Edinburgh battle to victory in Parma
Edinburgh showed grit, determination and resilience to battle to a 26-10 victory at Zebre in a match that saw momentum swing from side-to-side throughout an enthralling contest.
The capital side – who went down to 13-men for a stage following WP Nel’s sin bin and George Taylor’s late red card – scored late on through Jamie Farndale to secure the road victory in Parma.
Edinburgh went into the match without Head Coach Richard Cockerill and Blair Kinghorn as the duo remained at home following a delay to the receipt of their Covid-19 test – that subsequently confirmed as negative, however they put any distraction to one side to grind out an impressive victory at Stadio Lanfranchi.
Mark Bennett put the visitors in control with a try late in the first half, while Jaco van der Walt contributed 16 points with the boot.
Mick Kearney crossed for Zebre’s only touchdown as the hosts pulled level early in the second period, but Edinburgh survived twice being reduced to 14 men and Jamie Farndale added another try at the death.

Key moments
It was the Edinburgh who applied the early pressure and Van der Walt, who along with Kinghorn signed fresh terms with Edinburgh this week, got his side on the board with a fifth-minute penalty.
Carlo Canna squandered a relatively straightforward opportunity to bring the hosts level shortly after the midway point of the half, pulling wide of the left-hand upright from the tee, but atoned for that error by splitting the posts two minutes later.
An off-the-ball block from Pierre Schoeman on Renato Giammarioli ended the Italian number eight’s involvement but earned the Edinburgh prop no further punishment, before the visitors opened up a 10-3 half-time lead.
Bennett sent a kick downfield from his own 22-metre line, with Farndale winning the race to pounce on the ball and pop it back up for Bennett to run for the whitewash. Van der Walt made no mistake with the conversion.
Zebre wasted no time in restoring parity after the break, with Kearney being driven over the line three minutes into the second period and Canna adding the extras.
Van der Walt opened up the Edinburgh lead once more with two penalties in quick succession, but they were left breathing a sigh of relief when a Zebre maul powered its way over the line only for the ball to be held up.
They did not come away from that period of pressure completely unscathed, with Nel sent to the sin bin after an offside offence.
Edinburgh had to defend doggedly to preserve their lead a man light and they were dealt another setback when Taylor was sent off for a high tackle almost as Nel’s time in the bin was up.
The visitors weathered the storm, however, and denied Zebre a bonus point as Van der Walt added another penalty and converted Farndale’s late interception try.
Player of the match
Aside from a penalty miss when the game was all but over, Van der Walt was faultless from the tee on Saturday.
His contribution with the boot looked like being the difference between the two teams until Farndale ran in his late try.
Play of the match
Farndale was a late inclusion in the starting XV – filling the gap left by Kinghorn’s absence and Jack Blain’s move to full-back – but he played a key role as Edinburgh initially took control of the match in the closing stages of the first half.
He had the pace to chase down Bennett’s kick and then the wherewithal to offload from flat on his back, returning the ball to the arms of Bennett, who gratefully finished off the move under the posts.
live commentary 1:00 PM Saturday 23 Jan 2021
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Kick-off 1:00 PM
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Zebre
-
Jamie Elliott
23. Replacement16metres made
52MINUTES PLAYED
4TACKLES MADE
1COMPLETE PASSES
-
Antonio Rizzi
22. Replacement0metres made
25MINUTES PLAYED
1TACKLES MADE
8COMPLETE PASSES
-
Josh Renton
21. Replacement0metres made
31MINUTES PLAYED
0TACKLES MADE
24COMPLETE PASSES
-
