Mike Blair questions Edinburgh’s entertainment value despite bonus point victory over Benetton

Mike Blair felt Edinburgh failed to entertain sufficiently despite beating Benetton 24-10 at the DAM Health Stadium to go second in the United Rugby Championship.

Edinburgh's Magnus Bradbury was presented with a commemorative cap to mark his 100th appearance for the club. Picture: SNS

There were notable performances from Blair Kinghorn, Darcy Graham and man of the match Magnus Bradbury, on his 100th appearance, as the capital side made it four wins in a row.

Blair, the Edinburgh coach, feels his side could have done more to lift the crowd.

“It is a bonus point win over a good Benetton side so we have to be happy with that but I don’t think we entertained the crowd tonight,” he said.

“They won’t be going home saying they loved that performance. That sort of thing matters to me, it is a big part of it to want to entertain.

“The crowds have been coming here, and there is an expectation now. I am not saying we are going to throw the ball around Harlem Globetrotters-style but it means we are accurate and play an attacking game that is not easy to defend but is good to watch as well.

“I just thought it was a little bit flat tonight. You want everything, never satisfied but we’ll take it though.”

Edinburgh remain unbeaten at home in the league and the win over Benetton came courtesy of tries from Graham, Emiliano Boffelli, Kinghorn and Stuart McInally.

While happy to notch up another victory Blair feels they are still a work in progress.

“We got a win but there is lot of things we can improve on and do better,” he added. “But as I said to the guys, it is a hell of a lot easier learning when you are winning. We are trying to change what we are doing but it is not going to click straight away.

“The game [last weekend] against the Dragons it did click but we can’t expect that to happen every time. We should be learning when we are winning as we have a good enough squad to do that.”

Edinburgh, whose next game is against Saracens away in the European Challenge Cup, lost Viliame Mata and Damien Hoyland to injury and Kinghorn went off late on for a head injury assessment. WP Nel pulled up in the warm-up with a calf problem and played no part in the match.