Edinburgh sow seeds of success with victory over Harlequins

Perhaps things have worked out perfectly for Edinburgh and their move to Myreside. A few weeks ago their inaugural match against Timisoara Saracens looked as though it would be a case of going through the motions in a '¨lost cause. One top-class '¨performance in London and suddenly it is a game that '¨matters.

Fraser McKenzie makes a break to score Edinburghs opening try. Picture: Getty.

It would be a huge shock if they were to lose this Friday evening to the pool minnows, but as Edinburgh prepare to christen their new home, the fans can turn up knowing that it is a game with plenty at stake. Top spot in the pool is just about assured but quarter-final seedings are still up in the air.

The way things are shaping up, it is likely that the top two spots will go to the Ospreys and Gloucester, leaving Edinburgh fighting for third or fourth seeding, which would earn a home quarter-final against the best second-placed qualifier or the worst pool winner: Brive, Bath, La Rochelle, Cardiff Blues and Harlequins are all in the running for one of those spots.

That does assume they crown their return to Myreside with that vital scoring bonus point. Fail to land it and all of a sudden interim head coach Duncan Hodge and his players will be left sweating on results 
over the rest of the weekend, with the worst-case scenario being that they top the pool but still end out with an away tie.

That would hurt them financially – a home quarter-final would almost certainly be taken to BT Murrayfield and with ten weeks to market it, they would be confident of getting a good crowd along to the home of Scottish rugby – but if they can play like this on the road, it need not worry them too much in playing terms.

Of course the main aim is to make sure that they keep going in the competition. With the final at Murrayfield in May, there are huge advantages in having a Scottish team involved and the Edinburgh players reckon they can go one better than two years ago when they reached the final game but lost to Gloucester.

“It is massive. If you can get a good European cup run going then it builds momentum into the Guinness PRO12 and keeps a buzz around the squad,” said Hamish Watson, the flanker, after collecting his man of the match award in the victory against Harlequins.

“Any cup run by any squad keeps that buzz going, keeps everyone happy and keeps everyone on a high. If we can get that home quarter-final, then hopefully we can push on and get a semi.

“There is a massive focus. We have not spoken about the final [at Murrayfield]. We were just trying to get out of this group and trying to win this game away. With the final at Murrayfield it would be great to try to get to that and get that cup.

“We fell a little short a couple of years ago, which was really disappointing, but I hope we can do it this year.”

The real task, however, is to take this kind of play into the PRO12, where they have won only once on the road this season – away at Zebre two weeks ago.

The only slight problem for them is that if enough players put in top-notch performances that they could find themselves involved with Scotland over the next couple of months, which would have an unexpected and disruptive effect on selection.

Duncan Weir, for example, reminded Vern Cotter that he is the safe and steady option at fly half. Blair Kinghorn was invited to train with the squad in November but did his chances of joining it as a fully-fledged member no harm at all. Damien Hoyland was electric when he found space.

Up front, Ben Toolis ruled the line out and was one of the most effective ball carriers, while the entire back row laid on a demonstration of how to lock the defence tight, with Cornell Du Preez and Magnus Bradbury both Watson’s main rivals for the man of the match prize.

“We were on top from the word go,” enthused Watson, pictured. “We stuck to our game plan, to win the territory battle, and then we attacked well when we were in their half.

“The forwards did great in the set piece. It was a little bit of a shame about the last five minutes, when we just switched off a little bit, but that is part of the game. The front five all did really well in the ball.

“My own form was pleasing but there were loads of good performances out there today. It is not so much about the man of the match award – it is great to get it but it is more about the team.”

Kinghorn had laid on the attacking platform for the first try, finished by Frazer McKenzie, whose neat sidestep caught the Harlequins defence by surprise.

Du Preez and Watson did the hard yards for the second with Allan Dell, another in Test contention ahead of the Six Nations, outpacing the defence to finish. Weir kicked everything and with less than a minute and a half to go, they were 23-6 ahead.

There was a slight blot with the side collectively switching off at that stage to surrender two tries – Mat Luamanu touching down from a line out maul, and Joe Gray doing the same long after the clock had turned red – but it did not matter. Now it is all about getting the job done against Timisoara and rolling on.