Andy Robinson admits Edinburgh were frustrated by being held to a 14-14 draw at Connacht after the men in black and red had chalked up a healthy lead.

Flanker Ross Rennie touched down after only seven minutes to hand Edinburgh a perfect start with Edinburgh’s pack dominating the early exchanges.

David Blair, on his Edinburgh debut, nailed the conversion – showing his growing confidence on the professional stage and Edinburgh were comfortably in control of matters.

The dominance translated into a fine score for Nick De Luca, his second in successive matches, as Edinburgh raced into a seemingly insurmountable advantage with Blair junior adding the extras.

But in the end Connacht staged a spirited comeback and a try from Robbie Morris and three penalty goals enabled the western Ireland Province to snatch a draw.

Afterwards, head coach Robinson revealed the players were distraught by the result, but says it is all part of the learning process required as the team aims to play an expansive and incisive brand of rugby.

Speaking exclusively to www.edinburghrugby.org , Robinson said: “In the first half we were 14-3 up and playing some outstanding rugby. We scored one try from an excellent drive and one try after many phases of play.

“At that point we were in control, but unfortunately we relinquished control of the game in the final minute of the first half.

“Then in the second half our possession was turned over far too often. In the end we had a dropped goal attempt from David Blair right at the death and it is debatable as to whether or not it went over.

“Everybody is incredibly frustrated with the result, but there were some positives. I thought the three debutants played well and I thought we played very well at the start.

“But we need to learn how to change our tactics during a game and how to kill teams off, but we’ll get there – it is all part of the learning process.

“There was an enormous amount of frustration in the dressing room afterwards, but I would like to thank the travelling support. I must say I was really impressed by them all and it was great to hear them in the stadium.”

Edinburgh: Hugo Southwell, Andrew Turnbull, Ben Cairns, Nick De Luca, Simon Webster, David Blair, Mike Blair; Gavin Kerr, Ross Ford, Craig Smith, Craig Hamilton, Ben Gissing, Allister Hogg (captain), Ross Rennie, Simon Cross.
Replacements: Andrew Kelly, Augusto Allori, Matt Mustchin, Roland Reid, Ben Meyer, Ali Warnock, John Houston.