Edinburgh hold off Benetton’s second-half fightback to return to winning ways

Edinburgh were made to work against Benetton as they held on for a thrilling 50-33 victory in one of the most entertaining games of the United Rugby Championship season.

The hosts made things hard for themselves by letting a 35-0 half-time slip and they needed a late rally to make the game safe.

They started well with wing Duhan van der Merwe scoring in the corner with his first touch after just 65 seconds.

Back-row forward Ben Muncaster got a second try that was quickly followed by two in a row from Magnus Bradbury to give his side a 28-0 lead after just 24 minutes. They added their fifth just before the break through prop Paul Hill.

The Italian outfit were much better in the second half after getting a rocket from their coach Marco Bortolami at the interval.

They got a try through Paolo Odogwu in what was their first attack of the match then replacement hooker Augustin Creevy crossed for a quickfire double.

Conceding 19 points in less than 20 second-half minutes forced Edinburgh to buck up their ideas and there was a sigh of relief when Ali Price got their sixth try.

There was still fight in Benetton who got their fourth touchdown thanks to Alessandro Izekor to earn them a losing point.

It was a special game for 19-year-old Freddy Douglas, who made his professional debut for Edinburgh when he replaced Magnus Bradbury after the Italian’s fourth try.

In a unique situation, Douglas’ maiden club appearance came three weeks after making his Scotland debut against Portugal three weeks ago.

Benetton got their fifth try to make Edinburgh nervous again when Malakai Fekitoa went in under the posts with 10 minutes left.

Only a second try of the game from Muncaster and a penalty from Ben Healy ended Benetton’s second-half fightback.