Edinburgh take down Scarlets to progress in Europe but Grant Gilchrist red card sparks nervous Six Nations wait

Capital outfit get job done is Wales – but victory could come at cost

Edinburgh played their part in Llanelli to earn a last 16 place in the Challenge Cup, now spending the weekend monitoring other results to see if they have earned a home tie after beating the Scarlets 31-19. However, there was bad news with captain Grant Gilchrist being sent off for two yellow cards, both for head contact in tackles without any great force. It means there is a question mark hanging over his availability for Scotland against Wales, with the potential of a disciplinary hearing to follow.

They secured the try bonus point by half time and while the Scarlets have struggled in this competition this season, no more could have been asked of the Scots than to put their opponents away in clinical fashion. They were particularly effective from close range, scoring four of their five tries from no more than two yards out. Flanker Jamie Ritchie had around half an hour off the bench to show he deserves to be in the team in Cardiff and potentially as captain.

Starts do not come much better than the one enjoyed by Edinburgh. They were gifted territory by a poor kick and lineout steal, but took only two minutes to make the most of that with scrum half Ben Vellacott darting over. A series of penalties from English referee Sara Cox meant they were soon back, camped on the home side’s try line getting their second try. This time it was the power of WP Nel that brought the score, Ben Healy converting them both.

Edinburgh got the job done in Llanelli - but Grant Gilchrist's red card soured proceedings. Photo by Mark Lewis/Huw Evans/Shutterstock

The Scarlets backs were prepared to back their handling skills on a cold night and that paid off when they worked right wing Steff Evans clear up the left hand side. His cross kick was collected by scrum half Kieran Hardy, while hooker Dan Cherry got back to prevent the try. However, he did so from an offside position and was yellow carded.

The Scarlets hit back immediately with a series of forward drives, before using their backs to work centre Joe Roberts clear for their first try. Edinburgh’s response was almost comically easy. Healy launched a free kick high in the air, full back Emiliano leapt to catch it, coming down past the last defender and putting supporting wing Duhan van der Merwe in for the simple score. Flanker Hamish Watson soon added the bonus point try, another close range effort with Healy adding the conversion.

However any thoughts that it was effectively job done for the Scots was soon ended when captain Gilchrist was yellow carded for a high tackle. It was just the lack of power that meant he avoided red and while Pierre Schoeman added the fifth try early in the second half and just when it looked as though Edinburgh would get out of the game with no damage, they lost Gilchrist to the second yellow. Tomi Lewis added a second try for the home team just before the end, but that was of little concern.

Scarlets scorers: Tries – Roberts, Lewis. Con – Lloyd.

Edinburgh scorers: Tries – Vellacott, Nel, van der Merwe, Watson, Schoeman. Cons – Healy (3).

Scarlets: I Nicholas; Steff Evans, J Roberts, J Davies, R Conbeer; I Lloyd, K Hardy; S Thomas, R Elias (Capt), H O’Connor, A Craig, J Price, B Williams, D Davis, V Fifita. Subs: E Swart for Elias 49, K Mathias for Thomas 45, S Wainwright for O’Connor 49, M Jones for Price 53, Shaun Evans for Davis 65, G Davies for Hardy 49, C Titcombe for Nicholas 59, T Lewis for Evans 49.

Edinburgh: E Boffelli; C Dean, M Currie, J Lang, D van der Merwe; B Healy, B Vellacott; P Schoeman, D Cherry, W Nel, S Skinner, G Gilchrist (Capt), L Crosbie, H Watson, V Mata. Subs: E Ashman for Watson 12-22, for Cherry 59, B Venter for Schoeman 59, A Williams for Nel 59, G Young for Skinner 55, J Ritchie for Mata 45, T Dodd for Crosbie 68, A Price for Vellacott 62, C Scott for Healy 68.

Referee: Sara Cox (RFU).

Attendance: 5,993.