Edinburgh Rugby
Edinburgh had a tortuous trip to Bordeaux involving, by all accounts, trains, planes and automobiles. And almost everyone outside the camp – given the Begles current form – was expecting a tortured time on the pitch. But holding the home side to 3-0 at half time in a strongly contested match, which saw captain Mike Coman sidelined with injury, Edinburgh surprised the home crowd with their grit and determination and went on to take a historic win.
Edinburgh retaliated early in the second half with a try from wing, Dougie Fife to take a 5-3 lead, but Bordeaux came back with a converted try of their own to go into a 10-5 lead. Another Bordeaux penalty, and a yellow for Phil Burleigh, stretched their lead to 13-5, but a score from Nick McLennan, when Edinburgh were still down a man with 10 to go, kept the visitors in sight, and within a bonus point, at 13-8.
Edinburgh then piled on the pressure and, with five minutes to go, a certain try was prevented by foul play at the maul and Edinburgh were awarded a penalty try under the posts. With Tom Heathcote converting, it was 15-13 and a first win in the new European Rugby Challenge Cup for the Edinburgh team. The next match in the competition for the Edinburgh team will be against Lyon and that match kicks off at 8:00pm next Friday (24th October).
On Edinburgh’s injury side of things, Cornell Du Preez continues to be monitored by medical staff following his severe lower leg injury in last week’s match against the Dragons. A Scottish Rugby source told the Edinburgh Reporter that full details of the player’s injury and projected recovery will not be released until a full assessment is complete. We all, of course, wish him a full and speedy recovery.
Scotland Women
Scotland’s Women scored a comprehensive 49-0 win over Ireland Exiles at BT Murrayfield. Playing in a training match of three periods, Scotland scored nine unanswered tries in a wind- and rain-swept match on the back pitches. Ireland put up a spirited resistance, but were, ultimately, no match for the home side. (Full report in the Sports section).
Club Rugby
BT Premiership
All four of Edinburgh’s Premiership sides won on Saturday, with Heriots taking the scalp of former champions, Ayr, at Goldenacre, with a 25-7 win and bottom side, Edinburgh Accies almost matching them with a 28-13 win at home against Hawick. Boroughmuir and Currie, on the other hand, both squeaked single point wins at home – Currie at 23-22 against Stirling County and ‘Muir with a 16-15 win against Glasgow Hawks. Still, a win’s a win…..
In the table, Heriots leap to the top spot with 30 points, Currie climb one place to sixth on 18 points and Boroughmuir are up one place on 15. Accies still languish at the foot, but now with 9 points.
BT National League.
In Division 1 of the National League, both Stewart-Melville and Watsonians hammered their respective oppositions at home. Stew-Mel put Biggar away to the tune of 44-5 and ‘Sonians saw off Hillhead/Jordanhill with a comfortable 32-6 win at Myreside.
The table now sees both Watsonians and Stew-Mel climb a place to third and fourth, with 24 and 23 points respectively.
Image from Scotland v Ireland Exiles by John Preece
