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Edinburgh had a vital win against Scarlets here last week but tonight | :00:59. | :01:08. | |
face 18 top of the Pro12. Five games unbeaten, this will be anything but | :01:09. | :01:16. | |
easy. Edinburgh against Connacht. It is good to have you with us. A cold | :01:17. | :01:21. | |
evening here in Edinburgh. It will be a tough one tonight against top | :01:22. | :01:29. | |
of the table Connacht, who come in on confident form. Andy Nicol, they | :01:30. | :01:33. | |
were happy with the performance last week and their resilience but they | :01:34. | :01:38. | |
will have to show is a real performance this evening. | :01:39. | :01:40. | |
They are against a better side tonight. Connacht at home would have | :01:41. | :01:50. | |
had a guaranteed victory. They have had the continuity in the selection | :01:51. | :01:54. | |
and it has made a huge difference. If Edinburgh want to get into the | :01:55. | :02:00. | |
play-offs and they want to be successful in that regard, they have | :02:01. | :02:02. | |
to try and beat the likes of Connacht. | :02:03. | :02:06. | |
They will want to finish in the top four. The final in May here in | :02:07. | :02:12. | |
Murrayfield. It is all about Connacht. You are joining us in the | :02:13. | :02:19. | |
company of our commentary team. Not that long ago, it would have | :02:20. | :02:25. | |
been more or less in conceding all -- inconceivable to be billing this | :02:26. | :02:33. | |
game against fifth-place Edinburgh. They are in with a shout of getting | :02:34. | :02:37. | |
in the top four. Connacht can't afford to lose it either. Connacht | :02:38. | :02:51. | |
clipped the Osprey's wings. They have made four changes from the team | :02:52. | :02:58. | |
that beat the Ospreys. Nathan White has played three times in the six | :02:59. | :03:02. | |
Nations for Ireland. Quinn who plays his first game of 2016 and the | :03:03. | :03:11. | |
captain returns for his first Pro12 game of this season. They may not be | :03:12. | :03:18. | |
household names in Scottish terms but they have been playing some good | :03:19. | :03:23. | |
rugby and winning some very good results, which have taken them to | :03:24. | :03:30. | |
the top of the league. As we hit round of 17, remarkably, in the | :03:31. | :03:37. | |
Guinness Pro12. The Edinburgh team in the red and black kit. | :03:38. | :03:48. | |
A warm welcome from a thin crowd, perhaps influenced by the very scary | :03:49. | :03:55. | |
weather forecast. It is an ideal night for rugby. Only one victory | :03:56. | :04:03. | |
against Connacht in their last games for Edinburgh. A familiar look to | :04:04. | :04:11. | |
the back row. Chris Dean comes in from the bench. The captain, Neil | :04:12. | :04:22. | |
Cochrane, again at hooker. The replacements, once again. Edinburgh | :04:23. | :04:26. | |
looks to have some strength in depth, despite the fact they have | :04:27. | :04:30. | |
nine injuries, five internationals away. And plenty of book and case on | :04:31. | :04:39. | |
the Connacht bench. A Welsh man is in charge. Ben Whitehouse. | :04:40. | :04:44. | |
Connacht have the ball and we'll get this game underway, playing from | :04:45. | :04:54. | |
left to right. Edinburgh in the red and black traditional outfit. Trying | :04:55. | :05:00. | |
to repeat the performance of last week, when they ground out the | :05:01. | :05:07. | |
result against the Scarlets. Both teams disposing of Welsh opposition. | :05:08. | :05:14. | |
And coming into this game with everything at stake, really. The | :05:15. | :05:21. | |
competition reaches its critical moments. And testing times in the | :05:22. | :05:31. | |
opening stages. Chris Paterson, they are not a set of household names, | :05:32. | :05:36. | |
the Scottish team, but a very good team. | :05:37. | :05:41. | |
A very good team. We can see how they are going to come and play | :05:42. | :05:45. | |
tonight. Enterprising stuff. The Edinburgh defence is as strong | :05:46. | :05:50. | |
as it has always been. The first penalty to Edinburgh. We were | :05:51. | :05:57. | |
pointing out earlier, Chris, that although they have scored a lot of | :05:58. | :06:04. | |
Christ, they have conceded 35 tries, nearly double the amount Edinburgh | :06:05. | :06:07. | |
have conceded. It is due to the fact they have laid | :06:08. | :06:13. | |
some expansive teams. Richie getting on top of the ball, earning the | :06:14. | :06:23. | |
penalty. The head coach, Pat Lam, has wrought the expansive style to | :06:24. | :06:31. | |
the Irish team. Good from Edinburgh. A good | :06:32. | :06:34. | |
attacking position. In the right territory as far as the city is | :06:35. | :06:50. | |
concerned. The explosive Hamish Watson. Sam Hidalgo-Clyne with this | :06:51. | :06:58. | |
very welcome match time. Holding the Edinburgh players up. Plenty of men | :06:59. | :07:03. | |
for Edinburgh. Ball in hand, taking the game to the | :07:04. | :07:14. | |
opposition, like they were last week. Out it comes again. A good | :07:15. | :07:26. | |
opportunity here. Blair Kinghorn on the left-hand side. Having to range | :07:27. | :07:35. | |
a long pass. This time, Connacht. Straight over the ball. A good | :07:36. | :07:39. | |
example there of how they close the game down. | :07:40. | :07:45. | |
He eventually wins a penalty. A well-organised defence. Buckley, | :07:46. | :07:52. | |
number one, strong over the ball. His arms are not resting on the | :07:53. | :07:57. | |
floor. A good decision. Edinburgh had a good phase of possession. They | :07:58. | :08:02. | |
kept the ball close to the breakdown. A bit of space on the | :08:03. | :08:07. | |
outside edge would have challenged a bit more. It is crucial to keep | :08:08. | :08:10. | |
possession. 17 stone Buckley. We are just having | :08:11. | :08:21. | |
a look at the flags on the East side, favouring Connacht at the | :08:22. | :08:29. | |
moment. Left to right. Kieran Marmion is breaking. High tackle | :08:30. | :08:35. | |
advantage coming to Connacht. Just that pace. Here they come again. | :08:36. | :08:45. | |
Sean O'Brien takes it in. Buckley. Advantage is still being played. The | :08:46. | :08:51. | |
move in underneath the Edinburgh post and Ben Whitehouse calls it a | :08:52. | :08:56. | |
day. Round the back of the neck. And it | :08:57. | :09:01. | |
is going no further at the moment with that. Setting down a marker on | :09:02. | :09:07. | |
the way he wants the game played. After a wonderful set piece moves. | :09:08. | :09:10. | |
Options left, right and centre. Kieran Marmion gets the ball back | :09:11. | :09:19. | |
and Cornell Du Preez is there. There wasn't a swinging arm. More of a | :09:20. | :09:22. | |
grab. Just a penalty, no yellow card. That was an example of how | :09:23. | :09:30. | |
Connacht or why Connacht are top of the league. They like to play a set | :09:31. | :09:34. | |
piece move with some wonderful options. Like an impressive | :09:35. | :09:40. | |
goalkicker for Deep Throat -- for the first kick of the match. Well | :09:41. | :09:47. | |
within his range. He probably has the wind in his favour. Certainly | :09:48. | :09:53. | |
blowing left to right as we watch the game. Three conversions and | :09:54. | :10:00. | |
three penalties last week against the Ospreys. | :10:01. | :10:12. | |
Of the post. This is where the potential for countering Cancun. The | :10:13. | :10:20. | |
right-hand side has a magnetic quality. Over the last couple of | :10:21. | :10:28. | |
games, it has been rattling. The posts are still swinging from the | :10:29. | :10:33. | |
blow. Beautifully struck. You could tell he wasn't certain it would curl | :10:34. | :10:35. | |
in. It is tough from the left-hand side. | :10:36. | :10:38. | |
Some really good detail from Edinburgh. You can see Alex is | :10:39. | :10:46. | |
facing the post, looking at the post. He was waiting for that to | :10:47. | :10:54. | |
happen. Good discipline by the Edinburgh second row. | :10:55. | :10:57. | |
Here they come again, Connacht. Playing at pace. Pat Lam Coaching | :10:58. | :11:04. | |
the way that he plays, with strength and passion. The ball is coming | :11:05. | :11:15. | |
through the hands so quickly. Last week's man-of-the-match, is always a | :11:16. | :11:21. | |
threat. Rob Downey is certainly familiar to some Scottish rugby fans | :11:22. | :11:25. | |
in the middle. Donaldson taking it in. They have an extra man out wide | :11:26. | :11:32. | |
if they had gone wide. Patients from Connacht. The | :11:33. | :11:51. | |
execution. Aly Muldowney shifts it. Kieran Marmion constantly posing a | :11:52. | :12:01. | |
threat. And, again, through the hands to Bundee Aki. They have the | :12:02. | :12:09. | |
tops for a -- top scorer in the Pro12 on the right wing. It is taken | :12:10. | :12:16. | |
back to Blair Kinghorn... But there is no advantage. The referee takes | :12:17. | :12:21. | |
it back. Let's get the early thoughts of Andy Nichol at the | :12:22. | :12:24. | |
touchline. Really impressed with Connacht. You | :12:25. | :12:28. | |
can see why they are top of the Pro12. The cohesion and continuity | :12:29. | :12:33. | |
in selection. Their game management is good, they are running lines of | :12:34. | :12:40. | |
each other. It is the sign of a side full of confidence and a side that | :12:41. | :12:44. | |
has been together for all of these weeks so it will be a real challenge | :12:45. | :12:50. | |
