Hogg and Webster lift Edinburgh

Connacht 31

LYNN Howells last night praised his returning internationals for their part in a terrific six-try defeat of lowly Connacht last night, but insisted they were not yet ready to play Six Nations rugby.

In that rarity of a modern match dominated by attack the teams produced ten tries to reward long-suffering supporters, albeit almost 4,000 fewer than the previous night's schools final, frustrated by recent Heineken Cup disappointments. It also said as much about the attitude towards defence from both sides as it did about the great ambition in attack.

Much of the interest inevitably surrounded the return to action of Allister Hogg and Simon Webster, two internationals struck down by injury in the autumn Test series and striving to be part of the RBS Six Nations Championship and the good news was both came through the 80 minutes unscathed. Hogg appeared rusty, made a couple of knock-ons and was sin-binned for twice holding onto tackled players in rucks, but he also contributed to some great continuity and attacking rugby.

Webster was in superb finishing form, playing as if he'd never been away. The winger exploded in off his left wing frequently and exposed poor tackling to delight the home fans on mazy runs. He set up a great try for Rob Dewey in the first half, the second score for the centre and third for Edinburgh, with one such run, but his piece de resistance came just 11 minutes into the second half when he coolly picked up a Connacht clearance from his toes, 25 metres out on the left, raced into the 22, round one defender and through two more to touch down on the line. With Hodge's conversion that put Edinburgh out of sight at 41-17 ahead and the wing duly added another tension-burster with 12 minutes to go to douse another Connacht uprising.

Both players admitted afterwards that they would be delighted to feature for Scotland next weekend. Howells insisted: "In my opinion, they are not ready yet [for Scotland], but it's not my opinion that counts. I think they need more game-time, especially Ally - 80 minutes of rugby is not enough to go into an international."

Hogg does need more time to find his feet, unsurprisingly after spending 18 weeks on the sidelines, first with an elbow injury and then knee, but it would be no surprise to see Webster named on the bench for Twickenham.

The hosts had this game wrapped up as early as the 29th minute, overcoming the loss of an early try to Conor McPhillips, after a dropped pass by Duncan Hodge was seized upon in midfield, to hit back with three good scores. At the heart of the good work were forwards Matt Mustchin and Scott Murray, and Rob Dewey, who, on this form, is battering down the door to Scotland's no12 jersey. He grabbed his first try with 13 minutes played, initially tying players in with his strength and then providing the finishing burst.

Alasdair Strokosch, the powerful flanker, then scored one of his easiest tries ever when he grasped a Connacht lineout throw five metres from the visitors' line and diving over. That owed more to Allan Jacobsen's subtle holding of the jersey of Andrew Farley, the Connacht lock, and with Hodge's dead-eye kicking, a margin of 11 points opened up. The ease with which Edinburgh were slicing open the Connacht rearguard - Ben Cairns, the increasingly impressive young centre, providing numerous sparks with his running - suggested that that elusive first four-try total this season was just moments away, but Connacht had other ideas and McPhillips scored again, after more dozy defence inside the home 22.

Hodge finished the half with a penalty and, with a half-time warming from Howells, the hosts roared into the second half and duly secured their first try bonus point of the season with a fourth try after a minute. John Senio, Edinburgh's Samoan scrum-half, made up for squandering a chance before the break by ducking under a weak tackle by the 'guard' at a ruck and sprinting unchallenged in behind the posts, securing a return to third spot in the Magners League for his side in the process.

Hogg sparked a good chance, halted illegally by Daniel Riordan, the Connacht full-back, which cost him a yellow card and his side another three points from the boot of Hodge. Webster wrapped up the win with his first try and though Edinburgh lost Hogg for ten minutes, and Riordan and David Gannon scored for Connacht, Webster split those tries with another of his own and Phil Godman, on for Hodge, slotted a penalty to seal a comfortable victory.

Scorers. Edinburgh: Tries: Dewey 2, Strokosch, Senio, Webster 2. Pens: Hodge 2, Godman. Cons: Hodge 5. Connacht: Tries: McPhillips 2, Riordan, Gannon. Pen: Warwick. Cons: Warwick 3, Slemen.

Edinburgh: A Easson; M Dey, B Cairns, R Dewey, S Webster; D Hodge (captain), J Senio; A Jacobsen, S Lawrie, G Cross, M Mustchin, S Murray, A Strokosch, A Hogg, R Rennie. Subs: A Kelly for Lawrie 52mins, GLaidlaw for Senio 61, A MacDonald for Rennie 62, P Godman for Hodge 69, D Young for Warwick 71, C Bentley for MacDonald 75, L Lopez Fleming for Webster 77.

Connacht: D Riordan; J Hearty, G Williams, M McHugh, C McPhillips; PWarwick, C O'Loughlin; B Wilkinson, J Fogarty (capt), S Knoop, DGannon, A Farley; M Lacey, C Rigney, R Ofisa. Subs: M Swift for Farley 25mins, D Slemen for McHugh 55, B O'Connor for Rigney 56, A Flavin for Fogarty 63, P Durcan for Warwick 71.

Referee: N Ballard (Wales). Attendance: 1,824.