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Final quarter 12-man Kings capitulation sends Edinburgh into top spot in Conference B
Edinburgh claimed top spot in the Guinness PRO14 Conference B with a crushing 61-13 win over basement side Southern Kings at BT Murrayfield.
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Richard Cockerill’s men had to work hard for the first hour but then scored at will as Kings capitulated in the final quarter when they were down to 12 men.
Edinburgh only led 19-13 at the break on the back of first-half tries from Mike Willemse, Duhan Van Der Merwe and Matt Scott, along with two conversions from Jaco Van Der Walt.
However, it was one-way traffic after the break as the home side added further touchdowns through James Johnstone, Eroni Sau, Dave Cherry, Charlie Shiel and Mark Bennett, plus a penalty try. Five Van Der Walt conversions completed the job as Edinburgh claimed a convincing bonus-point victory.
Erich Cronje and J-T Jackson crossed for Kings before the break, with Jackson adding the other points with a penalty.
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After an opening nine minutes when both sides were content to boot the ball aimlessly into opposition territory, it was the South African visitors who broke the deadlock.
Cronje was involved at the start and finish. He ran at the Edinburgh defence after a lineout inside the home 22 following a scrum penalty. And a couple of phases later, with the referee playing advantage, Jackson chipped the ball into the corner, where the winger was on hand to dot down.
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However, Kings were reduced to 14 men soon after when Pieter Scholtz was red-carded for a dangerous tackle on John Barclay and the hosts took advantage immediately.
They dispatched the penalty into touch where Grant Gilchrist gathered the throw and the home pack shunted the visitors backwards, allowing former Kings hooker Willemse to finish off. A successful conversion by another South African, Van Der Walt, nudged Edinburgh into the lead.
Jackson was off target with a long-range penalty but was successful with his next kick, a close-range effort that edged Kings back ahead after Lewis Carmichael was penalised for not rolling away.
Edinburgh responded in style with a fine solo effort by Van Der Merwe , whose powerful diagonal run took him past four defenders after Henry Pyrgos and Van Der Walt had combined to free him.
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And the lead grew to double figures in the 34th minute when Van Der Walt added the extras after Scott finished off a slick handling move started by Blair Kinghorn and involving five players.
Kings reduced the deficit when Jackson kicked a penalty into touch then finished off the subsequent moved when he dived in at the corner for an unconverted score that left Edinburgh only six points ahead at the break.
However, that was as close as the South African outfit would come as Edinburgh, after a slow start, ended up adding another 42 points without reply in the second period.
The bonus point came within five minutes of the restart when Scott made a break and the ball was moved wide via Van Der Walt and Kinghorn to Johnstone, who sprinted over for a converted score.
New Year, same Owen! https://t.co/QEwHvqlGO3
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 4, 2020
The visitors were reduced to 13 men after being forced to sacrifice a player when a front row injury resulted in uncontested scrums.
Despite that, the hosts failed to add to their tally until the 67th minute when referee Joy Neville awarded a penalty try after Gilchrist was thwarted illegally as he dived over.
Aston Fortuin was yellow-carded for the offence and the hosts made the most of their three-man advantage when Shiel darted into space and released Sau, whose try was converted by Van Der Walt.
And the stand-off added the extras after Cherry blasted his way over and again after Shiel finished off another breakout with try number eight, before completing the scoring when he converted a late Bennett touchdown.
– AssociatedPress
One of Welsh rugby’s biggest characters on and off the pitch, RugbyPass travelled to Brecon to see how life after rugby is treating Andy Powell:
Comments on RugbyPass
“But with an exceptional pass accuracy rating “ Which apart from Roigard is not a feature of any of the other 9s in NZ. Kind of basic for a Black 9 dont.you. think? Yet we keep seeing FC and TJ being rated ahead of him? Weird if it’s seen as vital to get our backline beating in your face defences.
1 Go to commentsThanks BeeMc! Looks like many teams need extra time to settle from the quadrennial northern migration. I think generally the quality of the Rugby has held up. Fiji has been fantastic and fun to watch
13 Go to commentsLets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
11 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
9 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
11 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
9 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
35 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
35 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
17 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
5 Go to comments