for Edinburgh tonight. It was good defence to force the turnover but | :12:51. | :12:52. | |
they will be asked questions tonight they haven't been asked in the last | :12:53. | :12:56. | |
few weeks. I agree. That last phase of play | :12:57. | :13:04. | |
proved their patience. They were challenging the Edinburgh defence. | :13:05. | :13:06. | |
They couldn't go forward because the Connacht wall was quick. | :13:07. | :13:14. | |
Every single Connacht player at this stage is posing a threat and looking | :13:15. | :13:16. | |
confident with ball in hand. A good shot by Edinburgh. A mess, is | :13:17. | :13:35. | |
the technical term. This is where Edinburgh have been | :13:36. | :13:37. | |
strong all season, the set piece, the scrum. The front row, obviously, | :13:38. | :13:43. | |
the front row is with Scotland but every time Rory Sutherland and the | :13:44. | :13:54. | |
others have constantly delivered. It will be powerful scrum from | :13:55. | :13:57. | |
Edinburgh. They will want to repeat that. | :13:58. | :14:02. | |
As we heard, questions will be asked. Denis Buckley. They are | :14:03. | :14:13. | |
themselves solid rocks on which the scrum is built. Quin Roux and Aly | :14:14. | :14:23. | |
Muldowney behind them. And again, it is going round. This time Edinburgh | :14:24. | :14:28. | |
have it and a chance to prove it at the left-hand side. The referee has | :14:29. | :14:39. | |
called a ruck. Trying to create space but driven back by Connacht. | :14:40. | :14:48. | |
This time, Hidalgo-Clyne takes on the responsibility yourself and just | :14:49. | :14:55. | |
a quick look there from Ciaran O'Halloran. | :14:56. | :15:00. | |
The pressure is intense. Hidalgo-Clyne got his kick after a | :15:01. | :15:03. | |
lot of hard work. Edinburgh had to work hard to get the platform to | :15:04. | :15:08. | |
clear. Connacht sensing ascendancy, with nothing to show for it after | :15:09. | :15:16. | |
ten minutes. It has been virtually all Connacht, | :15:17. | :15:24. | |
apart from that early testing time. Well taken at the line-out. Some | :15:25. | :15:33. | |
momentum here for the city said. -- city | :15:34. | :15:44. | |
. Kieran Marmion shift it quickly. They have men on the left-hand side, | :15:45. | :15:55. | |
in front of the Edinburgh funds. Huddled in the biting wind in the | :15:56. | :16:00. | |
East stand. Again, the Edinburgh line speed is good. They go left | :16:01. | :16:12. | |
again, Connacht. Harlem globetrotter stuff on the left-hand side. Again, | :16:13. | :16:21. | |
into the wind. I'm not sure that is the best tactic into the wind, | :16:22. | :16:26. | |
unless the chase is better. Kieran Marmion has found a big space here | :16:27. | :16:31. | |
and Blair Kinghorn is going to have to watch it go out I'm afraid. If it | :16:32. | :16:37. | |
was tennis, it would be a vantage Connacht. | :16:38. | :16:45. | |
It was well managed. The initial kick was too far Connacht kick at | :16:46. | :16:50. | |
the right time, opening up the space to kick. Whereas Edinburgh, on both | :16:51. | :16:58. | |
occasions, kicked very early in the phases. After being under the cosh, | :16:59. | :17:03. | |
as an Edinburgh they are I would want some ball in hand and build up | :17:04. | :17:10. | |
the phases to build up an attack. Well taken, again. The line-out is | :17:11. | :17:23. | |
working smoothly at this stage., Connacht giving Edinburgh no chance | :17:24. | :17:29. | |
to recycle quickly. Connacht took a step early there, right in front of | :17:30. | :17:35. | |
Ben Whitehouse, the referee. He is playing advantage coming to | :17:36. | :17:39. | |
Edinburgh. Hidalgo-Clyne goes up and back he comes. Another person | :17:40. | :17:50. | |
inside. He is offside. Early. Nothing coming off that in | :17:51. | :17:54. | |
particular. A penalty and a chance for Edinburgh to relieve the | :17:55. | :17:58. | |
pressure. I like to see the referee having a | :17:59. | :18:03. | |
look for advantage. I think the game can be so structured for the most | :18:04. | :18:09. | |
part of the game, it is good to have an opportunity for advantage. | :18:10. | :18:13. | |
Offside deep in Edinburgh territory. They will commit. A lovely strike. | :18:14. | :18:23. | |
I don't think that with his haircut last week! | :18:24. | :18:29. | |
He is a good player. He is nice with ball in hand. The general consensus | :18:30. | :18:33. | |
is that he might be more effective in a number 12 shirt but could slot | :18:34. | :18:40. | |
in at number ten easily. I don't think that was quite the | :18:41. | :18:48. | |
plan but Edinburgh have it. The first time the line-out hasn't quite | :18:49. | :18:51. | |
gone to form. They have possession, which is the main thing. Phil | :18:52. | :19:03. | |
Burleigh has been ripped. Knock-on. He was under pressure, Chris, from | :19:04. | :19:06. | |
the point he had to jump to take the path. | :19:07. | :19:09. | |
All of the Connacht defenders are on their feet so there is very little | :19:10. | :19:15. | |
space for them to go to. The line speed, the speed at which the | :19:16. | :19:18. | |
defence can come forward, is much quicker. It put Phil Burleigh under | :19:19. | :19:25. | |
pressure. That ripped tackle is a tactic, going for the ball and | :19:26. | :19:29. | |
trying to dislodge it. It was not forward. Edinburgh are getting a lot | :19:30. | :19:35. | |
of set pieces to play from, they are all in their own half and very much | :19:36. | :19:43. | |
in favour of Connacht so far. The scrum has been stable. | :19:44. | :19:54. | |
An interesting setup from Edinburgh. Behind the scrum it looks like they | :19:55. | :19:58. | |
want to spread the ball across the field and challenge the Connacht | :19:59. | :20:03. | |
defence. It's going nowhere so far. It will | :20:04. | :20:11. | |
have to go somewhere now because the referee has said though. Here they | :20:12. | :20:14. | |
come at pace. Phil Burleigh switches out into the centre. And again, good | :20:15. | :20:25. | |
ground made by Edinburgh. This time Phil Burleigh again. He thought he | :20:26. | :20:29. | |
had a gap but there were men on the outside again. That has given | :20:30. | :20:37. | |
Connacht the chance. Being kept in play. There are five Edinburgh | :20:38. | :20:42. | |
players ranged across the pitch. Phil Burleigh goes the other way. | :20:43. | :20:49. | |
And the end result is a penalty to Connacht. From appear that look like | :20:50. | :20:54. | |
the wrong decision. Well, I think Edinburgh kicked too | :20:55. | :20:59. | |
early. Wonderful defence by Matt Healy. He chose to, the short side. | :21:00. | :21:09. | |
It is the safe option because it is in outside channel if they give away | :21:10. | :21:12. | |
a penalty but they have to have a more positive outlook, work hard and | :21:13. | :21:17. | |
try to get a second touch. Putting pressure through his hands on the | :21:18. | :21:23. | |
turf. That is the penalty from in Whitehouse. It was an opportunity | :21:24. | :21:27. | |
for Edinburgh to counterattack. An opportunity missed, unfortunately. | :21:28. | :21:33. | |
I am thinking about the point made by Chris, Matt Healy was the top | :21:34. | :21:43. | |
scorer in the league. A brick tackle, that is what we were talking | :21:44. | :21:48. | |
about. Edinburgh almost nicked it. Open play, the referee describes. | :21:49. | :21:53. | |
That is one way to call it! Broken play. | :21:54. | :22:00. | |
It is a real fight for the ball in contact, isn't it? | :22:01. | :22:06. | |
Straightening up. Connacht have a stack of men and the charge. | :22:07. | :22:17. | |
Clearing out his ruthless. Concentrating on the left-hand side | :22:18. | :22:20. | |
again. Here is a break. Slipping the tackle. Back it comes for Kieran | :22:21. | :22:26. | |
Marmion again. At the heart of everything. There is a whole line of | :22:27. | :22:38. | |
Connacht macro white shirts. The pressure is horrendous. Kieran | :22:39. | :22:42. | |
Marmion on the charge is Nathan White. Quinn group comes to ground | :22:43. | :22:52. | |
and the ball coming back so quickly. Ben Aki slips it to O'Halloran. A | :22:53. | :23:02. | |
decent attempt at the intersection rather than a deliberate knock-on. | :23:03. | :23:08. | |
One of these ones, if it had stuck it would have been so different. | :23:09. | :23:12. | |
Good refereeing from Ben Whitehouse. He didn't deserve a yellow for that. | :23:13. | :23:19. | |
An attempt to upset the ball. So often we see this resulting in a | :23:20. | :23:26. | |
penalty and the sin bin. I think we see Blair Kinghorn... It is his | :23:27. | :23:31. | |
chest. There should be some alarm bells ringing in the Edinburgh | :23:32. | :23:36. | |
defence because once again, Connacht are getting quick ball at the | :23:37. | :23:40. | |
breakdown. Ten or 11 phases in Edinburgh territory. The good thing | :23:41. | :23:47. | |
for Edinburgh is it is still 0-0. They are not registering points. | :23:48. | :23:57. | |
Nearly 20 minutes gone. On the clock has stopped for an injury. | :23:58. | :24:03. | |
Let's rejoin Andy Nicol. Looking at what is happening here tonight, he | :24:04. | :24:05. | |
must be impressed with Connacht tonight. When Edinburgh had the ball | :24:06. | :24:12. | |
in attack, I was impressed at the Connacht defence. It is the | :24:13. | :24:14. | |
organisation which comes from playing week in, week out. They have | :24:15. | :24:19. | |
