Edinburgh Rugby
Image by John Preece
Edinburgh scored their second win in the Guinness PRO12 League on Saturday with a comprehensive win over the Newport-Gwent Dragons at BT Murrayfield in front of just over 3,000 spectators.
A 6-0 half time lead was wiped out by a Dragons try early in the second half, but Tom Heathcote – proving to be a more than able replacement for Greg Laidlaw – scored with three further kicks to keep the score ticking over. As the match progressed Edinburgh gradually exerted their dominance and scored two tries from Tim Visser and Dougie Fife.
Edinburgh had crossed the line on three other occasions, but Visser lost the ball on the first, then Man-of-the-match Hamish Watson grounded the ball on a Welsh hand. The final ‘no try’ was touched down late in the second half, but the referee – after a lengthy discussion – ruled a forward pass earlier in the play.
Still, a 24-10 win going into the European matches can only boost confidence.
Club Rugby
The BT Premiership saw all four Edinburgh based teams beaten at the hands of their respective opponents. Heriots came closest with their 44-43 defeat in Melrose in, what had to be, the match of the day. Currie went down at Ayr 20-11 and Edinburgh Accies suffered yet another defeat 14-13 at Glasgow Hawks. They were joined at the foot of the table by Boroughmuir who are finding the Premiership a different prospect to the National League from last season. 32-6 was their losing score at Gala.
In the table, Heriots drop to third with 26 points and Currie are now seventh with 14. Boroughmuir and Accies are ninth and tenth, with 11 and 4 points respectively.
The BT National League sides, Stewarts-Melville and Watsonians, are fairing a little better, with both teams winning away. Stew-Mel edged Kelso to the tune of 27-25, while ‘Sonians won 11-6 at Biggar.
In the table, Watsonians are in fourth – down from third – with – 19 points and Stew-Mel climb a couple of spots up to fourth with 18.
On an observational note, Scottish Rugby still appears to have a club over country/pro team mentality as the fixtures of the clubs roll on regardless of whatever else is happening. Yes, the matches are, sometimes, brought forward on International days, but a noon kick-off in Melrose still won’t get players and spectators up to Murrayfield for 2:30 for an International. However, until the huge burden of club fixtures is considered, there may be only the possibility of morning kick-offs to help overcome the current situation.
