgenti, 19 Jean-Pierre Perez, 20 Dewaldt Duvenage, 21 David Marty, 22 Joffrey Michel, 23 Luke Charteris.

Referee: Leighton Hodges (Wales)

Assistant referees: Ian Davies (Wales), Sean Brickell (Wales)

TMO: Tim Hayes (Wales)

AFP & rugby365