been solid in defence. It will be a real challenge for Edinburgh | :24:20. | :24:24. | |
tonight. Well, and from so far. It is not | :24:25. | :24:30. | |
going to have a load of scores but I suspect sooner or later this | :24:31. | :24:34. | |
pressure will be a score. Keep an eye on number four men for | :24:35. | :24:47. | |
Connacht, Danie Poolman. Keep an eye on him. | :24:48. | :24:49. | |
Advantage once again going to Connacht. | :24:50. | :25:00. | |
It is the obvious thing to do. Good captain the. Ben White has just | :25:01. | :25:12. | |
asked a question. Are the players pushing early? Danie Poolman in the | :25:13. | :25:19. | |
wider shot, behind the scrum. Brown can't leave the blindside. Danie | :25:20. | :25:26. | |
Poolman goes around. It is a difficult decision. Difficult to | :25:27. | :25:34. | |
cover. 14-3 between Scarlett and Treviso. | :25:35. | :25:41. | |
Here is Danie Poolman. Three tries so far. Potency on both flanks for | :25:42. | :25:51. | |
Connacht. Moving inside now. Moving everybody inside. Underneath the | :25:52. | :25:57. | |
Edinburgh posts. Making more ground, five metres out. Kieran Marmion | :25:58. | :26:04. | |
delivers. Back inside the five metre mark. Coming left again. Turn back | :26:05. | :26:15. | |
inside. The rarest move. 13 offside. Matt Scott almost slipping through. | :26:16. | :26:21. | |
Danger for Edinburgh. Nathan White. Advantage is still there and they | :26:22. | :26:26. | |
have men over on the side if they move it quickly. Instead they go | :26:27. | :26:32. | |
through the middle and that, to me, is a good score. They have made it | :26:33. | :26:37. | |
all the way. AJ MacGinty repeating his score of last week. Edinburgh | :26:38. | :26:42. | |
are not happy about the way it was delivered. Hidalgo-Clyne is | :26:43. | :26:50. | |
questioning some part of the move. Here is Bundee Aki. AJ MacGinty | :26:51. | :26:56. | |
hitting a lovely line. There is space left by the defenders and he | :26:57. | :27:01. | |
comes back, hitting the ball as far as that and it is good timing onto | :27:02. | :27:09. | |
the ball also good distributional Bundee Aki. He will normally hit the | :27:10. | :27:14. | |
ball at pace and take it into contact but it was patient build-up | :27:15. | :27:19. | |
and a clinical finish. Hidalgo-Clyne what questioning the playwright in | :27:20. | :27:24. | |
the previous ruck. We will have a look at that full is top no mistake. | :27:25. | :27:29. | |
Aly Muldowney in midfield for Connacht is down. This is the try. | :27:30. | :27:44. | |
AJ MacGinty holds this depth. It gets to Bundee Aki's hands. He is | :27:45. | :27:48. | |
bringing the defence onto him and the pace comes from AJ MacGinty. | :27:49. | :27:56. | |
Good refreshing to see a strike runner run at the Gap, not at the | :27:57. | :28:00. | |
man. He held it and released it at the | :28:01. | :28:03. | |
perfect time. Blair Kinghorn delivers. Still a man down. I think | :28:04. | :28:14. | |
that is somebody's day done. Connacht move it. They have men over | :28:15. | :28:24. | |
here. Although Tom Brown did well to stop Danie Poolman. He is isolated | :28:25. | :28:38. | |
here. He needs help. Sticking it up the narrow channel. Edinburgh are | :28:39. | :28:42. | |
still a man down and will have to make a quick replacement. | :28:43. | :28:47. | |
Matt Scott has gone off. A hand injury. A blow for Edinburgh. | :28:48. | :28:51. | |
An opportunity for them on the far side now. | :28:52. | :29:02. | |
Another chance for Edinburgh. A path to Tom Brown. Blair Kinghorn is | :29:03. | :29:13. | |
inside. Better possession from Edinburgh. And again they have | :29:14. | :29:21. | |
conceded an the ground. I think it is the loose head. So | :29:22. | :29:27. | |
effective in the set piece. That is two penalties. Ben Whitehouse is | :29:28. | :29:33. | |
confirming the substitution for Matt Scott. To me it looked like he was | :29:34. | :29:41. | |
carrying his hand. Sam Beard is coming on as a replacement. | :29:42. | :29:47. | |
There we have the first change for Edinburgh. | :29:48. | :29:53. | |
Andy Nicol is closer. It is sad seeing Scott there. He has had a bad | :29:54. | :30:05. | |
run of injuries. Last week he was one of only two fit centres for | :30:06. | :30:14. | |
Scotland. Scotland can accommodate that, but it is sad to see him | :30:15. | :30:24. | |
injured again. A hefty price to pay for defensive duties. Moving | :30:25. | :30:28. | |
forward. Off they go again. Aki takes it. | :30:29. | :30:56. | |
Again an attack on the left-hand side. Edinburgh's defence is shed to | :30:57. | :31:07. | |
the limits -- is stretched to the limits. They have turned it though. | :31:08. | :31:14. | |
They have taken this. They have plenty of men on the left. Split the | :31:15. | :31:26. | |
defenders. A chance for a corner to run it back. MacGinty takes it in. | :31:27. | :31:38. | |
A much better defence from Edinburgh. MacGinty tried to run | :31:39. | :31:47. | |
back but he was halted. It is better to see the Edinburgh defenders under | :31:48. | :31:50. | |
feet ready to come forward and make contact. -- on their feet. Against | :31:51. | :32:02. | |
this left-hand attack. Hands away, Edinburgh. He pulled two players | :32:03. | :32:20. | |
over. They have an advantage. The advantage has come to Edinburgh for | :32:21. | :32:27. | |
the knock-on. It was deeper bass -- it was a pure pass. It was maybe | :32:28. | :32:33. | |
Nathan White outside but it didn't throw the defence, although it full | :32:34. | :32:43. | |
to his team-mate. I hence to their, Crest, the Edinburgh becoming more | :32:44. | :32:50. | |
competitive on the ground. That is Bundee Aki tried to make up for his | :32:51. | :32:54. | |
per pass by coming up and thumping Sam Beard. The referee has to watch | :32:55. | :33:03. | |
some of those tackles. Always when Hamish Watson is in the field you | :33:04. | :33:07. | |
will find out he is said to referee player. He defends really well. But | :33:08. | :33:12. | |
also the two number ones for Edinburgh are effective. His | :33:13. | :33:22. | |
workrate is simply phenomenal, he seems to be covering every inch of | :33:23. | :33:29. | |
this vast expanse. This is a good position for Edinburgh. It is an | :33:30. | :33:34. | |
opportunity to go left or right. Their set pieces are usually pretty | :33:35. | :33:38. | |
solid. It is important for Edinburgh to strike well and maintain | :33:39. | :33:42. | |
possession and put pressure on Connacht. They have three men on | :33:43. | :33:51. | |
each side and he had a good look on the side. Christine and Tom Brown. | :33:52. | :34:09. | |
-- Chris Dean. That is a huge psychological goal. The backs are | :34:10. | :34:17. | |
slapping the followers in the back because that was a big effort. There | :34:18. | :34:23. | |
was power coming through. You very rarely see the Edinburgh scrum being | :34:24. | :34:26. | |
disrupted like that. That was a phenomenal effort. It was a high | :34:27. | :34:32. | |
position to defend from and the foreword that. Technically sound and | :34:33. | :34:39. | |
losing in confidence, you have to say. Their body language is good. | :34:40. | :34:48. | |
But there is only one score in its. There will come a point in the game | :34:49. | :34:52. | |
where Edinburgh get the upper hand I get more possession and they have | :34:53. | :34:55. | |
two be attentive to the scoreboard when that happens. They will have | :34:56. | :35:02. | |
the wind in the second half if it stays as it is at the moment. It is | :35:03. | :35:17. | |
not a howling gale. Edinburgh are doing their best to disrupt this. He | :35:18. | :35:25. | |
is taking it on himself. It goes out to MacGinty. There is the South | :35:26. | :35:33. | |
African Pullman taken down in full flow. -- Poolman. Taking a direct | :35:34. | :35:45. | |
route, this is punishing staff. Doing his best to disrupt it but | :35:46. | :35:50. | |
they are shifting it. Pullman is yelling for the ball. MacGinty takes | :35:51. | :35:59. | |
it on. He uses foreword. Well contested by Edinburgh, but again it | :36:00. | :36:08. | |
took two to tango that time and again they got left. Over the top, | :36:09. | :36:19. | |
Tom McCartney. Half way into the five metre area. Mervyn, Pullman, | :36:20. | :36:31. | |
this is punishing staff. There were a stack of players offside there but | :36:32. | :36:36. | |
they got away with it. This time Edinburgh have won it and that is a | :36:37. | :36:42. | |
huge psychological blow because of you can defend like that and turn | :36:43. | :36:46. | |
the ball over Juventus go as we are hitting the half hour, it is still | :36:47. | :36:54. | |
0-7. That was impressive from Edinburgh. There is Toolis. Working | :36:55. | :37:04. | |
hard. That is phenomenal defence where Edinburgh and the knock-on | :37:05. | :37:15. | |
cons. Really good. Good tackles. An interesting exchange between the | :37:16. | :37:25. | |
referee and a player there, I think he was making it clear to him that | :37:26. | :37:33. | |
he was aware... That he was aware what was going on. An exchange | :37:34. | :37:37. | |
between the referee and the gentleman on the other side as well. | :37:38. | :37:49. | |
This is a big scrum again. Edinburgh now it is important, as to Connacht. | :37:50. | :38:03. | |
On the five metre line here. It has been taken on. He didn't quite get | :38:04. | :38:24. | |
