Edinburgh began their 2 match tour of South Africa at the weekend against the Cell C Sharks and left them floundering in a very wet Kings Park, Durban. It wasn’t all plain sailing as the Sharks dominated possession and territory especially in the first half but a highly disciplined effort from Edinburgh allowed them to become the first European side to win in the URC in South Africa.
So, what were the key takeaways from this game?
Edinburgh showed that in a game that wasn’t played in what we've come to know as ‘their style’ that they can still get the job done. This hasn’t really been the case up till now and it definitely hasn’t been the case away from The DAM Health. The tries that Edinburgh scored were a treat to watch but it was the defensive effort that shone through. Sharks dominated possession and territory but could do nothing with it in the face of an Edinburgh defence that saw 9 of the top 10 tacklers all come from the Edinburgh ranks. The overall tackles count was 127 and only 9 missed for a success rate of 93%
In a similar vein the discipline that Edinburgh showed was very impressive. They conceded only 10 penalties in the entire match. For comparison we conceded 15 against Connacht and 12 against Glasgow. Even more impressively Edinburgh conceded only 2 penalties in the second half and both of those came whilst the team was still a man short with Pierce Phillips in the bin. Phillips by the way had a very good game and is really beginning to make an impact.
Another top notch showing from Emiliano Boffelli who definitely has a bigger impact on the game from 15 than from the wing. He continued his excellent work off the tee, was safe under the high ball and took his own try with some style. He made the most metres and had the most carries in the game. You have to go back to the 8th January to see him miss a penalty or conversion in the league.
Another great performance from our 10, Blair Kinghorn. Edinburgh’s win rate with him at 10 in all competitions this season is 80% and to be clear that’s 2 defeats out of 10 matches. Our other options at 10 have only returned 20% (5 games) and 50% (2 games). You can now see the tide of opinion turning ever so slightly. Glowing articles on his control of the game from the stand off position now appearing in respected rugby publications. The only players in our roster to have scored more points or tries for Edinburgh this season are Argentinian. Edinburgh’s all time record try scorer is Tim Visser and he is unlikely to ever be caught for that title but Kinghorn is only 3 tries away from taking 2nd spot.
There was another fine performance from Ben Muncaster. He was very impressive at the base of a retreating scrum and was second only to Mr 100% Hamish Watson in the tackle stats. His gather of the ball in the back field and break that led to Kinghorns second try was the icing on a cake that seems to be getting tastier as the weeks go by.
So, job done and we can be very proud of the team after that one. It was an important win for our league position and for our credibility and it was as far away from home as it gets in this league.
On to Lions next and i’ll need to think up some puns in anticipation of a similar display but will keep them to myself just in case I jinx it.
4 games to go. Lions (A), Zebre (H), Ulster (H) and Glasgow (H). I reckon 2 wins out of that lot will see us take 4th spot and a home play off place. It could even be against that mob from through the west.
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