IT IS coming together for Edinburgh and as insignificant as pre-season friendlies might be Saturday undoubtedly set a new marker for pro rugby in the capital.
The crowd figure of 4,225 would have been very good for any competitive fixture over the past decade, never mind a friendly, while the most disappointing aspect of the on-field performance was the three or four scoring chances butchered within m
etres of the line.
Wasps coach Shaun Edwards was not a happy man at the finish. He had witnessed his famed defence being ripped open on several occasions as Phil Godman, the Edinburgh and Scotland stand-off, exploited the new space available from the experimental law variation that forces defending back lines five metres back from the scrum.
The psychological boost this result injects to Edinburgh's European campaign could be significant. With centres of the quality of Nick De Luca and Ben Cairns, who started as they finished last season in mesmerising opposite numbers with confident running, the hosts had a cutting edge that Wasps struggled with. The game was even won without rested Edinburgh scrum-half Mike Blair.
Worryingly for the home side, and Scotland, Cairns left the field after just 25 minutes, however, with strained knee ligaments. More news is expected on his injury today.
Wasps certainly provided a fierce test at the contact area, and in the set-piece, but, still, arguably the try of the game came from an Edinburgh prop, Geoff Cross, which left everyone stunned, not least Mark van Gisbergen.
The Wasps full-back faced up to the rampaging Galashiels youngster, whose rise last term took him from Hawick's 1st XV to Argentina with the Scotland tour squad, as he broke with terrific pace from a turnover on the Wasps' 10-metre line. He slipped to the ground clutching air when Cross stepped off his right foot and the prop cruised in behind the posts.
Edinburgh opened the scoring with a Godman penalty but Wasps led at half-time 10-3 after prop forward Pat Barnard finished a driven lineout from ten metres.
Edinburgh made five changes at half-time, Chris Paterson replacing Southwell at full-back for his first appearance back in an Edinburgh jersey after returning from Gloucester, and after a sluggish start they burst into life with a superbly-worked try, sprung by the impressive 8-9 duo of Scott Newlands and Greig Laidlaw, and finished by De Luca.
Godman capped a good solo display by launching a sweeping counter-attack from his own half and tracking a great run by Andrew Turnbull – who neatly stepped Josh Lewsey – to take the scoring pass and canter to the try-line. Wasps hit back with a soft try from James Haskell, but on the hour mark Cross grabbed his score, converted by Paterson, and while Edinburgh should have scored another they fought toe-to-toe with a tiring Wasps side.
Scorers
Edinburgh: Tries – De Luca, Godman, Cross; Pen – Godman; Cons – Godman, Paterson.
Wasps: Tries – Barnard, Voyce, Haskell.
Edinburgh: H Southwell; M Robertson, B Cairns (capt), N De Luca, S Webster; P Godman, G Laidlaw; A Jacobsen, R Ford, G Kerr, S Turnbull, B Gissing, F McKenzie, S Newlands, A MacDonald. Subs: C MacRae for Cairns 25mins, C Paterson for Southwell, G Cross for Kerr, M Mustchin for McKenzie, A Kelly for Ford, A Turnbull for Robertson, all 40, D Blair for Godman, B Meyer for Laidlaw, C Hamilton for Turnbull 58, Southwell for De Luca 65, K Traynor for Jacobsen 77, Ford for Kelly 78.
Wasps: M van Gisbergen; J Lewsey, L Mitchell, D Waldouck, T Voyce; R Flutey, E Reddan (capt); T Payne, R Webber, P Bernard, T Palmer, R Birkett, J Haskell, J Hart, J Worsley. Subs: J Staunton for Flutey 40mins, D Leo for Palmer 52, T French for Payne, M Robinson for Reddan, C Bishey for Lewsey, all 61, H Ellis for Haskell 64, D Varley for Webber 66.
Referee: A MacPherson (SRU).
The full article contains 671 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
