Finn Russell eclipsed by Bath pack as Edinburgh Rugby's Euro dream founders

Edinburgh’s quest to reach their first European final in 10 years foundered on the rocks of a Bath side who had too much power up front for their hosts.

The talk pre-match had been all about Finn Russell, playing a club match in Scotland for the first time in seven years, but it was the Bath pack who ultimately won this game. All six of their tries were scored by forwards and although Edinburgh trailed by only three points with five minutes remaining, the visitors turned the screw with two late tries to win 39-24.

Their treble bid remains alive and they will play either Lyon or Racing 92 in the EPCR Challenge Cup final in Cardiff on May 23. The two French sides meet on Sunday in the second semi-final.

Ben Spencer of Bath celebrates after Tom Dunn scores his team's second try in the win over Edinburgh in the EPCR Challenge Cup semi-final at Hive Stadium. | Getty Images

No Scottish side has ever won one of rugby’s European club competitions and the wait will now stretch beyond 30 years. Edinburgh played with courage and plenty of endeavour but Bath ground them down, aided by a powerful bench which included the influential Thomas du Toit, Ted Hill and Barbeary.

Replacement Mosese Tuipulotu had kept Edinburgh in touch with an early score and the home side had led at the start of the second half through a penalty try but they couldn’t hold off Johann van Graan’s Premiership leaders. Ali Price gave them hope with a 65th minute try but Bath finished strongly to dampen the enthusiasm of a record crowd of 7,989 at Hive Stadium.

Edinburgh winger struck by injury curse once again

Tuipulotu’s introduction had come earlier than expected. Harry Paterson has had no luck with injuries in his short career and the curse struck again in the third minute. The young winger had done well to disrupt a Bath attack close to his own line but he went down holding his head and had to go off for an HIA which he failed. It meant a reshuffle to the Edinburgh backline, with the highly impressive Matt Currie moving to the left wing and Tuipulotu coming on at centre.

The first five minutes were predictably frantic. Price hacked through from halfway but followed it up with a skewed second kick. The ball looked to be heading out of play and the scrum-half gave up on it only for it to spin backwards, and Russell won the foot race against his former flatmate. A high-looking tackle by Cam Redpath on Hamish Watson was deemed to be okay following a TMO check and then Ross Thompson hit the post with a straightforward penalty attempt.

Bath's Finn Russell outpaced his former flat-mate Ali Price to stop an Edinburgh try. | SNS Group

Bath made Edinburgh pay for their profligacy. They won a scrum penalty and kicked to the corner to ramp up the pressure on their hosts. Charlie Ewels flicked it out from the base of the ruck and Sam Underhill piled over for the opening try which Russell converted via the post.

Will Muir was yellow carded for kicking the ball out of Currie’s hands while the Edinburgh man was grounded and the home side drew level while Bath were down to 14. Currie was instrumental, taking a quick throw to catch Bath napping. He took the ball back from Thompson then played in Tuipulotu for the score. Thompson landed the conversion from out wide.

Bath continued to threaten and they scored their second try eight minutes before the interval. It was a simple enough: Russell kicked to the corner, Bath won the lineout and hooker Tom Dunn was able to get over.

A penalty try and a sin-binning

Edinburgh reduced the lead to two points with a Thompson penalty and were denied a second try just before half-time as Muir nipped in to intercept after a searing break from Darcy Graham.

Edinburgh began the second half like they ended the first and were quickly rewarded. Price’s raking 55-metre kick put them on the attack and, when Wes Goosen tried to play in Graham, Tom de Glanville deliberately knocked the ball away. Nika Amashukeli, the Georgian referee, awarded a penalty try and sent the Bath full-back to the bin.

The crowd lapped it up. Their team were leading for the first time and they were sensing an upset.

Bath didn’t panic. Edinburgh lost Sam Skinner to the sin-bin for persistent offending and the visitors summoned fresh energy from the bench. Their power game proved too much and they put on 15 unanswered points. Dunn rumbled over for his second try and Barbeary then squeezed through in the corner. Russell converted the first but not the second and added a penalty to put Bath 27-17 ahead with 17 minutes remaining.

Ben Muncaster celebrates wildly after his Edinburgh team-mate Ali Price (No 9) had given his team hope with their third try. | Getty Images

Edinburgh had one last flourish. Price scored after good work by Thompson and Boan Venter and Thompson’s conversion brought them to within three points. The crowd volume increased again but Bath’s forwards had the final say and two tries in the last five minutes sealed their place in the final.

Niall Annett got the first after tremendous work from Barbeary and then Guy Pepper finished things off after Muir had barrelled his way down the wing.

It had been a herculean effort from Edinburgh but England’s form side proved too strong in the end.

Scorers: Edinburgh: Tries: M Tuipulotu, Penalty Try, Price. Cons: Thompson 2. Pen: Thompson. Bath: Tries: Underhill, Dunn 2, Barbeary, Annett, Pepper. Cons: Russell 3. Pen: Russell.

Yellow cards: Muir (Bath, 13min), de Glanville (Bath, 43min), Skinner (Edinburgh, 48min)

Edinburgh: W Goosen; D Graham, M Currie, J Lang (B Healy 80), H Paterson (M Tuipulotu 3); R Thompson, A Price (C Shiel 77); P Schoeman (B Venter 53), E Ashman (P Harrison 55), D Rae (J Sebastian 44), S Skinner (M Sykes 59), G Gilchrist, J Ritchie, H Watson (B Muncaster 59), M Bradbury.

Bath: T de Glanville; J Cokanasiga (C Donoghue 71), C Redpath, W Butt, W Muir; F Russell, B Spencer (L Schreuder 76); B Obano (T du Toit 49), T Dunn (N Annett 57), W Stuart (A Griffin 66), Q Roux (A Barbeary 49), C Ewels (R Molony 64), G Pepper, S Underhill, M Reid (T Hill 49).

Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Geo).

Attendance: 7989.