Rugby – Edinburgh v Zebre, Guinness PRO14

Italy’s Zebre were the
first visitors to BT Murrayfield on Saturday evening as the 2019-20
Guinness PRO14 season got under way. With both teams having players
away on World Cup duty, this match would be a test of squad depth as
much as anything.

Six minutes in and it
seemed that Edinburgh had the edge on depth. Winning back ball from
the visitors, the home side won a lineout close in and drove over for
the opening try. Fraser McKenzie claimed the touch down and Jaco van
der Walt followed up with the conversion for 7-0.

Soon after the restart,
Zebre were up in Edinburgh’s 22, testing the home defence and
running hard at the line. Reward came with a penalty at the breakdown
which No. 10, Francois Brummer slotted home for 7-3.

Holding Zebre into
their own half from the restart, Edinburgh then came roaring back on
the offensive, driving the visitors deep into their 22 and setting up
a few metres out from the line. Somehow, scrum half, Nic Groom
slipped the ball out to Mark Bennett and the centre trotted over to
touch down while almost everyone else was looking the other way.

Bennett looked a bit
guilty as he placed the ball, but the referee saw nothing untoward
and awarded the try. Van der Walt then knocked over the kick for 14-3
with 17 minutes played.

Once again, from the
restart, the receiving side – this time Edinburgh – came under
immediate pressure.

Setting up about 10
metres out, Groom went for the box kick, but failed to clear the
outstretched arm of Zebre’s 8, Givanni Licata.

As the ball ricocheted
back over the line, Licata followed through and dived for the
bouncing ball just short of the dead ball line. Referee, George
Clancy was unsighted so went ‘upstairs’ where several angles
confirmed the try. With the kick missed it, was 14-8 after 20 minutes
of play.

Another Edinburgh try
then came up three minutes later. Winning ball in the midfield, it
was slung out to Duhan van der Merwe on the wing and the South
African 11 broke through a couple of tackles before dropping the ball
off the the following Groom. A big dive over the line from the No. 9
and it was 19-8, then 21-8 after van der Walt’s conversion.

The next 10 minutes or
so were fairly even, although Edinburgh applied a bit more pressure
to Zebre territory and the breakthrough came just after the half hour
mark.

Once again, the ball
went through the hands, ending up with Bennett. The centre came under
scrutiny, but a neat dummy saw him past the first man. The second man
in line wasn’t so easily fooled, but Bennett off-loaded to his fellow
centre, Matt Scott and the No. 12 trotted in for the bonus-point try.
Van der Walt converted again and, with 34 minutes played, it was
28-8.

The remainder of the
half was mostly played at the visitor’s end of the pitch and
Edinburgh won a ruck penalty just on the break which van der Walt
slotted home for a half time score of 31-8.

From the restart, Zebre
kept possession of the ball for a long period of time, but were
unable to make much progress up-field. Their chance to clear came
with a penalty for a high tackle by van der Merwe, but this served to
open the floodgates of another wave of Edinburgh attacking play.

As the home side
battered their way up the centre, the visitors were gradually driven
back and it was Bennet who came up with the points again.

Storming down the
middle of the pitch, the centre crashed through a couple of tackles
before almost losing his balance after the third(-ish). He kept
going, though, and his momentum carried him over the line for his
second, and Edinburgh’s fifth, try and 36-8.

van der Walt once again
converted for 38-8 with just under 10 minutes of the second half
played.

The usual raft of
substitutions then took place over the next period which seemed to
lead to the match getting a bit bogged down, with neither side
gaining the upper hand.

However, the upper hand
was gained, briefly, by the visitors just before the 70 minute mark.

Winning a line out just
inside the host’s half, the ball was passed to sub, Federico Mori in
the middle of the pitch. A quick side-step later and he was in the
clear, out-sprinting van der Merwe in the run in to dive over behind
the posts. The conversion then made it 38-15.

With 10 minutes to go
and well clear in the points, the question was would the home side be
content to play out the last period?

Eh… No.

On for Groom, Charlie
Shiel made a superb break from his own half to gain many metres into
the visitor’s half, leaving player strewn in his wake. Just before
meeting the final defender, the scrum half dropped the ball off to
on-for-the-hat-trick Bennett and the centre had an easy run in for
the try.

Sub, Simon Hickey, then
converted for 45-15 and that was it….

Or, at least, that was
thought to be it, but Edinburgh weren’t quite finished.

The seventh, and final
try was scored just before the final whistle with Edinburgh, once
again, on the attack This time there were very few hands involved as
Hickey sent a pin-point kick across the width of the pitch for Jamie
Farndale to run on to, and run in with, to bring up the 50 points for
the match and a well deserved 50-15 win.

Images from the match will appear here over the next few days.