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Ten-try Edinburgh storm to huge Challenge Cup victory over Brive

By PA
(Photo / PA)

Glen Young and Freddie Owsley scored two tries each in Edinburgh’s emphatic 66-3 European Challenge Cup victory against Brive.

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Young, making his first start for the club following his summer move from Harlequins, powered his way over from close range after only five minutes before charging down a box-kick and scoring his second with 26 minutes on the clock.

The rampant hosts were 21-3 to the good inside the half-hour mark when Jamie Ritchie scored in the corner, with Darcy Graham adding a fourth six minutes from the interval.

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Shell-shocked Brive were struggling to cope with Edinburgh’s free-flowing play, and debutant Owsley delivered a superb fifth try before half-time when he kicked over the top and out-sprinted the Brive defence.

Edinburgh were 33-3 up when a blistering opening period came to an end, and it was not long before they extended their lead with Owsley celebrating his second after 42 minutes. Owsley then turned provider to pass to Ben Muncaster, who made no mistake in the corner.

Edinburgh moved past the half-century mark when Hamish Watson scored the home side’s eighth try of the evening after 67 minutes.

Following his call-up to Scotland’s Guinness Six Nations squad, Mark Bennett completed a week to remember by crossing over before Henry Pyrgos rounded out a brilliant win with his side’s 10th try in the final minute.

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The victory sees Edinburgh overhaul Brive in Pool C and extend their unbeaten home streak in the pool stage of the Challenge Cup to 17 matches.

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J
Jon 9 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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