that one. No, but John Muldoon put pressure on it. These are the things | :38:25. | :38:28. | |
that make a big difference. John Muldoon does not get out of that | :38:29. | :38:33. | |
scrum and work harder the first contact that would have been an easy | :38:34. | :38:36. | |
clearance. These are the little things that when they are done | :38:37. | :38:40. | |
properly have a big effect on the game and John Muldoon meeting | :38:41. | :38:44. | |
deciders captained should be putting the ball under pressure. We are into | :38:45. | :38:52. | |
the final terminus of the first half. -- ten minutes. Hamish Watson | :38:53. | :39:01. | |
gets out of the way and down it goes. A penalty. They have a run | :39:02. | :39:13. | |
together to go. It is interesting, the referee has already called time | :39:14. | :39:21. | |
off. The first my players might be celebrating, by Chris is not | :39:22. | :39:25. | |
celebrating. -- the first my players. | :39:26. | :39:35. | |
Check the grounding. He is safe enough in terms of territory. Tom | :39:36. | :39:50. | |
Brown has lost control of that, clearly. Danie Poolman will be upset | :39:51. | :39:59. | |
with that. But Tom Brown did well and dislodge the ball. Has the Slade | :40:00. | :40:08. | |
and the diagnostic on from the game. That is always guaranteed to get you | :40:09. | :40:16. | |
over the line safely. A great effort from Edinburgh to defend. There was | :40:17. | :40:27. | |
no try. It is an interesting decision. Anton Bresler. They are | :40:28. | :40:38. | |
debating what to do. It is going forward so it needs to be a yellow | :40:39. | :40:47. | |
card. I think the speed at which the ball was progressing forward, it is | :40:48. | :40:50. | |
highly likely that was going to result in a yellow card. He came in | :40:51. | :40:56. | |
for the side under the referee's nose and blotted out. A tough gig | :40:57. | :41:13. | |
has just got tougher. I am not resemble fiberglass it comes. Five | :41:14. | :41:20. | |
metres. -- I am not exaggerating because here it comes. They have put | :41:21. | :41:31. | |
it down. Jake Heenan has taken the ball to ground. | :41:32. | :41:42. | |
Initially this was defended well by Edinburgh. You see the lads getting | :41:43. | :41:47. | |
in there and slowing the momentum down and Connacht taking their time. | :41:48. | :41:55. | |
He is controlling where the ball is and the power comes through and then | :41:56. | :42:00. | |
to the right of the picture you can see Jake Heenan. Great ten eight and | :42:01. | :42:10. | |
great spatial awareness, knowing exactly where they were. Another | :42:11. | :42:16. | |
difficult chance for Craig Ronaldson over on the far side. Kicking from | :42:17. | :42:29. | |
the left foot. Not exactly ideal. He gave it a good go. Straight through | :42:30. | :42:42. | |
the post. That is a great kick. 14-0 four Connacht. This has been a | :42:43. | :42:51. | |
dominant performance for Connacht. Edinburgh's scrum was good but that | :42:52. | :42:56. | |
has gone as well. They are down to 14 men for the next seven or eight | :42:57. | :43:01. | |
minutes, so Edinburgh need to dig deep year because they could lose | :43:02. | :43:06. | |
this game before half time. They need to step up. They need to get | :43:07. | :43:12. | |
anything in the last six minutes of this first half. Here is an | :43:13. | :43:22. | |
opportunity. He fancies it himself. Tom Brown goes them. The intensity | :43:23. | :43:33. | |
of the challenge. Not conceding an inch. He switches quickly. Great | :43:34. | :43:43. | |
presence of mind. It goes to decree. Now there is a chance for Edinburgh. | :43:44. | :43:54. | |
Highland goes. He needs help. Fantastic. Through their hands, | :43:55. | :44:02. | |
there is a charity for Hamish Watson. He tries to get the back | :44:03. | :44:10. | |
door. Connacht will not hang about because they can see a huge gap | :44:11. | :44:13. | |
opening up in front of them. The advantages over. Edinburgh losing | :44:14. | :44:22. | |
their shape there when they lost the ball. The Edinburgh crowd are being. | :44:23. | :44:33. | |
Then white is no doubt about it just now. You cannot click the ball out | :44:34. | :44:45. | |
of someone's hands. -- kick. This is a penalty here. If we rewind 15 | :44:46. | :44:57. | |
seconds there was a wonderful opportunity for Edinburgh to score a | :44:58. | :45:06. | |
child. -- to score a try. The end result was a penalty. It is the time | :45:07. | :45:17. | |
to do it, just before half time. They are defensive again, which is | :45:18. | :45:24. | |
frustrating for Edinburgh. It is keyed to the midfield effort. So | :45:25. | :45:38. | |
easy, so easy the delivery. It is so easy in till it hits your shoulder. | :45:39. | :45:51. | |
That is a good kick. And there is a penalty. That will give them a lift. | :45:52. | :45:59. | |
Jamie Ritchie making up for his earlier mistake. A penalty. A | :46:00. | :46:09. | |
penalty for Edinburgh. It is important that Edinburgh get | :46:10. | :46:11. | |
something before half time. Here's Danny Healy 's sizing up his | :46:12. | :46:24. | |
options. That is a penalty. Edinburgh have now been put into the | :46:25. | :46:31. | |
red zone by Phil Burleigh. We have about two and a half minutes. | :46:32. | :46:38. | |
Edinburgh are down to 14 men so they are taking their time going to this | :46:39. | :46:43. | |
line-up, but they will not take too long. It is two minutes until half | :46:44. | :46:48. | |
time. Hopefully a concerted approach from Edinburgh. They would take any | :46:49. | :46:56. | |
score at the moment. The icing of the cake would be could go the whole | :46:57. | :47:03. | |
way. Hamish Watson has a look. Trying to drive him to the line. | :47:04. | :47:07. | |
They need to get McCartney out of there. That is all this delivery. | :47:08. | :47:23. | |
That is high by Ben Aki. Hamish Watson, I gain that man, the missing | :47:24. | :47:33. | |
man. They have numbers this time. Good possession. We need a bit of | :47:34. | :47:40. | |
accuracy here, for Edinburgh, and some patience. It is available but | :47:41. | :47:53. | |
it is very slow from Edinburgh. There is one minute remaining. We | :47:54. | :48:09. | |
are into the last minute of play. A score here would be good. They have | :48:10. | :48:11. | |
numbers left. There is a gap year. It is slow. The | :48:12. | :48:37. | |
momentum is lost. Almost the game. -- almost once again. They have | :48:38. | :48:46. | |
turned it over. They have turned it over and depending on the bounce of | :48:47. | :48:52. | |
the ball it was still in play and we are within seconds of the end of | :48:53. | :48:56. | |
normal time Kinghorn delivers to Tom Brown. Watson has a go on the | :48:57. | :49:04. | |
left-hand side. That is another high tackle. There is a flag. That seemed | :49:05. | :49:15. | |
to be the most severe of the high tackles that we have seen. They do | :49:16. | :49:27. | |
have a tendency to go when high. That is high. From two players. | :49:28. | :49:36. | |
There was an earlier call to have a look at the last look at this one | :49:37. | :49:41. | |
first. There was another incident on the far side that he's still the | :49:42. | :49:55. | |
cat. -- that he is going to look at. That is a yellow card. That is fair | :49:56. | :49:58. | |
enough. If the penalty was committed after | :49:59. | :50:16. | |
the clock had gone into the red, if it was still under 40 minutes the | :50:17. | :50:22. | |
ball would be kicked into touch for a line-up and a try but because it | :50:23. | :50:29. | |
was in the red it is the end of the half so it is the first opportunity. | :50:30. | :50:39. | |
At this stage Edinburgh will take three boys have they can get them. | :50:40. | :50:43. | |
It is a difficult kick. Left-hand side. There are a lot of tired | :50:44. | :50:49. | |
people out there from the first half, so the boys would be welcome | :50:50. | :50:57. | |
for Edinburgh. -- so three points would be welcome for Edinburgh. | :50:58. | :51:12. | |
It is across the face of the goal. A slight hesitation there. They have | :51:13. | :51:24. | |
reached half-time as one might expect with a fairly sound lead, a | :51:25. | :51:30. | |
copper heads of performance from them in the first half, technically | :51:31. | :51:34. | |
sound and active and ruthless when it has been within range and they | :51:35. | :51:38. | |
have taken the scores that they have come. The gap could be much wider, | :51:39. | :51:47. | |
but as it stands at half time it is Edinburgh zero, Connacht 14. A | :51:48. | :51:57. | |
fantastic 40 minutes of rugby from Connacht. Edinburgh have to do all | :51:58. | :52:03. | |
the work in the second half. They are looking good, aren't they? They | :52:04. | :52:09. | |
are. The forwards and backs and the interplay, both the attack and | :52:10. | :52:13. | |
defence, the cohesion, the organisation, it was all there. The | :52:14. | :52:20. | |
only thing they're really kept Edinburgh in the game was the good | :52:21. | :52:24. | |
scrambling defence because this game could have been over. 14-0 down. | :52:25. | :52:33. | |
They are going to have to up their game in a big way and the second | :52:34. | :52:38. | |
half. There are 14 players on both sides now so it is even. There are | :52:39. | :52:44. | |
two yellow cards. There were two incidents throughout the game. I | :52:45. | :52:47. | |
have been impressed by all aspects of this. Hamish Watson always jumped | :52:48. | :52:57. | |
