Rugby – Edinburgh v Bordeaux-Begles, European Rugby Challenge Cup R2
Following on from their
bonus point, away, win at Agen the previous week, the second round of
the European Rugby Challenge Cup saw Edinburgh facing another French
side, this time at BT Murrayfield. Bordeaux-Begles were the team and
they were also coming off the back of a win at home to Wasps.
The first period of the
game was dominated by the kickers, with the ball seeing a huge amount
of air time. When it was in hand, both sides, made the other work in
defence, but neither gained a great deal of penetration.
Edinburgh were the
first to get a chance at points following a penalty award for a
breakdown infringement just outside the opposition 22. Jaco van der
Walt then showed that he had put his previous BT Murrayfield – for
him (he missed three) – nightmare behind him and slotted home the
kick for 3-0 after 15 minutes.
The home side probably
had the edge over the next 10, or so, minutes, but the visitors were
always there, or thereabouts, to call a halt to any promising
attacking play.
Van der Walt then had a
second shot at goal around the 27 minute mark with a penalty from a
scrum about 40 metres out. Once again, he split the posts with the
kick and the home side went into the closing 12 minutes of the half,
6-0 ahead.
Then the
‘coach-killer’! Almost straight from the restart, Edinburgh gave away
a kickable penalty deep in their own half and Bordeaux’s Matthieu
Jalibert duly obliged for 6-3.
The French side then
turned up the heat over the next five minutes, pressing Edinburgh
back and forcing an occassional scramble to prevent a breakthrough.
However, the
breakthrough, when it came, came the way of the hosts.
Grant Gilchrist
collected turn-over ball outside the home 22 and got the ball rolling
with a simple pass along the line to Pierre Schoeman, who then
shovelled it on to Van der Walt.
In what turned out to
be a classic, cross-pitch manoeuver, Matt Scott was next in line,
then his centre partner Mark Bennett . Bennett then released Blair
Kinghorn down the line and, with the best part of 50 metres to go, he
evaded capture all the way to the five metre line.
A fine tackle from the
French 10, Jalibert, stopped Kinghorn short, but the Edinburgh full
back stretched out an arm and grounded the ball over the line for the
try.
Van der Walt then kept
the points ticking over with a superb conversion from near the touch
line for 13-3 with five minutes left in the half.
If Richard Cockerill
had any hair, he’d have pulled it all out as, once again, the home
side gave away easy points just before the break allowing Jalibert to
slot home a penalty on the stroke of half time for 13-6.
The first score of the second half was chalked up with just over 10 minutes played . Edinburgh were beginning to dominate play in the Bordeaux half, but a series of errors and turn overs kept the visitors in the game.
But, they blotted their
copy book when they gave away a close-in penalty around 50 minutes
which gave van der Walt another chance for goal which the South
African duly took for 16-3.
Things then all swapped
around as Bordeaux enjoyed a period of attacking play which would
eventually lead to their only try of the match.
The hosts had had a
couple of attacks snuffed out before the visitors took the matter in
hand and pressed Edinburgh back, deep into their own half. With the
defence scrambling to cover, prop, Ravai Kovekalou smashed through,
then put his centre, Semi Radrada in the clear.
The huge Fijian then
skipped past a couple of tackles to close in on the line. He was,
like Kinghorn in the first half, pulled down short, but his momentum
kept him on target and he scored under the posts for the try and
16-11.
Jalibert then converted
for 16-13 with just under 20 minutes left.
Again there were
restart woes for the receiving team when Edinburgh won a quick
penalty, which van der Walt missed, then Duhan van der Merwe just
failed to grab a chip through from Bennett near to the line.
With the score close,
it wasn’t until the 78th minute that a scoring chance
finally turned up. Unfortunately for the hosts, it was for the
visitors. Jalibert stepped up and absorbed the pressure to draw the
sides level at 16-16, with around a minute left to play.
Edinburgh had a last,
desperate go at scoring, but Aroni Sau’s offload down the line went
forward to Bordeaux’s Blair Connor who just stepped over the line to
bring the, error-strewn at times, match to a close at 16-16.
Images from the match will appear here over the next few days.