Tight win for try-less Gunners

Edinburgh ended off their 2009/10 Heineken Cup campaign with a hard-fought 9-7 victory over Stade Francais at Murrayfield on Saturday afternoon.

An unbelievable match, the 80 minutes was largely dominated by the home side. Terrioty, possession, the statistic were overwhelming in favour of the Scottish side.

Despite all that though Rob Moffatt’s men were just unable to get over the white-wash. Stade Francais defended steadfastly but in truth it was a mystery how they kept Edinburgh at bay.

After a minutes applause for the late, great, Bill McLaren it was Edinburgh’s Phil Godman who got the game underway.

A storming break from Jim Thompson almost led to the opening try after just two minutes but a great last ditch tackle on Alan MacDonald saved Stade Francais.

The Gunners were putting together some good rugby and stretching the Stade defence but, as is unfortunately a regular problem for them, they were struggling to get a decisive score.

Finally, after 12 minutes of action, the kicking machine, Chris Paterson slotted over the first points of the game, a penalty. The three points for Paterson saw the Scottish fullback become his Franchises record points scorer in the Heineken Cup.

With good possession hard to come by the visitors were forced to try and kick their way down field. The wind wasn’t particularly harsh against the French side but they were just unable to force their way into a threatening position. The Gunners had been impressive in terms of their rugby, with flyhalf Phil Godman mixing up the play well, but still no success.

Eventually, with 20 minutes of the match gone, the French side started to enjoy somewhere close to parity in the possession stakes.

Slowly turning up the heat, a Stade lineout, which had been shaky early on, secured a good ball and, after a few tight phases, resulted in French second row Pascal Pape powering his way over for the games only try.

Edinburgh’s Roddy Grant was particularly impressive for the home side and his work, along with that of his forwards, helped the Gunners to finish the half well and earn another penalty chance for Paterson.

A positive start to the second period saw the home side take the lead eight minutes in. Paterson again the provider, slotting his third successful penalty of the day.

Fifteen minutes into the second half the score was still locked at 9-7 in favour of the home side. It was certainly no classis encounter but both teams, as we might have expected, were giving nothing away.

Former London Irish No.8 Juan Leguizamon was a particularly imposing presence for Stade Francais but Edinburgh were still controlling the majority of the possession and pegging the Top 14 side down in their own half.

Then, with 60 minutes gone, Ben Cairns almost provided a turning point for the match. Reading a Stade attack brilliantly, the centre lost control while trying to intercept the ball. With no one in front of him it looked a certain try.

Still it was all Edinburgh though. Putting the pressure on the pool leaders the Gunners went close to scoring a couple of times through scrumhalf Greig Laidlaw and prop Geoff Cross.

16 phases just five metres out from the Stade line, it took a great steal from replacement Mathieu Bastareaud to help the French side survive. Again Edinburgh came – Pape, James Haskell, the tackles were flying in from the Top 14 side.

Finally another penalty – Jim Thompson took the shot with Paterson now off the field, but was unsuccessful. Three points was the very least Edinburgh deserved for their efforts but with it going wide, and just eight minutes left on the clock, it was still to be seen exactly how costly a miss it might be.

A little general, Laidlaw was brilliant for Edinburgh throughout, orchestrating their attacks, but ultimately you just have to take your hat off to the Stade Francais defence.

Five minutes left, an Edinburgh penalty on the half way line was turned into an attacking lineout some 25m out from the visitors line.

Again though precision was missing – turnover ball cleared by Stade – how Edinburgh were not scoring was beyond everyone, particularly their Director of Rugby Moffatt.

With two minutes left the Gunners seemed more to have given up the idea of scoring a try – hoping rather just to maintain possession till the final whistle sounded. It proved a winning tactic in the end – awarded a penalty, Godman used up the remaining time to have an unsuccessful shot at goal.

While the win will do nothing for their Heineken Cup season it will certainly be a good confidence builder for Edinburgh. The home side showed great determination and strength in the victory although, obviously, will be very concerned about their inability to convert their overwhelming dominance into points.

Stade Francais, despite the defeat, have secured a quarterfinal spot but, with just eighteen points to their name, will known that they will have to travel away from home for their final eight clash.

The Scorers

For Edinburgh

Pen: Paterson

For Stade Francais

Try: Pape
Cons: Beauxis

The teams:

Edinburgh: 15 Chris Paterson, 14 Mark Robertson, 13 Ben Cairns, 12 Nick De Luca, 11 Jim Thompson, 10 Phil Godman, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Roddy Grant, 7 Ross Rennie, 6 Alan MacDonald, 5 Scott MacLeod, 4 Jim Hamilton, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Andrew Kelly, 1 Kyle Traynor.
Replacements: 16 Ross Ford, 17 Allan Jacobsen, 18 Davey Young, 19 Craig Hamilton, 20 Scott Newlands, 21 Ross Samson, 22 John Houston, 23 Simon Webster.

Stade Français:15 Lionel Beauxis, 14 Djibril Camara, 13 Geoffrey Messina, 12 Guillaume Boussès, 11 Marc Gasnier, 10 Ignacio Mierès, 9 Hugo Southwell, 8 Juan Leguizamon, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 James Haskell , 5 Pascale Papé, 4 Tom Palmer, 3 Ryno Gerber, 2 Dimitir Szarzewski, 1 Rodrigo Roncero (captain).
Replacements:16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Rabah Slimani, 18 Pedro Ledesma, 19 Pierre Vigouroux, 20 Simon Taylor, 21 Aristide Barraud, 22 Mathieu Bastareaud, 23 Mirco Bergamasco

Date: Saturday, January 23
Venue: Murrayfield
Time: 15.45 GMT
Referee: Wayne Barnes