into it, which was a strange tactic. -- almost jumped into it. Edinburgh | :52:58. | :53:08. | |
came out of the box very well. This is great organisation there. We all | :53:09. | :53:14. | |
said this comes from playing every week. That is the understanding. | :53:15. | :53:22. | |
Everyone knows what is happening. Everyone knows what everyone else is | :53:23. | :53:26. | |
doing. They are working together very well. Their interplay was very | :53:27. | :53:38. | |
good. You should never get that sort of distance from a rock like that. | :53:39. | :53:43. | |
Sipping it along. Bundee Aki has been broken. On another day another | :53:44. | :53:49. | |
referee might have said that was intentional, but that was where | :53:50. | :53:53. | |
Edinburgh managed to get that scrambling defence. The pressure | :53:54. | :53:59. | |
they were putting on Edinburgh could be seen pretty quickly. AJ MacGinty | :54:00. | :54:09. | |
scored the child. -- scored a try, and what a try. No one could get | :54:10. | :54:14. | |
their hands anywhere near the ball to slow it down. Connacht are just | :54:15. | :54:21. | |
throwing phase after phase and asking questions of the defensive | :54:22. | :54:29. | |
Edinburgh. Look how many Edinburgh players are rounded post there. | :54:30. | :54:34. | |
Bundee Aki, who is normally at the centre, he came into the first row | :54:35. | :54:41. | |
and then came on the angle. That is the interplay that comes from | :54:42. | :54:49. | |
knowing. That is the understanding that comes from playing every week. | :54:50. | :54:54. | |
He mentioned at the start of the programme that they play every week. | :54:55. | :54:58. | |
This is welcome season and Six Nations. You can see how well they | :54:59. | :55:12. | |
work as a unit. We did a game against Glasgow at the start of the | :55:13. | :55:15. | |
season and it was so much better here against Edinburgh. Connacht are | :55:16. | :55:25. | |
the best team that we have seen for a long time, they are very | :55:26. | :55:29. | |
impressive. Forget the lack of stars, the play for each other and | :55:30. | :55:32. | |
that's something you cannot put money on. A great performance and a | :55:33. | :55:39. | |
great try. One was all about the forwards. Five yards out they were | :55:40. | :55:51. | |
down. Mike it is just well worked and well-controlled. Edinburgh try | :55:52. | :55:59. | |
hard to stop at and turn it around, but the white shirts are always in | :56:00. | :56:03. | |
control and it is the easy finish there. Never once did Edinburgh get | :56:04. | :56:14. | |
anywhere near the ball. He knows that the back years absolutely in | :56:15. | :56:18. | |
control. Bundee Aki comes in but the ball is still at the back. Total | :56:19. | :56:25. | |
control there. That is as good a try as you will see all season. A good | :56:26. | :56:31. | |
push from Edinburgh initially but then the control. It was a most | :56:32. | :56:39. | |
impossible for them to defend. In that situation you have to stop is | :56:40. | :56:42. | |
initially or you will really struggle. Edinburgh took a while to | :56:43. | :56:50. | |
create anything and not create much the scoring opportunity, but they | :56:51. | :56:56. | |
did have one chance. They really had one opportunity and when you're not | :56:57. | :57:02. | |
play well here got to take the one opportunity. They have if you faces | :57:03. | :57:09. | |
here. He goes for the kick and doesn't get it but then Phil | :57:10. | :57:14. | |
Burleigh seize the opportunity. There is the gap. The one-time | :57:15. | :57:20. | |
Edinburgh has had a good run by Highland, but where is the support. | :57:21. | :57:27. | |
This is where they needed quick ball and we needed to see the shape of an | :57:28. | :57:34. | |
attack. Jamie Ritchie holds onto it. That would have been the only | :57:35. | :57:38. | |
opportunity and it had taken it. When they're not play well you have | :57:39. | :57:45. | |
to take any chance. Missing the opportunity to get two points on the | :57:46. | :57:49. | |
board for ever and bra. Other teams are in action tonight. Scarlets are | :57:50. | :57:58. | |
playing just now and bleeding 14-8. -- and they are leading. Glasgow are | :57:59. | :58:08. | |
also in action on Sunday and you can see that live on BBC Alba. I am | :58:09. | :58:16. | |
still revelling in the glory of Risley. The performers in Scotland | :58:17. | :58:28. | |
has been performing. They are scoring try. That was something | :58:29. | :58:34. | |
Scotland can do for many years but now five have been scored. Mike | :58:35. | :58:41. | |
Bennett got in behind the defence. Craig Laidlaw running from the side. | :58:42. | :58:46. | |
It was good to see the interplay between two forwards and backs. | :58:47. | :58:57. | |
Then Russell is scanning, he sees that the numbers are up. After the | :58:58. | :59:04. | |
first game against England, they have looked to play against Wales | :59:05. | :59:11. | |
and Italy. There has been impact off the bench. Duncan Taylor wasn't | :59:12. | :59:14. | |
involved against England but he has had a major impact. He is almost | :59:15. | :59:22. | |
invaluable. And last week against Italy. A massive game for Scotland. | :59:23. | :59:29. | |
They needed the win. Tim Visser came on. Stuart Hogg has been | :59:30. | :59:35. | |
consistently good. Awareness and control. Then Russell came into his | :59:36. | :59:42. | |
own. Look at the attacking threat. Outstanding in the tackle, set | :59:43. | :59:49. | |
piece. Wilson, another impact from the first game. John Hardy has | :59:50. | :59:52. | |
probably been the most consistent performer for Scotland. Alongside | :59:53. | :59:59. | |
Stuart Hogg and grey. This was the icing on the kick. When you've got | :00:00. | :00:04. | |
somebody like Stuart Hogg who's got the ability to create that space and | :00:05. | :00:09. | |
off-load, a fantastic try from Tommy Seymour. Scotland are scoring | :00:10. | :00:15. | |
points. Only England have scored more in the six Nations. The defence | :00:16. | :00:19. | |
was outstanding. When you have good defence and the ability to score | :00:20. | :00:23. | |
tries, you have the real deal. They will need to defend up against | :00:24. | :00:28. | |
France at Murrayfield in a week's time. A brutal French side. They are | :00:29. | :00:34. | |
hard-core. It is all physical and you match it. | :00:35. | :00:42. | |
I think Scotland can match it. You have to back up that performance | :00:43. | :00:45. | |
last week and I think we can. I think if we can get the victory | :00:46. | :00:50. | |
against France, we will go against Ireland in the last weekend. It was | :00:51. | :00:56. | |
a bit doom and gloom after the first couple of losses but after the | :00:57. | :01:00. | |
victory, the competition can flick so quickly. | :01:01. | :01:04. | |
It is a cold night but we are smiling. Do you think Scotland can | :01:05. | :01:10. | |
get the victory against France? Yes. The French side is | :01:11. | :01:14. | |
unrecognisable but they are taught. They have run out of ideas. I don't | :01:15. | :01:23. | |
think they have made any difference. It is probably the highest we have | :01:24. | :01:28. | |
been in the table for many years! We can go above France without a date | :01:29. | :01:35. | |
roger-mack doubt. -- without a doubt. The players are confident, | :01:36. | :01:43. | |
scoring tries. There is no reason why we can't kick on from the Italy | :01:44. | :01:50. | |
performance. Who has impressed you? Stuart Hogg | :01:51. | :01:54. | |
has been consistently outstanding such an attacking threat at 15. You | :01:55. | :01:59. | |
have to give him the ball. Johnny Gray, he has put in several shifts. | :02:00. | :02:07. | |
22 tackles last week. 14 or 15 carries. John Hardy has led the | :02:08. | :02:12. | |
defence brilliantly. The set piece last week, the scrum. We had how | :02:13. | :02:17. | |
many scrum penalties? You don't normally see that against Italy. | :02:18. | :02:24. | |
What has been good, you have players like Stuart Hogg and Johnny Gray. | :02:25. | :02:32. | |
Taylor has had a big impact. I love the impact he has brought to the | :02:33. | :02:35. | |
backline. Greig Laidlaw has pulled the strings. So important for | :02:36. | :02:45. | |
Scotland, not just in the points scoring but leadership. Scotland | :02:46. | :02:48. | |
have got that balance and it is what you need. That is why I'm confident | :02:49. | :02:54. | |
they can go on and win made in both their remaining games. | :02:55. | :03:00. | |
In the press conference, the coach said he loves the fact that there | :03:01. | :03:05. | |
are so many leaders from a Scotland brink of you. | :03:06. | :03:08. | |
Edinburgh are going to need some leaders against the team at the top | :03:09. | :03:11. | |
of the league. At the moment I can't see any way | :03:12. | :03:15. | |
back for Edinburgh because there has been a massive drop-off in Connacht. | :03:16. | :03:22. | |
Sometimes these things happen. Everything out to go for Edinburgh | :03:23. | :03:23. | |
in the second The first ten minutes hugely | :03:24. | :03:32. | |
important, particularly for Edinburgh, if they are to take | :03:33. | :03:35. | |
anything from this match. Over to the commentary team. Hugh Dan | :03:36. | :03:45. | |
MacLennan and Don Paterson. A couple of changes in Edinburgh. | :03:46. | :03:51. | |
