EDINBURGH captain Ally Hogg admits the bar has been raised for his team, who brushed aside struggling Llanelli to achieve their best ever Magners League finish of fourth after starting the season in a state of turmoil.
With the team having been taken under new ownership by the SRU last summer, and in the wake of big name departures such as Chris Paterson and Simon Taylor, Hogg is pleasantly surprised with his side's success even though a late Munster try denied t
hem an even higher finish in the league.
"The end result here was pleasing even though it was not the greatest performance. We wanted to get the bonus point to give ourselves a chance of finishing third and that is what we did so we finished on a high," said Hogg.
"I could not have believed this at the start of the season – I think everyone agreed we were in a bit of bother and it is a credit to all the boys and staff that everyone just mucked in.
"I think we have set our standards now and we have to raise it. We achieved more than we expected to achieve and we will have to use the pre-season to work on things to get better, but it is an exciting time."
Edinburgh had too much quality once the breakthrough came from the surprise source of a 25-yard run-in by lock Ben Gissing.
Wing Andrew Turnbull scored an impressive try, thanks to a defence-splitting pass by Phil Godman, then after the break Hogg finished off a forward effort and Mike Blair earned the bonus point thanks to a Nick De Luca break.
It is a reward for the likes of Hogg who could easily have joined the departing internationals a year ago, but the Edinburgh players are reaping the rewards.
"The guys that left were at a different stage of their careers to me, but we obviously had faith to stay and when Andy Robinson came in he helped a lot with experience to help this young side grow," said the flanker.
"This is the first time we have come away unbeaten in Wales and that is fantastic. We have always been able to get some big wins at home, but we have won twice on the bounce away in the last two weeks and that's a huge achievement."
Scorers: Llanelli: Tries: Schwalger, James. Con: Priestland. Edinburgh: Tries: Gissing, Turnbull, Hogg, M Blair. Cons: MacRae, Godman (2). Pen: Laidlaw.
Llanelli Scarlets: D Evans; D James, G Evans, N Brew, M Watkins; R Priestland, L Davies; P John, M Schwalger, D Manu, V Cooper, S MacLeod, S Easterby (Capt), J Edwards, J Bater. Subs used: C Thomas for R Priestland 43, D Daniel for N Brew 58, I Thomas for John 69, L Reed for V Cooper 70, N Thomas for J Edwards 70, K Owens for Schwalger 72, G Cattle for L Davies 74.
Edinburgh: H Southwell; C MacRae, B Cairns, N De Luca, A Turnbull; P Godman, M Blair; A Allori, R Ford, G Cross, M Mustchin, B Gissing, A Hogg (Captain), A MacDonald, D Callam. Subs used: S Lawrie for Ford 3, M Robertson for MacRae 22, D Blair for Godman 25-34 and 56, A Jacobsen for Cross 46, G Laidlaw for M Blair 55, Cross for Allori 58, C Hamilton for Mustchin 58, S Newlands for Callam 70.
Referee: David Wilkinson (IRFU). Att: 7,338.
The full article contains 588 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
