EDINBURGH 32

DRAGONS 13

EDINBURGH had their Scottish international front row to thank for a convincing PRO12 victory against the Dragons at Murrayfield last night - and not only for getting the upper hand in the scrum. Alasdair Dickinson, Ross Ford and WP Nel were so on top in the set piece that their opponents had four men yellow-carded in the second half as the pressure told, and Dickinson and Nel also claimed their team’s first two tries.

Alan Solomons’ side should arguably have secured the victory some time before they did, but the coach was pleased with the way in which his players stuck to their task to ensure that they earned the full five points. He singled out Nel for praise, and stressed how important it will be for Edinburgh to hold on to the tighthead prop, one of 32 players whose contracts expire - along with that of the coach himself - at the end of the season.

“Full credit to the side for the four tries,” Solomons said. “We’re scrumming particularly well,” Solomons said.

“It’s important that we keep WP. The team has been built over the last two and a bit seasons, and we have developed a very good pack, and he’s an important part of that. We now need to add some firepower, but it’s important we keep the core players here so we can build the club.”

Sam Hidalgo-Clyne opened the scoring with a sixth-minute penalty, awarded at the end of period of promising and prolonged Edinburgh pressure. That early advantage could soon have been stretched when a Phil Burleigh chip behind the defence momentarily appeared to have opened up the Welsh defence, but Tom Brown spilled the ball as he attempted to gather, and the opportunity was gone.

The Dragons were barely out of their own half in the first quarter of an hour, but at the end of that period they were awarded a penalty, from which Dorian Jones brought the scores level. However, parity was not preserved for long, as WP Nel claimed the first try of the night minutes later.

A break in which Burleigh was twice prominent was ended illegally, and when the penalty was kicked to touch, Edinburgh drove the lineout. Their first surge for the line was stopped just short, but when Nel took possession barely a metre out there was no stopping him. Hidalgo-Clyne converted to make it 10-3 to the home team.

Edinburgh’s offloading, while not always successful in the slippery conditions, was impressively adventurous at times. A sustained drive came close to producing a second try just before the half-hour, but when it was halted illegally the home team had to be content with a second penalty from Hidalgo-Clyne.

Greig Tonks, the Edinburgh full-back, was then forced off, and was replaced by 18-year-old Blair Kinghorn. Jones reduced the deficit with a penalty five minutes before half-time after John Hardie had played the ball from an offside position, and the score remained 13-6 at the break - but only after a Nel touchdown had been chalked off by the Italian referee for a double movement. The lead was certainly no more than Edinburgh deserved, although the Dragons defence had stood up well in the face of a lot of pressure.

The Dragons attack was far more to the fore in the opening stages of the second half as they realised they were still in the game, but they were soon dealt a blow when Boris Stankovich, their loosehead prop, was sinbinned for persistent infringements. Denied the services of the burly New Zealander, the Welsh team continued to offend in the scrum, and soon had Phil Price yellow-carded as well, just minutes after he had come on as a front-row safety replacement.

With a two-man advantage, albeit only for a few minutes, Edinburgh needed to stretched their lead. After coming close to the Dragons try line just before Price was binned, they over-complicated matters as they tried to find a way through, but in the end Alasdair Dickinson squeezed over in the left corner. Hidalgo-Clyne made it 20-6 with the conversion, but before he did, Jones was also yellow-carded.

Stankovich was back on by that time, but to have a third player given a ten-minute penalty was an indication of how desperately the Welsh team were holding on. It got worse with ten minutes to go when Matthew Screech was also sinbinned for collapsing the maul.

This time Edinburgh wasted no time in taking advantage, as Brown was given space in the right corner to flop over for his team’s third try. Hidalgo-Clyne was wide of the mark with the conversion attempt, but it was irrelevant by this stage.

Matt Scott secured the bonus point - his team’s first of the season - with the fourth try five minutes from time, and Kinghorn added the extra points from in front of the posts. In the last move of the match, Nick Cudd got a consolation try for the Dragons, converted by Jones.

EDINBURGH: Tries: Nel, Dickinson, Brown, Scott. Cons: Hidalgo-Clyne 2, Kinghorn. Pens: Hidalgo-Clyne 2.

DRAGONS: Try: Cudd. Con: Jones. Pens: Jones 2.

Edinburgh: G Tonks (B Kinghorn 30); T Brown, C Dean, M Scott, W Helu; P Burleigh (M Allen 74), S Hidalgo-Clyne (S Kennedy 75); A Dickinson (R Sutherland 73)), R Ford (N Cochrane 73), W Nel (J Andress 73), A Toolis, F McKenzie, M Coman, J Hardie (H Watson 65), C du Preez. Substitutes: J Ritchie.

Dragons: C Meyer; T Prydie, A Hughes, A Warren, A Hewitt; D Jones, C Davies ( S Pretorius 63); B Stankovich (P Price 66), E Dee, S Knight (L Fairbrother 63), M Screech, R Landman, N Crosswell (N Cudd 66), O Griffiths (T Rhys Thomas 55), E Jackson. Substitutes: C Hill, J Tovey, R Wardle.

Referee: M Mitrea (Italy). Attendance: 3,354.