Simon Berghan has come on for John Andress. Identical change, and 18 | :03:52. | :04:04. | |
coming on for a number three. Rodney Ah You has come on for Nathan White | :04:05. | :04:11. | |
in Connacht. Edinburgh playing from left to right, trying to reverse | :04:12. | :04:19. | |
this 14 point deficit. Do you think Edinburgh can get back in? | :04:20. | :04:23. | |
There is always a way back. The disappointing thing is it looks as | :04:24. | :04:28. | |
though the rain is starting to fall. It is harder to chase a score if the | :04:29. | :04:32. | |
weather gets in the way. Edinburgh have to look after the ball and get | :04:33. | :04:38. | |
into the game. The other point we should have | :04:39. | :04:42. | |
mentioned very briefly at the start of the second half is that Connacht | :04:43. | :04:47. | |
will be playing with 14 men for the best part of ten minutes because | :04:48. | :04:52. | |
Tiernan O'Halloran has been removed from play, just before the interval. | :04:53. | :04:58. | |
Edinburgh have a numerical advantage. Normally a team would | :04:59. | :05:05. | |
capitalise on that. Here is a chance for the top the second time they | :05:06. | :05:21. | |
have made a break. Again, Hidalgo-Clyne. Phil | :05:22. | :05:33. | |
My arithmetic is slightly wonky because Anton Bresler still has time | :05:34. | :05:45. | |
to make on his yellow card. Cornell Du Preez have a look but he has | :05:46. | :05:52. | |
probably taken the wrong option. They go left, Blair Kinghorn. More | :05:53. | :05:57. | |
numbers here for Edinburgh. Hidalgo-Clyne goes back this way. | :05:58. | :06:06. | |
Connacht are stretched here. If Edinburgh can get in quickly... | :06:07. | :06:12. | |
Cornell Du Preez. Well taken from Damien Hoyland. He has missed it. A | :06:13. | :06:22. | |
free ball. Phil Burleigh. The ball was out. He hasn't managed to | :06:23. | :06:31. | |
relieve the pressure. A poor kick. Good pressure from Edinburgh. | :06:32. | :06:36. | |
Good start to the second half from Edinburgh. They have come out with | :06:37. | :06:42. | |
intent. Added to that, Anton Bresler is rejoining after his sin billing. | :06:43. | :06:49. | |
A couple of very good attacks from Edinburgh. Looking sharp, Damien | :06:50. | :07:00. | |
Hoyland. Much better from Edinburgh at the early part of the second | :07:01. | :07:03. | |
half. A good delivery here would be a good | :07:04. | :07:11. | |
move. Well taken. Edinburgh don't have any go forward because Connacht | :07:12. | :07:17. | |
have driven them back. Again, the suggestion of a high tackle. Cornell | :07:18. | :07:21. | |
Du Preez being held down and there is a penalty coming for a side | :07:22. | :07:25. | |
entry. Edinburgh have an advantage they can use here. Plenty of men to | :07:26. | :07:30. | |
the left if they can move it quickly. Phil Burleigh. Five metres | :07:31. | :07:39. | |
to go. Hidalgo-Clyne. Edinburgh stepping up the pace. Rodney Ah You | :07:40. | :07:46. | |
goes over. Advantage being played. The long path, looking for Cornell | :07:47. | :07:53. | |
Du Preez. And Edinburgh have scored. The referee is going to have another | :07:54. | :08:00. | |
look. I am not entirely sure why. They are checking the past, they | :08:01. | :08:03. | |
want to see if the final pass was forward. Any reason I cannot award | :08:04. | :08:10. | |
the try. It drifted long and highly. | :08:11. | :08:19. | |
Sitting behind it, it looked fine. A really good start to the second | :08:20. | :08:24. | |
half. Here is the long path. Damien Hoyland through it off his left | :08:25. | :08:29. | |
hand. It looks back to me, no problem at all. In the outside | :08:30. | :08:35. | |
channel, taken out of the hands of Cornell Du Preez. | :08:36. | :08:40. | |
You may award the try. A score to Edinburgh. All of a | :08:41. | :08:48. | |
sudden they have a glimmer of hope because that was a splendid finish. | :08:49. | :08:53. | |
Good to see Damien Hoyland having the awareness and skills. A | :08:54. | :08:58. | |
tremendous football player, fearing the space and being able to get the | :08:59. | :09:02. | |
ball out there. A good long pass from his left hand. He has carried | :09:03. | :09:08. | |
hard and defended well. He gets his reward. | :09:09. | :09:17. | |
Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, from his preferred side. He has pulled it the | :09:18. | :09:25. | |
other way instead of across the face of the goal. Edinburgh are finally | :09:26. | :09:31. | |
on the scoreboard. They have five points. Andy Nichol. | :09:32. | :09:38. | |
I think Solomons has earned his corn at half-time. Quick ball, on the | :09:39. | :09:45. | |
front foot. When you have got good players and that kind of vision, you | :09:46. | :09:49. | |
can see the difference. An important start. | :09:50. | :09:57. | |
Edinburgh got the ball a few times in the build-up to that, which is so | :09:58. | :10:01. | |
crucial when you are looking to find spaces, especially outside. Connacht | :10:02. | :10:06. | |
go long. They will try and win some territory. Edinburgh keeping it in | :10:07. | :10:15. | |
Vegas time. -- in play this time. The rain seems to has eased off, | :10:16. | :10:20. | |
although it is not as easy to pick out for us here in the West stand. | :10:21. | :10:30. | |
Kieran Marmion releases it. Again, they have three men over here. | :10:31. | :10:33. | |
Cutting through the defence from Edinburgh. Kieran Marmion returns. | :10:34. | :10:42. | |
They are going all the way. Slicing through the Edinburgh defence. AJ | :10:43. | :10:49. | |
MacGinty goes in. Good pressure. The referee is happy so far. And a | :10:50. | :11:06. | |
flourish to finish. Bundee Aki. It opened up too easily? So powerful | :11:07. | :11:13. | |
and quick on his feet. The Edinburgh defence let them take the initiative | :11:14. | :11:16. | |
and come forward. Before that, some of the rest build-up a. Outstanding. | :11:17. | :11:27. | |
Forward and backs handling at pace. Bundee Aki is too good to give that | :11:28. | :11:30. | |
kind of space and time to. A difficult tackle for the tight head | :11:31. | :11:37. | |
prop. If we see that again on replay, there were so many quality | :11:38. | :11:41. | |
passes, so many quality pieces of skill. A fantastic try from | :11:42. | :11:46. | |
Connacht. The two points added with consummate | :11:47. | :11:54. | |
ease. By Donaldson. It is a feature of their play. The comfort on the | :11:55. | :11:59. | |
ball. It had precision, it had everything. | :12:00. | :12:03. | |
The build-up was phenomenal and Bundee Aki finished it off with a | :12:04. | :12:09. | |
big swan dive. Hitting back so soon is a big blow to Edinburgh as well. | :12:10. | :12:16. | |
Edinburgh have started the second half better. They know they can | :12:17. | :12:19. | |
score tries. They need another couple. | :12:20. | :12:25. | |
As we can see on the top of the screen, a yellow card is to | :12:26. | :12:32. | |
Connacht's continuing disadvantage. You would hardly credit it because | :12:33. | :12:35. | |
of the way they are moving the ball and dominating possession. Well | :12:36. | :12:43. | |
taken by Blair Kinghorn. He made sure he got his body behind it and | :12:44. | :12:47. | |
on top of it. Edinburgh is now beginning to move at pace again. | :12:48. | :12:56. | |
Looking for Damien Hoyland, who has been a threat every time he has got | :12:57. | :13:06. | |
hold of the ball. Again, Edinburgh trying to stretch the Connacht | :13:07. | :13:15. | |
defence. Phil Burleigh takes the kicking option again. Charged down | :13:16. | :13:20. | |
by Tom Brown, which is probably just as well. A bit of a reduction is | :13:21. | :13:33. | |
midfield. -- a bit of a ruck in midfield. | :13:34. | :13:38. | |
Edinburgh have had so little possession, especially in opposition | :13:39. | :13:44. | |
territory. They want to hold onto it. A nice attacking kick but I | :13:45. | :13:48. | |
would like to see them hold onto it. Edinburgh nick another substitution. | :13:49. | :13:53. | |
Another change for Edinburgh. Rory Sutherland leaves the field and | :13:54. | :13:57. | |
Allendale comes on. Very impressed with him. He has been | :13:58. | :14:05. | |
outstanding for Edinburgh this year. -- Alun Dell. He has spent quite a | :14:06. | :14:12. | |
lot of time with Edinburgh injured. An athletic prop, low to the ground | :14:13. | :14:20. | |
and strong. He comes with Mac can cause a bit of damage. Rory | :14:21. | :14:29. | |
Sutherland has impressed me. Edinburgh has suffered a bit upfront | :14:30. | :14:31. | |
with the scrum but a great performance. | :14:32. | :14:40. | |
Simon Berghan have made a significant impression when he came | :14:41. | :14:45. | |
on as a impact player. By no means beyond them but as the yellow card | :14:46. | :14:55. | |
lessons for Connacht, they are just so direct and so powerful... It is | :14:56. | :15:00. | |
barely noticeable that they are playing with 14 men at the moment | :15:01. | :15:04. | |
because they are in total control of where they are and what they are | :15:05. | :15:05. | |
doing. Again, just a flat kick. Tom Brown | :15:06. | :15:25. | |
inside him. Rodney Ah You! Now there is a chance for Edinburgh. Spreads | :15:26. | :15:32. | |
it quickly to Blair Kinghorn and out to the far side. Stopped dead in | :15:33. | :15:40. | |
their tracks. Again, a body. The Edinburgh crowd... The Edinburgh | :15:41. | :15:50. | |
