NOT even the more hysterical elements of the press box could write off Edinburgh's season after 80 minutes, but there was a palpable sense of deflation in the Murrayfield air on Friday. After winning two warm-up matches against the best of the Guinness, defeat to Munster in the Magners left a bitter taste in the mouth.
What we saw was deeply disappointing; Edinburgh were poor. Andy Robinson conceded in the immediate aftermath that Munster were the better side but what he did not admit was that the Irishmen should have won by at least a lap.
Ronan O'Gara missed
two sitters in front of the posts and another penalty that he would have backed himself to kick, while Paul O'Connell appeared to drop the ball over the line as he went to touch down.
Three line breaks were all the home side managed and two of them came from forwards Dave Callam and Ally Hogg. The remaining one went to Mark Robertson who pulled off one superb sidestep but that was about it. In the absence of the injured Ben Cairns and Simon Webster the Edinburgh attack looked a little like the pensioner in the Irn Bru advert – all gums and no teeth.
Moreover, Edinburgh couldn't maintain any sort of pressure on their opponents after making myriad mistakes. They lost the ball in contact and they lost an agonising five line-out throws in the first half alone. A sarcastic cheer came from the crowd when the home side finally won one.
Robinson attempted to blame the new experimental law variations, and in fairness Munster also had trouble at the sidelines, but Edinburgh improved hand over fist after the half-time break by keeping things simple.
Edinburgh also kicked horribly. They aimed a straight arm penalty at the sidelines for an attacking line-out and missed the target… not once, but on three separate occasions. Hugo Southwell scuffed everything in the second half and Blair's box-kicking was too long.
In contrast Munster mixed things up a lot better, alternating kicks for length with little chip kicks designed to find space just behind an onrushing defence.
Phil Godman tried this tactic just once in the entire match and it almost resulted in a try for Nick de Luca before the television match official wiped it off. Even then De Luca had been deliberately impeded.
"Every time we got behind them, Munster conceded the penalty," said Robinson with admirable restraint. The Irish side slowed the Edinburgh ball and they slowed the game to a snail's pace and only rarely did the referee make them pay the price. In one moment of high comedy Peter Stringer fell to the ground as though hit by a sniper but quickly recovered when the ball came his way only to collapse once more when the ball went dead. He's been watching too much footie.
Tight-head prop Geoff Cross was a better man-of-the-match candidate than Mike Blair who was awarded the honour, presumably out of habit. Cross gave Irish international Marcus Horan a torrid time at the set scrum, which was probably the only battle within the war that Edinburgh won.
The full article contains 544 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
