Heineken Cup: Connacht deliver win, Edinburgh slump

EDINBURGH remain rooted to the bottom of their Heineken Cup pool after a 23-12 defeat by Gloucester at Murrayfield yesterday but, over in France ,former Scotland international Dan Parks was among the heroes as Connacht stunned Toulouse in one of the tournament’s greatest-ever upsets.

Dan Parks kicked 11 of Connacht's 16 points in their remarkable victory over Toulouse. Picture: Getty

The 16-14 triumph at Stade Ernest Wallon took Connacht to within one point of the top in Pool 3 – held by Toulouse and Saracens, who both have ten points – with three games, two of them at home, to play. “We had a lot of belief coming to this game. Although we are at the bottom of the table this year, every single game we played we could have won,” said coach Pat Lam, who saw stand-off Parks kick 11 of their points. “We just had to make sure everyone did their job.”

Lam also revealed that last week’s RaboDirect Pro12 defeat by Edinburgh had been the 
catalyst for the win.

“Last week against Edinburgh we should have won comfortably, but they scored three tries in the last five minutes. At the time it hurt, but it might be the best thing that could have happened to us,” he said. “We’re alive, and now we have to go and do the same in our own backyard. This will be a big effort as they’ll come to us fired up.”

Reflecting on the defeat by Gloucester, meanwhile, Edinburgh coach Alan Solomons said: “The odds are definitely stacked against us. When you lose a home game it makes it very difficult. It doesn’t mean you are out but it makes it very difficult.”