Spectacular first half performance sees Edinburgh win at Murrayfield

Edinburgh’s dominance over the Ospreys in the first half of Friday’s Magners League clash gave them a 26-6 lead at half time which proved to be too large a deficit for the inexperienced visitors to overcome.

The win is Edinburgh’s third in succession and puts them fifth in the league, two places behind their Welsh opposition.

The home side got off to the perfect start when Nick De Luca touched down after just 57 seconds, following a break from Ross Rennie that left the visitors’ defence trailing. Paterson converted to take the score to 7-0.

Matthew Jarvis, a recruit from the Osprey’s under-20 squad, kicked two penalties to keep the visitor’s in the game, despite their complete lack of possession and on-field leadership.

Paterson kicked an easy penalty after the Ospreys were penalised for holding onto the ball, and Phil Godman sent over a well-executed drop-goal to bring the score to 13-6 after twenty minutes.

The absence of almost half of the Ospreys’ first-choice team due to international duty left them severely lacking in experience in both the back-line and the pack. The visitors looked highly vulnerable in defence and their high number of unforced errors contributed significantly to Edinburgh’s dominance in the opening stages.

Conversely, Edinburgh fielded a full Scotland International back-line with the exception of Scotland A winger, Mark Robertson. Stars of the recent Autumn Test series, Godman and Paterson, were integral to Edinburgh’s first half points haul, pinning the visitors back in their own half with impeccable kicking from hand.

The Ospreys’ inability to cope with high balls when pressured by the rushing Edinburgh defence yielded two further penalties converted by Paterson, with the visitors lucky to only concede six points.

Edinburgh’s high tempo enabled them to persistently break the gain line with both Robertson and Ben Cairns making good headway in the backs. However, it was prop Geoff Cross who scored the home side’s second converted try of the night after the visitors’ scrum failed to nullify the rampant Edinburgh pack.

Complacency crept into Edinburgh’s game after half time, allowing Scotland winger Nikki Walker to touch down for the Ospreys. Walker made the initial break, evading several tackles and demonstrating his pace by outrunning the scrambling defence before touching down to add five points to the visitors’ tally. Jarvis converted after an earlier successful penalty to bring the score to 26-16.

Edinburgh were reduced to 14 men when Cross was sin-binned as a result of several indiscretions at the breakdown, however Paterson was gifted two easy penalties to give Edinburgh a 32-16 lead going into the final minutes.

Although pleased with the win, Edinburgh Head coach, Andy Robinson, expressed concern over his side’s second half performance, saying:

“First half we looked comfortable on the ball and tactically played really well. I’m really pleased with that but I think the players thought the game was won. We sat off them a bit in the second half and gave a few penalties away. The frustrating thing is we didn’t get a bonus point when we got ourselves in a good position.”

Looking ahead to next week’s crucial Heineken Cup clash against Wasps, Robinson realises that they must remain focused if they are to shock the reigning English champions:

“If we can play like we played in the first half for 80 minutes against Wasps next week it will be a cracking game, if we play like we played in the second half we will get blown away” he said.