Edinburgh Rugby reaction: Praise for two-try Ewan Ashman with key aspect of hooker’s game singled out

Ewan Ashman, centre with headband, clenches his fist to celebrate the second of his two tries in Edinburgh's 40-14 win over Zebre Parma at Hive Stadium. (Photo by Paul Devlin / SNS Group)

Deserved winner of player of the match

Sean Everitt made a point of praising the contribution of Ewan Ashman after Edinburgh Rugby’s 40-14 victory over Zebre Parma kept alive their hopes of qualifying for the play-offs in the United Rugby Championship.

The hooker scored the first two of his side’s six tries as Edinburgh moved into sixth place ahead of the Saturday matches in the league. The top eight go through to the play-off quarter-finals and Edinburgh will hope to still be in the top half of the table come the end of the weekend.

Although frustrated by aspects of his side’s performance, particularly after the interval, Everitt was delighted to notch a bonus point, only the club’s fourth of the season.

“Credit to Zebre, they’ve given a hard time to every opposition that they’ve played against,” said the coach. “So we knew we were going to be in a tussle, I’m just happy that the guys showed the composure in the last 20 to pull it through comfortably.”

Ashman’s try-scoring contribution set Edinburgh on their way but Everitt pointed to other aspects of improvement in the Scotland hooker’s game since he joined the club from Sale Sharks last summer.

“He’s done really well,” said Everitt. “He’s worked incredibly hard at his game: when he arrived here he was criticised for his lineout throwing - he’s now the second best lineout thrower in the URC with the most throws. So he’s come on in leaps and bounds. He’s been really good for us - a strong ball-carrying ability. He deserved his man-of-the-match award this evening.”

Edinburgh scored three ties in each half, with WP Nel notching the third score just before the break. The home side led 19-7 at half-time but struggled in the first 20 minutes after the interval and when Jacopo Trulla scored Zebre’s second try on 56 minutes Edinburgh’s lead was cut to just five points.

Everitt utilised his bench to good effect in the final quarter and tries from substitutes Chris Dean, Ben Vellacott and Javan Sebastian saw Edinburgh pull away.

“If you look at Zebre throughout the season, the last 20 minutes is where they have fallen short,” added Everitt. “It was important for us to start well and try to fatigue the opposition. Marshall Sykes' power game is right up there with the best, and three incredibly good subs coming on in the front row and earning us a number of scrum penalties. That's exactly what we had hoped for.”

Dean’s try was the key moment in the game. The centre was played in by Ben Healy who popped up the ball for him but the stand-off found himself on the receiving end of a late hit from Zebre which sparked a melee in the corner. The referee took exception to Jamie Ritchie rushing in to defend Healy and the game restarted with a penalty to Zebre.

“When Ben Healy flipped the ball to Chris Dean, he was put into the sideboards so there was a reaction and rightfully so when there's a reaction, you get punished for it,” said Everitt. “Unfortunately that was us.”

Bill Mata limped off late on but the big No 8 was suffering only from cramp. Healy, who converted three of Edinburgh’s tries, also came off with four minutes to play, the first time he has not completed a match in the URC this season. Everitt explained he wanted to give Cammy Scott some minutes and the replacement stand-off converted the late tries by Vellacott and Sebastian.