Edinburgh Rugby rise above the mediocrity to take down Scarlets after perilous situation

Edinburgh’s display was at times unconvincing, littered with errors and poor line-outs, but a bonus-point victory against one of the weaker teams in the URC is job done as far as head coach Sean Everitt will be concerned. Tougher tests await, including two matches in South Africa against Lions and Stormers.

Ben Vellacott scored a pair of tries and Harry Paterson sealed the win with a charge-down score at a crucial point in the game. Captain Magnus Bradbury led from the front. Ahead of Saturday’s matches, the capital outfit move up to 11th in the standings as they look to break into the top eight.

The opening 20 minutes were competitive but lacked quality. Edinburgh struggled to make moves stick and Scarlets were also unable to find any inspiration.

The breakthrough arrived on 23 minutes when Edinburgh’s defence afforded Scarlets too much space and Joe Roberts burst through and scampered in under the posts. Carwyn Leggat-Jones added the extras and the scoreboard was up and running.

It sparked an entertaining end to the half. Scarlets bagged their second try of the game on 29 minutes when their lock Sam Lousi grounded in the shadow of the corner flag. The try was checked at length, with the Tongan’s head perilously close to the touchline before the ball touched the tryline, but the officials were eventually satisfied. Leggatt-Jones landed a tough kick and the hosts needed to respond.

Edinburgh got on the board in style when a flowing move involving Wes Goosen ended with Vellacott touching down. Ross Thompson converted and Everitt’s side had some impetus to further eat into the lead before the break.

However, Edinburgh coughed up two cheap penalties and hooker Harri Morris was inaccurate with a line-out throw and Scarlets went into the sheds 14-7 ahead.

The turning point

A key moment arrived on 46 minutes. Scarlets so nearly scored a try when a bouncing ball just evaded Tommy Lewis, who would have scored an easy try. Edinburgh broke forward into open space and eventually Mosese Tuipulotu sprayed the ball out for Bradbury to score. Thompson converted and the scores were level.

Edinburgh’s tails were up and just three minutes later they were in front. Vellacott was at it again, scuttling in after some more good work from James Lang, Bradbury and Goosen. Thompson dragged the kick wide but the hosts had a 19-14 advantage going into the last half-hour.

The momentum switched again when a promising Edinburgh attack was halted by a penalty for sealing off just metres from the Scarlets tryline and Paterson was yellow-carded on 55 minutes for a deliberate knock-on.

Edinburgh entered a phase of defending for their lives. While Bradbury earned a penalty with an excellent jackal, his team could not hold on before Paterson returned when Roberts scored in the corner. Leggatt-Jones missed the challenging conversion, leaving the scores at 19-19 on 64 minutes.

Paterson returned to the pitch a minute later and he made amends for his indiscretion on 69 minutes when he charged down a Leggatt-Jones clearance, scooped the ball up and scored in the corner for the bonus point. Thompson missed the kick, but it did not matter. There was no further scoring.