Edinburgh embraced familiar conditions and withstood everything thrown at them by the Cell C Sharks in the first half at Hollywoodbets Kings Park to earn a 21-5 Vodacom United Rugby Championship victory on Saturday evening.
The two test-laden sides met on a heavily drenched field, unseasonal rain producing a water-logged pitch to present severely testing conditions which suited the men from the northern hemisphere used to playing in the wet.
It was never going to be a game of running rugby and early on it was clear that the tactics from both teams would be to employ the boot to either force errors or regain possession behind the defence. It was a scrap from start to finish and a disappointing result.
While the ball spent more time in the air than the ground in the early stages, the game lit up at the first scrum on the 10 minute mark, a powerful effort from the Cell C Sharks demolishing the Scots and taking a moral advantage.
Edinburgh struck first blood, taking advantage of a man in the sin bin, charging down an attempted clearance kick when the Cell C Sharks had found themselves in their 22 and making good with a rare opportunity and scoring the seven pointer.
But a confident Cell C Sharks pack is a dangerous beast and following a number of scrum penalties that took them up field, Edinburgh found themselves on a team warning for repeated infringements.
Continuing to concede penalties at will, Edinburgh found themselves pinned in their half but somehow managed to evade a sin-binning until the game went into overtime following a mounting penalty count, but some very good defence saw off a last gasp effort.
Sensing their dominance, the Cell C Sharks forwards continued to grow and the relentless attack finally thwarted some brave defence and following innumerable pick and drives, Thomas du Toit managed to get over in the 50th minute for his team’s opening try.
Five minutes later Edinburgh countered from kick-ball, to score their second try to take a 14-5 lead and with 11 minutes left to play, the Scots scored their third converted try for a 16 point lead.
They chased a bonus point try while the Cell C Sharks worked hard to fight back but neither side was able to add any further score.
Cell C Sharks captain Siya Kolisi admitted afterwards that it was all about opportunities created and finished off.
“We did all the hard work but didn’t take our opportunities and you have to take them in this competition,” he said. “If you don’t convert those opportunities, you’re going to battle.
“Edinburgh controlled the pace of the game and although we wanted to up the pace, we couldn’t.”
The post Disappointment at Home appeared first on The Sharks.
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