crowd taking umbrage at Bundee Aki. He was arguing there was no ruck but | :15:51. | :15:57. | |
there was. If there hadn't been another defender there, Bundee Aki | :15:58. | :16:01. | |
would have been fair to do that. As you can see, it is now 15 each side. | :16:02. | :16:10. | |
That one shaved the flag on the way through! | :16:11. | :16:18. | |
A knock-on after his high tackle on Hamish Watson. | :16:19. | :16:24. | |
Connacht claiming that the ball was the wrong side of the flag. | :16:25. | :16:31. | |
Edinburgh have it, five metres out. A chance here. And look at the power | :16:32. | :16:35. | |
with which Connacht attack. Edinburgh have a shift moving | :16:36. | :16:45. | |
inside. Here they go again. Size entry. A penalty coming to | :16:46. | :16:50. | |
Edinburgh. Hamish Watson has a go. Inches away from the line. | :16:51. | :16:57. | |
Hidalgo-Clyne weights and goes left. A chance for Edinburgh here. | :16:58. | :17:03. | |
Low and hard, but not enough. Still not there. Jamie Ritchie. | :17:04. | :17:18. | |
Hidalgo-Clyne again. They are stretching the know. Phil Burleigh. | :17:19. | :17:26. | |
A chance here for Blair Kinghorn. It goes out to Damien Hoyland. A score | :17:27. | :17:31. | |
to Edinburgh. Connacht are claiming a forward pass but there is no | :17:32. | :17:36. | |
point. Dead flat is the verdict from the referee. Good enough for | :17:37. | :17:40. | |
Edinburgh. A good score. He does wonderfully | :17:41. | :17:47. | |
well, straightening the line. Comets the defender and get the ball away. | :17:48. | :17:53. | |
This movement is so vital in an attacking sense and good to see from | :17:54. | :17:57. | |
a young player. Damien Hoyland looking shocked again this evening. | :17:58. | :18:07. | |
Dead flat, as the referee contested. A good score from Edinburgh. The | :18:08. | :18:13. | |
distribution and fixing from the backs to score in the right-hand | :18:14. | :18:16. | |
corner. A good chance here for | :18:17. | :18:21. | |
Hidalgo-Clyne. Well within his range with his left foot. If you can pull | :18:22. | :18:27. | |
this off, it would get them to within almost the range of a score. | :18:28. | :18:35. | |
There is certainly some degree of confidence to come from that | :18:36. | :18:45. | |
particular move for is top -- for Edinburgh. A perfect view and a | :18:46. | :18:50. | |
perfect finish. The radar is back in action. Edinburgh are creeping back. | :18:51. | :18:56. | |
The big difference now is they are managing to respond to what Connacht | :18:57. | :18:59. | |
are throwing at them. Keeping possession. A lot of phases. | :19:00. | :19:05. | |
A good ball from Phil Burleigh. That movement, straightening the line | :19:06. | :19:10. | |
from Blair Kinghorn. Then to get the timing right for the distribution to | :19:11. | :19:15. | |
Damien Hoyland, keeping his whip in the corner. A good backline and well | :19:16. | :19:26. | |
done from Edinburgh. I think I said there wouldn't be a | :19:27. | :19:31. | |
bag full of scores about an hour ago. There you go. Edinburgh moving | :19:32. | :19:43. | |
it out. Carefully. They have a spring in their step all of a | :19:44. | :19:47. | |
sudden. With possession. With territory. Hidalgo-Clyne shifts them | :19:48. | :19:56. | |
another 20 metres up the field. And just getting to their feet a little | :19:57. | :20:02. | |
bit quicker, Edinburgh. More pressure coming on the contact. | :20:03. | :20:11. | |
Neil Cochrane questioned the referee again, whether the ball was out | :20:12. | :20:14. | |
before it was kicked through. I think Connacht will take that. They | :20:15. | :20:20. | |
managed to get possession. Into the Edinburgh 22. They will be happy | :20:21. | :20:25. | |
with that exchange at kick-off. The rain is coming down heavier now. | :20:26. | :20:30. | |
Connacht are battling their way up to the Edinburgh 22. It is broken | :20:31. | :20:39. | |
play again. Callaghan has been a constant threat. -- Ciaran O | :20:40. | :20:47. | |
Hallahan. Breaking the line. The ball is out but Kieran Marmion has | :20:48. | :20:53. | |
it. He is electric around the back of the pack. It is so easy when he | :20:54. | :21:01. | |
is going forward of course. Rodney Ah You have a go. Watson hanging off | :21:02. | :21:12. | |
him. Kieran Marmion. It is a bit static this time from Connacht and | :21:13. | :21:18. | |
Edinburgh dive them back. Contesting it on the ground. AJ MacGinty has a | :21:19. | :21:25. | |
go himself. He is stopped in his tracks. This time Edinburgh have it | :21:26. | :21:30. | |
again. Good intensity from the Edinburgh defence. | :21:31. | :21:36. | |
It is. Tackle and then back on his feet. It didn't look like he | :21:37. | :21:43. | |
released very quickly but good defence by Edinburgh after the | :21:44. | :21:46. | |
initial break. AJ MacGinty has threatened the line a few times. He | :21:47. | :21:51. | |
did release and then get back. There was a line break before that I Aly | :21:52. | :22:00. | |
Muldowney -- before that by Aly Muldowney. The character of the | :22:01. | :22:02. | |
Edinburgh defence has won the penalty and they have cleared their | :22:03. | :22:07. | |
lines. Not the longest kick in the world | :22:08. | :22:08. | |
from Phil Burleigh. It has moved Edinburgh up. That was | :22:09. | :22:19. | |
the main thing. They have possession now. I get the feeling Hamish Watson | :22:20. | :22:29. | |
could do this in his sleep. Every time Edinburgh direct, he is the one | :22:30. | :22:32. | |
with the ball under his arm. Hidalgo-Clyne changes his mind, | :22:33. | :22:43. | |
comes this way. Edinburgh has extra men again. Blair Kinghorn didn't | :22:44. | :22:47. | |
quite get up to full speed. Fully know the threat Watson poses | :22:48. | :23:02. | |
if he gets on the loose. Burley with a long path. It has worked for | :23:03. | :23:07. | |
Edinburgh on a number of occasions tonight. Looking for the far side. | :23:08. | :23:15. | |
Jamie Ritchie. He has a look. Hidalgo-Clyne. Again, static from | :23:16. | :23:23. | |
Edinburgh. A gap opened up all of the sudden. Almost like slow motion. | :23:24. | :23:28. | |
Connacht were caught flat-footed for once. A slack pass. That's messy. | :23:29. | :23:36. | |
That could have been so good because there were four players outside | :23:37. | :23:41. | |
Burley. And a lot of tired Connacht | :23:42. | :23:45. | |
defenders. The pass was too low and Burley couldn't pick it up. I think | :23:46. | :23:51. | |
it is better from Edinburgh because they are keeping the ball. The | :23:52. | :23:55. | |
knock-on comes from behind Cornell Du Preez, over his head. Sam | :23:56. | :23:59. | |
Hidalgo-Clyne wasn't happy. Edinburgh didn't kick. They were | :24:00. | :24:09. | |
playing with their heads up. Just be aware when you are getting up, the | :24:10. | :24:15. | |
ruck might have formed. Edinburgh playing with their heads | :24:16. | :24:21. | |
up. Not sure what Bundee Aki is talking about there. He has twice | :24:22. | :24:25. | |
made a tackle and got back to his feet on Edinburgh's side of the | :24:26. | :24:29. | |
ruck. He can do that if there isn't another Connacht defender. | :24:30. | :24:38. | |
For the first time in the game, the Connacht players are heaving. | :24:39. | :24:42. | |
Down to Andy Nichol. I have been impressed with Connacht all night | :24:43. | :24:46. | |
but one aspect of the second half, when Edinburgh have upped their game | :24:47. | :24:50. | |
is how they have reacted to the tries. Connacht have gone down and | :24:51. | :24:57. | |
dominated and scored their try and here they are looking pretty strong | :24:58. | :25:02. | |
as well. Edinburgh are nine points down and they need to try and get | :25:03. | :25:05. | |
something from this but Connacht will be looking for a bonus point, | :25:06. | :25:10. | |
well within their grasp. A better second half and Edinburgh have come | :25:11. | :25:13. | |
to the party but can they get anything from the game? | :25:14. | :25:18. | |
It is a 9-point game at the one hour mark. Still a lot of rugby to be | :25:19. | :25:25. | |
played. A lot at stake for both teams. We know the other teams in | :25:26. | :25:38. | |
the top four are also in it. Burley kicks it. Now there is a gap | :25:39. | :25:43. | |
and a chase. The balance was favourable. It sat up nicely. | :25:44. | :25:55. | |
Hidalgo-Clyne. He hasn't been under pressure for much of this evening, | :25:56. | :25:59. | |
Kieran Marmion. Edinburgh have 3 million back, waiting for the kick. | :26:00. | :26:09. | |
-- three men back. That has gone directly out from inside the 22. | :26:10. | :26:16. | |
Early is taking a chance with this. The man with the gas. Bundee Aki | :26:17. | :26:26. | |
gets it. They go left. They have stacks of men here. Up the middle. | :26:27. | :26:31. | |
Anton Bresler takes a direct line. A chance for Edinburgh. Cornell Du | :26:32. | :26:36. | |
Preez. He is stopped. They have another go. Three metres. Piling in. | :26:37. | :26:47. | |
The short pass, forced out. I think the woody language suggests to me he | :26:48. | :26:54. | |
was forced out. He has a grounding? -- the body language. He has a | :26:55. | :26:59. | |
grounding and he is checking the touchline. Closer than I thought. I | :27:00. | :27:06. | |
have a grounding. I would like to check the touchline for any reason I | :27:07. | :27:12. | |
cannot award a try for is top -- award a try. | :27:13. | :27:18. | |
