Treviso 11 - 22 Edinburgh: Youth takes the day as Harry’s game keeps Treviso in check

HARRY Leonard provided further evidence of his rising star by steering Edinburgh to victory in Saturday’s defeat of Treviso, but coach Michael Bradley believes that the youngster must try to remain grounded.

The 19-year old fly-half kicked five penalties and one sublime conversion in a man-of-the-match performance which had even the Italian media contingent purring.

Quite aside from his fine marksmanship, the Scotland U20 international was the standout player as he pulled the strings in a masterclass tactical display.

Indeed, it was his second-half break which paved the way for Edinburgh’s only try, touched down by Allan Jacobsen, though officially awarded to Ross Rennie.

Bradley remarked that Leonard’s “performance belied his years,” but with the caveat that he must not get carried away with his explosion onto the scene.

“It’s my job to keep his feet on the ground,” said the former Irish scrumhalf. “He’s a good player, but he’s young, and he’s learning.

“He wasn’t spectacular, but he was very good. He did all of the basics well, and that’s what we asked him to do.

“He started off the match penning Treviso back into the corners, which is important.

“In the second half when he got more confidence, we saw his natural talent as he attacked the line,” added Bradley. “It’s important that you have people like Harry who can control a game.”

Saturday’s win was far from a one-man show, it must be said. Leonard kept Treviso at bay with kicking, but it was the performance of his forward pack which allowed him to do so.

When Edinburgh last visited Italy two months prior, the scrum proved their undoing as their tight five were taken to the cleaners by Aironi counterparts.

Things once again looked ominous on Saturday when Jacobsen, Ross Ford and Geoff Cross were driven off the ball and then penalised on their first put-in.

Slowly but surely, however, the Scottish international trio gained control at the engagement, allowing Edinburgh a foothold in a game they so desperately needed to win.

“When we played Aironi a lot of our play was good but our scrum just did not fire at all,” said Bradley.

“But the three Scottish lads coming back in have made a real difference; it just goes to show what that little bit of quality can do.

“All in all, I thought our pack did really well today,” he continued. “We were very conscious of the fact that Treviso bullied us the last time we were here.

“This time, we took the game to them. That is one of the things we are trying to do more often.”

With a Heineken Cup fixture against London Irish next up, Saturday’s result is sure to boost morale for an Edinburgh side who had lost five of their opening seven league games.

Lying in tenth place at the start of play, they were starting to lose pace with the leading pack, with hopes of claiming a play-off berth looking bleak.

Treviso, by contrast, were one of the form teams in the league, with four consecutive wins coming into the game, including a seven-try demolition of the Dragons just one week prior.

Credit to Bradley, he had clearly done his homework on the Italians’ threat, and his gameplan worked to a tee.

“I think the Dragons potentially tried to play too much rugby in their own half, and that was one of the elements of our game plan today, to play deep in their half whenever possible,” Bradley said. “It was very satisfying to see it all come off in the way it did.”