Edinburgh dominate Zebre
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Edinburgh's superb run of form continued against Zebre at Murrayfield, as they secured a vital 37-0 bonus-point victory in the race for the Pro12 top six.
Alan Solomons' men showed no signs of any European hangover from last weekend, Roddy Grant and Dougie Fife touching down before halftime with Zebre reduced to 13 men at one stage.
Ross Ford, Grant's second try, and Stuart McInally after the interval made sure of the try bonus for the hosts, with Sam Hidalgo-Clyne adding 12 points from the tee to take the scoreline to 37-0.
The Italians missed an early opportunity to take the lead, Gonzalo Garcia missing a penalty from 40 metres out, and they were punished as an in-form Edinburgh side went up the other end for the game's opening score.
Grant was the man to touch down on nine minutes after a well-worked rolling maul from the hosts.
Hidalgo-Clyne added the extras, and Edinburgh could have doubled their lead two minutes later with Zebre scrambling to clear the ball from inside the five-metre line.
Zebre were struggling at scrum-time, and when Edinburgh again brought the ball into the 22 the Italians were pinged to allow Hidalgo-Clyne to edge his side further in front.
It was one-way traffic and Edinburgh crossed again on 25 minutes, working the ball all the way across the Murrayfield turf from a lineout for Fife to cross the whitewash in the corner.
Hidalgo-Clyne was clinical from the tee, adding the conversion and another penalty in the 31st minute after Dario Chistolini had been sin-binned for persistent infringements in the scrum.
Zebre were down to 13 when Giulio Toniolatti challenged Tim Visser unfairly in the air, but the visitors held out to the interval without conceding further.
Ford grabbed the first try of the second period ten minutes in, some neat handling in the corner from a lineout giving the prop a simple finish with Zebre once again playing a man down after Matias Aguero was sin-binned.
And Grant sealed the vital bonus point for the Scots, his second score of the evening almost a carbon copy of the first as he crossed at the back of a rolling maul, Hidalgo-Clyne again adding the extras.
Zebre controlled the ball better for the remainder of the game as both sides rang the changes, but despite plenty of possession in the Edinburgh half, persistent errors meant they were not able to trouble the scorers.
McInally added a fifth for Edinburgh as the clock ticked into the red, as the Scots move into the Pro12 top six having lost just one of their last six in all competitions.
Scorers:
For Edinburgh:
Tries: Grant 2, Fife, Ford, McInally
Cons: Hidalgo-Clyne 3
Pens: Hidalgo-Clyne 2
For Zebre:
None
Teams:
Edinburgh: 15 Tom Brown, 14 Dougie Fife, 13 Sam Beard 12 Andries Strauss, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Phil Burleigh, 9 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 8 Mike Coman (captain), 7 Roddy Grant, 6 Stuart McInally, 5 Ben Toolis, 4 Anton Bresler, 3 WP Nel, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Alasdair Dickinson.
Replacements: 16 Neil Cochrane, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 John Andress, 19 Fraser McKenzie, 20 Cornell du Preez, 21 Nathan Fowles, 22 Tom Heathcote, 23 Carl Bezuidenhout.
Zebre: 15 Hendrik Daniller, 14 Giulio Toniolatti, 13 Mirco Bergamasco, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 David Odiete, 10 Luciano Orquera, 9 Guglielmo Palazzani, 8 Samuela Vunisa, 7 Andries Van Schalkwyk, 6 Filippo Cristiano, 5 Marco Bortolami (captain), 4 Valerio Bernabò, 3 Dario Chistolini, 2 Andrea Manici, 1 Matias Aguero.
Replacements: 16 Oliviero Fabiani, 17 Andrea Lovotti, 18 Luca Redolfini, 19 Andrei Mahu, 20 Filippo Ferrarini, 21 Alberto Chillon, 22 Matteo Pratichetti, 23 Brendon Leonard.
Referee: Leighton Hodges (Wales)
Assistant referees: Mike Adamson (Scotland), Stephen Hart (Scotland)
TMO: Jim Yuille (Scotland)
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