A last second drop-goal kept Edinburgh Rugby on top of Heineken Cup Pool 2 as they edged Racing Metro in dramatic fashion at the Stade Yves du Masion tonight (24-27).
Edinburgh Rugby, Racing Metro and ‘dramatic’ are components to an all-too familiar phrase for supporters of the capital clubs, after the boys in black and red completed the biggest comeback in Heineken Cup history to defeat the Frenchmen 48-47 at Murrayfield in round 2.
With the tables turned for the reverse fixture in France, all eyes were on what was destined to be another trailblazing match on the site of another monumental Scottish success, that of former Scotland internationalist Eric Liddell, who raced to Olympic 400m gold in the 1924.
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Some 88 years later Racing Metro and Edinburgh Rugby exchanged one converted try after another, with Edinburgh taking the lead through back-row trio Ross Rennie, Netani Talei and David Denton (converted by Greig Laidlaw) only for the hosts to draw level in kind on each occasion.
With the scores level pegged at 21-21, a penalty form Racing Metro’s Jonathan Wisniewski put the Parisians in the lead for the first time, only for Laidlaw (now operating at stand-off with Godman on the field) to hit back with a three-pointer of his own.
Then, with the clock outside of its final minute, Edinburgh headed back up-field where the pack completed their tremendous 80-minute effort by securing clean ball for Laidlaw who, in turn, sent the ball back to replacement stand-off Phil Godman to slot the winner.
Edinburgh Rugby head coach Michael Bradley said: “I’m delighted for the boys who put in a terrific performance to win in Paris tonight. The commitment was exceptional.
“We handled our composure very well towards the end of the game when it was make-or-break. Phil [Godman] deserves a lot of credit for his drop-goal.
“He’s done a lot of hard yards in training to come back from injury and to snatch a win like that deserves a lot of plaudits which should go to him and to the boys who worked so hard to put him in that position.”
The win momentarily elevates the capital club four points clear of Cardiff Blues (13 points) who play out their game-in-hand at Reading against third-placed London Irish (8 points)
Edinburgh Rugby will host London Irish at Murrayfield in the final group match on Sunday 22 January as they seek to book a place in the quarter-final of Europe’s premiere cup competition.
Bradley added: “This win has given us a fantastic opportunity to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup in front of our home fans. That’s a great statement for Edinburgh Rugby and a great place to be.
“It could be fantastic day for Edinburgh Rugby fans; in fact all fans of rugby in Scotland. We need all of their support.”
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RACING METRO: 15 Juan Imhoff; 14 Virimi Vakatawa, 13 Francois Steyn, 12 Fabrice Estebanez, 11 Julien Saubade; 10 Juan Martin Hernandez, 9 Sebastien Descons; 1 Andrea La Cicero, 2 Gregory Arganese, 3 Juan-Pablo Orlandi, 4 Lionel Nallet CAPTAIN, 5 Francois Van Der Merwe, 6 Jonny Leo’o, 7 Antoinne Battut, 8 Sebastien Chabal
Substitutes: 16 Thomas Biachin, 17 Eddy Ben Arous, 18 SA Benjamin, 19 Bernard Le Roux, 20 Mathieu Loree, 21 Jonathan Wisniewski, 22 Remi Vaquin 23 Henry Chavancy
EDINBURGH RUGBY: 15 Chris Paterson; 14 Lee Jones, 13 Nick De Luca, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tim Visser;
10 Greig Laidlaw CAPTAIN, 9 Mike Blair; 1 Allan Jacobsen, 2 Ross Ford, 3 Geoff Cross, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 5 Sean Cox, 6 David Denton, 7 Ross Rennie, 8 Netani Talei
Substitutes: 16 Alun Walker, 17 Kyle Traynor, 18 Jack Gilding, 19 Stuart McInally, 20 Roddy Grant, 21 Phil Godman, 22 Tom Brown, 23 Jim Thompson
Man of the match: Netani Talei
Referee: Dave Pearson