Potu Leavasa
20. Replacement39metres made
48MINUTES PLAYED
6TACKLES MADE
2COMPLETE PASSES
-
Leonard Krumov
19. Replacement6metres made
26MINUTES PLAYED
1TACKLES MADE
1COMPLETE PASSES
-
Eduardo Bello
18. Replacement0metres made
17MINUTES PLAYED
1TACKLES MADE
0COMPLETE PASSES
-
Daniele Rimpelli
17. Replacement0metres made
13MINUTES PLAYED
0TACKLES MADE
0COMPLETE PASSES
-
Marco Manfredi
16. Replacement0metres made
22MINUTES PLAYED
0TACKLES MADE
1COMPLETE PASSES
-
Renato Giammarioli
8. Number 84metres made
33MINUTES PLAYED
5TACKLES MADE
1COMPLETE PASSES
-
Johan Meyer
7. Back-row2metres made
80MINUTES PLAYED
9TACKLES MADE
4COMPLETE PASSES
-
Maxime Mbanda
6. Back-row8metres made
80MINUTES PLAYED
6TACKLES MADE
4COMPLETE PASSES
-
Mick Kearney
5. Second-row3metres made
55MINUTES PLAYED
9TACKLES MADE
1COMPLETE PASSES
-
David Sisi
4. Second-row5metres made
80MINUTES PLAYED
16TACKLES MADE
4COMPLETE PASSES
-
Giosue Zilocchi
3. Tighthead prop2metres made
64MINUTES PLAYED
12TACKLES MADE
5COMPLETE PASSES
-
Luca Bigi
2. Hooker9metres made
59MINUTES PLAYED
7TACKLES MADE
4COMPLETE PASSES
-
Danilo Fischetti
1. Loosehead prop3metres made
68MINUTES PLAYED
9TACKLES MADE
2COMPLETE PASSES
-
Guglielmo Palazzani
9. Scrum-half2metres made
50MINUTES PLAYED
4TACKLES MADE
27COMPLETE PASSES
-
Carlo Canna
10. Stand-off0metres made
56MINUTES PLAYED
6TACKLES MADE
10COMPLETE PASSES
-
Mattia Bellini
11. Wing0metres made
40MINUTES PLAYED
4TACKLES MADE
2COMPLETE PASSES
-
Tommaso Boni
12. Inside-centre4metres made
69MINUTES PLAYED
10TACKLES MADE
6COMPLETE PASSES
-
Federico Mori
13. Outside-centre28metres made
80MINUTES PLAYED
4TACKLES MADE
1COMPLETE PASSES
-
Giovanni D'Onofrio
14. Wing4metres made
80MINUTES PLAYED
3TACKLES MADE
4COMPLETE PASSES
-
Michelangelo Biondelli
15. Full-back8metres made
80MINUTES PLAYED
1TACKLES MADE
4COMPLETE PASSES
Edinburgh
-
Jack Blain
15. Full-back29metres made
80MINUTES PLAYED
1TACKLES MADE
0COMPLETE PASSES
-
Jamie Farndale
14. Wing60metres made
71MINUTES PLAYED
6TACKLES MADE
1COMPLETE PASSES
-
Mark Bennett
13. Outside-centre53metres made
64MINUTES PLAYED
2TACKLES MADE
3COMPLETE PASSES
-
Chris Dean
12. Inside-centre38metres made
80MINUTES PLAYED
4TACKLES MADE
13COMPLETE PASSES
-
Eroni Sau
11. Wing38metres made
80MINUTES PLAYED
4TACKLES MADE
3COMPLETE PASSES
-
Jaco van der Walt
10. Stand-off3metres made
80MINUTES PLAYED
6TACKLES MADE
26COMPLETE PASSES
-
Henry Pyrgos
9. Scrum-half5metres made
64MINUTES PLAYED
2TACKLES MADE
80COMPLETE PASSES
-
Pierre Schoeman
1. Loosehead prop16metres made
80MINUTES PLAYED
10TACKLES MADE
4COMPLETE PASSES
-
David Cherry
2. Hooker7metres made
65MINUTES PLAYED
4TACKLES MADE
5COMPLETE PASSES
-
WP Nel
3. Tighthead prop0metres made
60MINUTES PLAYED
5TACKLES MADE
0COMPLETE PASSES
-
Jamie Hodgson
4. Second-row12metres made
61MINUTES PLAYED
2TACKLES MADE
6COMPLETE PASSES
-
Grant Gilchrist
5. Second-row11metres made
80MINUTES PLAYED
7TACKLES MADE
9COMPLETE PASSES
-
Luke Crosbie
6. Back-row5metres made
68MINUTES PLAYED
4TACKLES MADE
3COMPLETE PASSES
-
Hamish Watson
7. Back-row20metres made
80MINUTES PLAYED
9TACKLES MADE
6COMPLETE PASSES
-
Viliame Mata
8. Number 884metres made
80MINUTES PLAYED
3TACKLES MADE
2COMPLETE PASSES
-
Michael Willemse
16. Replacement0metres made
16MINUTES PLAYED
2TACKLES MADE
0COMPLETE PASSES
-
Sam Grahamslaw
17. Replacement0metres made
0MINUTES PLAYED
0TACKLES MADE
0COMPLETE PASSES
-
Simon Berghan
18. Replacement0metres made
20MINUTES PLAYED
2TACKLES MADE
0COMPLETE PASSES
-
Nick Haining
19. Replacement0metres made
13MINUTES PLAYED
1TACKLES MADE
0COMPLETE PASSES
-
Magnus Bradbury
20. Replacement0metres made
20MINUTES PLAYED
3TACKLES MADE
0COMPLETE PASSES
-
Charlie Shiel
21. Replacement0metres made
17MINUTES PLAYED
0TACKLES MADE
6COMPLETE PASSES
-
Nathan Chamberlain
22. Replacement0metres made
0MINUTES PLAYED
0TACKLES MADE
0COMPLETE PASSES
-
George Taylor
23. Replacement0metres made
6MINUTES PLAYED
0TACKLES MADE
0COMPLETE PASSES
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