Everitt's Edinburgh stay top as Lions crumble in Scotland

MATCH REPORT: Edinburgh maintained their unbeaten start to the United Rugby Championship season with a commanding 31-10 win over the Lions at Hive Stadium on Friday.

Sean Everitt’s Scottish side outscored the South Africans by five tries to one in the Round Four encounter, producing a ruthless second-half attacking display after taking a narrow 5-3 lead at the break.

A week on from the tragic death of beloved lock Hyron Andrews, the Lions returned to URC action against an in-form Edinburgh side.

Andrews died from an aortic dissection, which most likely occurred in association with an aortic aneurysm, in France ahead of the Lions’ Investec Champions Cup opener against La Rochelle.

Despite last weekend’s defeat, the Lions had shown some encouraging signs and hoped to build on those positives in Scotland.

However, Everitt’s men had other ideas, producing a clinical second-half display that ultimately proved too much for the visitors.

The weather offered little assistance, with rain pouring down ahead of kick-off and making conditions difficult for both teams.

It was a nervy start as the sides attempted to navigate the wet conditions. The Lions looked to use the box kick to catch their opponents off guard, but their line-outs proved a major struggle thoughtout the contest.

The scrappy nature of the contest initially favoured the visitors, who managed to keep Edinburgh pinned inside their own half for the opening minutes.

The Scottish side eventually found their rhythm and worked their way out of their own territory.

South African-born winger Duhan van der Merwe got his first touch of the ball in the 12th minute and immediately looked dangerous, breaking through several tackles before the ball was lost forward.

Minutes later, Van der Merwe was forced to leave the field.

Edinburgh recovered from the setback and opened the scoring in the 20th minute when Matt Currie combined with Hector Patterson before the winger crossed the line to make it 5-0.

A penalty from Chris Smith got the Lions on the scoreboard as they looked to claw their way back into the contest.

The hosts threatened from an attacking line-out inside the visitors’ five-metre area, but excellent defence from the Lions halted the maul and prevented Edinburgh from extending their advantage.

The Lions then had an opportunity to take the lead after a series of powerful scrums put them in a promising attacking position.

Captain Francke Horn looked poised to score, but a try-saving tackle from Patterson denied the Lions skipper before a knock-on brought their attacking effort to an end.

Edinburgh therefore took a narrow 5-3 lead into the break.

In the second-half, the hosts thought they had extended their lead when Mosese Tuipulotu dived over the line, but a knock-on in the build-up saw the try ruled out.

However, Tuipulotu would not be denied for long. Patterson collected the loose ball from the maul and passed to the centre, who powered through the defence to score. James Grayson added the conversion to make it 12-3.

Edinburgh soon had their third try when they launched an attack from inside their own half. A series of long passes opened up the Lions’ defence before Patterson finished the move to stretch the lead to 19-3.

Batho Hlekani briefly gave the visitors hope with a try of their own. A powerful counter-ruck allowed the Lions to regain possession, and after multiple phases, the former Junior Springbok crossed the line. Smith added the conversion.

Hwever the response from Edinburgh was immediate.

A quick tap-and-go caught the Lions off guard, allowing Patterson to dive over in the corner and extend the hosts’ lead to 26-10.

With 10 minutes remaining, Geordie Gwynn added another try for Edinburgh, further underlining the hosts’ dominance in the second half. Cammy Scott converted to increase the advantage, 31-10.

In the closing minutes, the Lions pushed for a late score and were awarded a penalty inside Edinburgh’s five-metre area. However, their attacking effort ended in frustration as they lost the ball forward.

The Lions fought until the final whistle but were left with too much to do as Edinburgh continued their impressive start to the URC campaign.

Player of the match: Edinburgh scrumhalf Hector Patterson takes the honours after an influential performance. The No. 9 delivered two try assists and scored a brace of tries to play a key role for the Scottish side.

The scorers:

For Edinburgh:
Tries: Currie, Tuipulotu, Patterson 2, Gwynn
Cons: Grayson 2, Scott

For Lions:
Try: Hlekani
Con: Smith
Pen: Smith

Teams:

Edinburgh: 15 Piers O’Conor, 14 Geordie Gwynn, 13 Matt Currie (co-captain), 12 Mosese Tuipulotu, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 James Grayson, 9 Hector Patterson,8 Magnus Bradbury (co-captain), 7 Tom Currie, 6 Liam McConnell, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Glen Young, 3 Ollie Blyth-Lafferty, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Harri Morris, 17 Jamie Stewart, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Marshall Sykes, 20 Tom Dodd, 21 Conor McAlpine, 22 Cammy Scott, 23 Harry Paterson

Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Kelly Mpeku, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Bronson Mills 11 Erich Cronje, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Nico Steyn, 8 Francke Horne (captain), 7 Batho Hlekani, 6 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 5 Ruan Delport, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen, 3 Conraad van Vuuren, 2 Morné Brandon, 1 Boan Venter.
Replacements: 16 PJ Botha, 17 SJ Kotze, 18 RF Schoeman, 19 Dylan Sjoblom, 20 Siba Mahashe, 21 Zian Cilliers, 22 Richard Kriel, 23 Boeta Chamberlain.

Referee: Peter Martin (IRFU)
Assistant referees: Mike Adamson (SRU), Rob McDowell (SRU)
TMO: Mark Patton (IRFU)