Edinburgh 56

Connacht 8

Lewis Stuart reports from the DAM Health Stadium

CONNACHT’S HOPES OF a top eight spot in the URC have taken a serious blow after a horror show in Edinburgh revived their away-day woes.

Once the Scots got their handling game going, they carved Connacht open at will, collecting eight tries in an embarrassing night for the visitors.

The Scots were superior in every phase. Their scrum was on top all game and the backs were able to find space almost all over the pitch to run in some spectacular tries. The western province’s defence was simply not up to the task.

And all of that occurred despite a storming start by the Irish side. Helped by a spate of sloppy handling from Edinburgh, Connacht controlled the opening quarter and were probably a bit disappointed to be only eight points ahead.

They had taken advantage of the hosts going a man down when Mesulame Kunavula, the Edinburgh number eight, was sent to the sin bin, allowing Connacht to lay siege to the home goal line. Jack Carty landed the opening points from the kicking tee before they eventually found their way to the try-line.

They had a penalty in front of the posts but elected to keep play going and created so much space out wide that Jack Sullivan, the wing, had enough time to stop for the pass to bounce before he forced his way over. Carty couldn’t manage the tricky touchline conversation.

There had, however, been some ominous warning signs and once Edinburgh found their scoring touch, three tries in 10 minutes turning the match on its head. First Emiliano Boffelli, the wing, was on hand to collect the offload and go over. Almost from the restart, centre Chis Dean wrong-footed the Connacht defence with a diagonal fun and Henry Immelman, the fullback, took over to run in the score.

That was bad enough but as the half was drawing to a close, a scrum penalty gave Edinburgh the chance to kick for the corner and send hooker Dave Cherry over for yet another score. With Boffelli converting all three, the hosts had a comfortable lead at the break.

Connacht needed to regroup in the second half but instead shot themselves in the foot by failing to collect the kick-off. A clever pass from Kinghorn put flanker Ben Muncaster into space and the return pass put Kinghorn in for the bonus point score. With Ramiro Moyano, the wing, soon adding another, the result was out of sight.

No wonder Andy Friend, the coach, went to the bench early but it didn’t make much difference as Edinburgh continued to dominate and claimed a further try for Immelman despite some doughy defence from Connacht.

Relief eventually came as Edinburgh brought on their bench and the disruption momentarily broke their concentration before Glen Young, the lock, resumed what had become normal service.

Scorers for Edinburgh: Try: Emiliano Boffelli, Henry Immelman (2), David Cherry, Blair Kinghorn, Ramiro Moyano, Glen Young, Ben Vellacott
Conversion: Emiliano Boffelli [8 from 8]

Connacht: Try: Peter Sullivan.
Conversion: Jack Carty [0 from 1]
Penalties: Jack Carty [1 from 1]

EDINBURGH: Henry Immelman; Ramiro Moyano (Jaco van der Walt, 61), James Lang (Matt Currie, 61), Chris Dean, Emiliano Boffelli ; Blair Kinghorn, Henry Pyrgos (C) (Ben Vellacott, 49); Boan Venter (Harrison Courtney, 61), Dave Cherry (Adam McBurney, 61), Angus Williams (Lee-Roy Atalifo, 61), Pierce Phillips, Glen Young (Jamie Campbell, 68), Ben Muncaster, Connor Boyle, Mesulame Kunavula (sin bin: 8-18, Harrison Courtney, 62).

CONNACHT: John Porch; Peter Sullivan, Sammy Arnold, Tom Daly, Alex Wootton (Tom Farrell, 46); Jack Carty (C), Caolin Blade (Kieran Marmion, 68); Jordan Duggan (Tietie Tuimauga, 49), Dave Heffernan (Shane Delahunt, 49, Dave Heffernan, 69), Jack Aungier (Dominic Robertson-McCoy, 51), Oisin Dowling, Leva Fifita (Niall Murray, 51, Conor Oliver, 64), Cian Prendergast, Conor Oliver (Jarrad Butler, 61), Paul Boyle (Abraham Papali’i, 51).

Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)