A clinical Edinburgh Rugby got their 2011/12 campaign off to a good start tonight with a 28-22 win over Sale Sharks at Edgeley Park.
Efficiency put Edinburgh in the driving seat in the first-half with two tries from Tim Visser and Tom Brown making life comfortable, in spite of some periods of sustained Sale pressure earning the hosts a score of their own.
The second-half was a different story as the resurgent Sharks battered their way back into the match, finding more success with the direct approach which yielded three tries to Edinburgh’s one (again from Visser).
Crucially, the conversions from Sale’s three second-half scores were hooked by stand-off Rob Miller, while the penalty kicking of 19-year-old stand-off, Gregor Hunter, stayed true to make the difference on the scoreboard.
Edinburgh Rugby head coach, Michael Bradley, said: “In pre-season matches you have a check-list of things to go through that you’ve worked on in the off season and tonight I was particularly impressed with our shape in attack.
“We know all about our ability to counter-attack and line break at speed and it was good to see that brought forward from previous seasons as we got a lot of good scores tonight.
“All in all it was a good win with a lot of positives from the match with a lot of players putting their hand up for selection in our home match against Newcastle Falcons next Friday.”
Edinburgh Rugby will return to Murrayfield for their second, and final, pre-season fixture against Alan Tait’s Newcastle Falcons on Friday 26 August, to which U18s can attend for free.
Edinburgh Rugby will also unveil their new playing kit at the match. Supporters can pre-order the new Edinburgh Rugby kit at the Scottish Rugby Store at Murrayfield Stadium in person or on the phone (0131 346 5044). The kit will arrive in store next month (September).
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As it happened...
FULL TIME!
Sale Sharks 22-28 Edinburgh Rugby. Edinburgh seal a good win on the road as Alex Black boots the ball clear
74mins: TRY: Sale Sharks are making a huge comeback here as wing Charlie Amesbury bulldozes over. Miller misses another con (22-28)
70mins: Sharks go agonisingly close! A loose ball is grubbered through but the sliding Luther Burrell knocks on over the try line!
68mins: TRY: Sale Sharks Tommy Taylor pick and goes from the back of the ruck on the 5m line, nips round and dots down. Miller hooks another one (17-28)
60mins: TRY! Tim Visser Scores out wide! (12-28)
56mins: PEN: Gregor Hunter (12-23). Ben Cairns makes a great break which is carried on well by the supporting Watson. Sale are penalised at the breakdown and Hunter takes the points.
49 mins: TRY: A strong scrum and well-worked phase play allows blind-side flanker Dan Hall to batter in from close range. Miller hooks the conversion (12-20)
HALF TIME: 7-20
So much for a friendly! Play is stopped as players add some extras - former Sale Sharks #6 Sean Cox joins Sharks prop Lee Imiolek in the bin
36mins: PEN! Hunter adds another pen - good game management from Edinburgh here at Edgeley Park (7-20)
34mins: TRY! Super finish from Tom Brown! Sale were on a huge resurgence in Edinburgh territory but great break from Watson was carried on by Webster before he passed to Brown to danced through the defence to score (7-17)
30mins: Sub - Hamilsh Watson takes to the field for Struan Dewar. Watson to open-side, Roddy Grant to #8. Webster returns to the field
23mins: TRY - The scrum settles, Sale spin it wide into the overlap & full-back Joaquin Tuculet dots down. #10 Rod Miller slots the con (7-10)
19mins: Sale still camped out on the Edinburgh 5m line
16 mins: Sale winger Tom Brady slides inches short of scoring - Edinburgh penalised at the resulting ruck (close one!) - scrum 5...
12mins: Gregor Hunter slots a pen awarded for not releasing (0-10)
2 mins: TRY! HUGE Matt Scott interception, runs 70m up the park, offloads to Andrew Kelly & then to Tim Visser. Hunter slots the conversion (7-0) - great start.
Sale Sharks: Joaquin Tuclet; Tom Brady, Jordan Davies, Luther Burrell, Will Addison; Rob Miller, Scott Mathie; Lee Imiolek, Marc Jones, Vadim Coblias, Tom Holmes, James Gaskell, Dan Hall, David Seymour CAPTAIN, Mark Easter
Substitutes: Neil Briggs, Aston Croall, Henry Thomas, Ross Harrison, Will Cliff, Tommy Bell, Charlie Amesbury, Tommy Taylor, Alex Brown, Dwayne Peel
Edinburgh Rugby: Tom Brown; Simon Webster, Ben Cairns, Matt Scott, Tim Visser; Gregor Hunter, Chris Leck; Kyle Traynor, Steven Lawrie, Lewis Niven, Esteban Lozada, Steven Turnbull, Sean Cox, Roddy Grant CAPTAIN, Struan Dewar
Substitutes: Jack Gilding, Andrew Kelly, Grant Gilchrist, Hamish Watson, Alex Black, John Houston, Phil Godman, Lee Jones, John Cox (Currie), James Fleming, Dougie Fife, Andrew Turnbull, Sep Visser (Boroughmuir)
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SIGN UP FOR NEW PERSPECTIVES IN SEASON 2011/12! All of Edinburgh's RaboDirect PRO12 matches and their Heineken Cup home games are included in our 2011/12 season ticket package, where supporters can get closer to the on-field action with seating in the east stand and new pitch-side standing areas. Season tickets are priced at £35 for under-18s, £90 for students/senior citizens and £180 for adults. For more information on the benefits of being an Edinburgh season ticket holder, and to book in for the campaign under new head coach Michael Bradley, visit www.edinburghrugby.org, call 0131 346 5180 or visit the Murrayfield Ticket Centre (just off Roseburn Street) in person.