Hidalgo-Clyne popped the ball out. Look at his feet. It is the elbow. | :27:19. | :27:23. | |
It is whether he reached the line before the elbow hit the touchline. | :27:24. | :27:32. | |
I think that is in touch, Chris. With his right side down before we | :27:33. | :27:35. | |
left? His elbow. | :27:36. | :27:41. | |
I think it is a try. I think the ball hits the try line first. They | :27:42. | :27:56. | |
are not going to tell us anything. He popped the ball up. Looking at | :27:57. | :28:03. | |
when the ball hit the ground, as opposed to Cornell Du Preez's left | :28:04. | :28:11. | |
arm. The ball is down before. I believe a try has been scored. I am | :28:12. | :28:17. | |
going to award the try. Here we come. Three, two, one... | :28:18. | :28:26. | |
Almost! A try for Edinburgh. All of a sudden we have got a different | :28:27. | :28:31. | |
game. Another good attack. It started from | :28:32. | :28:35. | |
a dominant scrum from Connacht at the centre of the field. Edinburgh | :28:36. | :28:41. | |
pounced. They managed to build the phases and put pressure on Connacht. | :28:42. | :28:50. | |
Some really good attack. Foraging over. Damien Hoyland. | :28:51. | :29:00. | |
It is a 4-point game on the one-hour mark. And if Hidalgo-Clyne could get | :29:01. | :29:11. | |
this over... We are going to head for one cracking closing spell. | :29:12. | :29:29. | |
It is the most difficult kick off Good evening. -- off Good evening. | :29:30. | :29:39. | |
Someone needs to look at these posts. A great effort. Let us look | :29:40. | :29:49. | |
at it again. It has stretched them down the right-hand side. Edinburgh | :29:50. | :30:05. | |
keeping the ball alive. Clever play. To be barged over and scored the | :30:06. | :30:12. | |
third try for Edinburgh. 17-21 for Connacht. Edinburgh are within range | :30:13. | :30:22. | |
of pulling it off, what would be a huge victory. Connacht have made | :30:23. | :30:25. | |
some changes and we will come back to that. The pressure is beginning | :30:26. | :30:33. | |
to tell because that is so unlike the Connacht of the first half | :30:34. | :30:37. | |
because every ball duck, every pass reached its man and now all of a | :30:38. | :30:44. | |
sudden they do not look quite as good. How does it look from down | :30:45. | :30:53. | |
there? All season I have been impressed with the character that | :30:54. | :30:58. | |
Edinburgh have shortened. They have really done it and come into this | :30:59. | :31:03. | |
game. You can see the body language on both sides has turned around. | :31:04. | :31:07. | |
Connacht are looking at each other and are not as buoyant as they were | :31:08. | :31:11. | |
and Edinburgh have a spring in their step as they can win this night and | :31:12. | :31:16. | |
they could not see that happening at half time. This has been described | :31:17. | :31:30. | |
as unaccustomed frailty. It is certainly frailty. It is certainly | :31:31. | :31:49. | |
unaccustomed territory. Then Whitehouse. Then Whitehouse is doing | :31:50. | :31:55. | |
his best to sort them out. He has been impressive as the match of the | :31:56. | :32:05. | |
soul. It has been good management. You usually see a flat former | :32:06. | :32:22. | |
defence. There is a massive shelf. Here is a chance for O'Halloran. It | :32:23. | :32:35. | |
is Poolman here's gone to ground. The pressure is telling. Berkeley | :32:36. | :32:49. | |
even is beginning to... You can see Tom Molden tried to calm them down | :32:50. | :32:52. | |
in midfield, telling them to slow down. A bit of frustration creeping | :32:53. | :33:02. | |
into the corner here. They will not be frustrated with their scrum, the | :33:03. | :33:08. | |
way it is going at the moment. The knock-on there was his first | :33:09. | :33:09. | |
mistake. C how much grunt at they put into | :33:10. | :33:26. | |
it. That will take them up into second | :33:27. | :33:42. | |
place, joint second perhaps. If Edinburgh could get Highland on | :33:43. | :33:59. | |
the ball just a little bit more often. -- Hoyland. That is a flat | :34:00. | :34:09. | |
pass. There was interference with the past there. The referee says | :34:10. | :34:17. | |
that it is a knock-on. It is similar to the first half. A consistent | :34:18. | :34:27. | |
referee. It was an attempt at a tackle. We can have another look | :34:28. | :34:34. | |
year. He puts the ball back and sides. That is a little the list. | :34:35. | :34:44. | |
That has to be a knock-on. It is further away from the line. These | :34:45. | :34:57. | |
are the pivotal moments in the game. 66 minutes in a 4-point game. This | :34:58. | :35:10. | |
shows you how much Edinburgh have come back into this fixture. It was | :35:11. | :35:25. | |
14-0 at half time. This time Edinburgh are rock solid. All of a | :35:26. | :35:37. | |
sudden the frailty is there. Edinburgh are beginning to get the | :35:38. | :35:43. | |
upper hand. It baffles you. In two previous scrums, Edinburgh dug in | :35:44. | :35:51. | |
and won the penalty with the good execution. There will be a change in | :35:52. | :36:05. | |
the front row for Connacht. That is a bit of a turn up. The number 19 | :36:06. | :36:13. | |
for Edinburgh has come on, Alex Toolis. Alex Toolis has come on for | :36:14. | :36:29. | |
Bresler. I think Bresler has been impressive tonight and he has | :36:30. | :36:37. | |
carried hard. He has put his team on the front foot. He is pointing to | :36:38. | :36:41. | |
his wrist as he comes off. I hope that is not another injury to add to | :36:42. | :36:49. | |
the extensive number of injured players Edinburgh has. They had nine | :36:50. | :36:57. | |
at last count. Edinburgh have men here at full tilt. A chance on both | :36:58. | :37:11. | |
sides. If anything that is so cold. -- of anything that is cynical. It | :37:12. | :37:19. | |
was the captain who went in. AJ MacGinty not rolling away. Bell hits | :37:20. | :37:29. | |
his ball hard. MacGinty will claim that he was on his feet but he was | :37:30. | :37:33. | |
not supporting his own body weight and the referee told him to take his | :37:34. | :37:45. | |
hands off twice and he did not. The way the scrum has gone, you can | :37:46. | :37:54. | |
guarantee. For once the posts do not interfere. They have in at least | :37:55. | :38:07. | |
five of the last televised games. Edinburgh 20- Connacht 21. Momentum | :38:08. | :38:20. | |
is with Edinburgh. Connacht have scored seven points in the second | :38:21. | :38:21. | |
half. Momentum with Edinburgh. The only corn has come on for | :38:22. | :38:47. | |
Connacht. Can Edinburgh step it up? Candy stepped up another half notch | :38:48. | :38:49. | |
or so? -- candidate step it up. Connacht are flying in. They need to | :38:50. | :39:03. | |
get the rhythm and the pace we had in the first half if they are going | :39:04. | :39:07. | |
to stretch away from Edinburgh, because at the moment it is just a | :39:08. | :39:12. | |
single point, so any score for Edinburgh would put them in the | :39:13. | :39:17. | |
lead. All Halloran is away. For example Halloran. Connacht are on a | :39:18. | :39:29. | |
roll. They are running out of men. It Edinburgh can get their shape | :39:30. | :39:35. | |
back. They are thin on the far side of Connacht move quickly. The | :39:36. | :39:45. | |
gently, he is blocked there, surely. -- MacGinty. On the charge. There | :39:46. | :39:59. | |
are about ten metres from the Edinburgh line, looking typically a | :40:00. | :40:05. | |
water between them in Edinburgh in the closing stages. Edinburgh are | :40:06. | :40:17. | |
defending for all they are worth. They go the other way. That will | :40:18. | :40:22. | |
stretch Edinburgh. They might get it back. Have decided to keep going | :40:23. | :40:29. | |
east. They are gathering in the middle. Here they come. Every tackle | :40:30. | :40:40. | |
is now critical for Edinburgh. The gently breaks again, that is a great | :40:41. | :40:48. | |
tackle. -- MacGinty. Now the big charge. They are very close. The | :40:49. | :40:59. | |
referee says it is short. Edinburgh need to stay on the line. And the | :41:00. | :41:08. | |
game. Going for the post. Short again. That is the verdict from the | :41:09. | :41:13. | |
referee who gives the ball to Connacht. That was to reflect | :41:14. | :41:22. | |
defence and attack. It was a break that set up the attack by Edinburgh | :41:23. | :41:25. | |
did well to find their shape that defensively. I think John Muldoon | :41:26. | :41:35. | |
was trying to get the ball against the post. That would have been a | :41:36. | :41:44. | |
try. A good attack. Some fantastic defence by Edinburgh. They all need | :41:45. | :41:51. | |
to take a breath and so do we. It has been pulsating stuff. They have | :41:52. | :41:59. | |
got every trick in the book, they can run and move and do everything. | :42:00. | :42:11. | |
An injury, Peter Robb, has come onto the field. Denis Buckley has spent | :42:12. | :42:17. | |
most of the last few minutes stretching his car. -- his cat. They | :42:18. | :42:26. | |
would be reluctant to change Buckley been outstanding. Goalkicker is now | :42:27. | :42:38. | |
limping off the field. The referee has said that the player can only | :42:39. | :42:46. | |
come on for a scrum replacement, not as a player. Slightly complicated. | :42:47. | :42:58. | |
He has caught his ankle. That is not going to help with the kicking, | :42:59. | :43:05. | |
obviously. AJ MacGinty is the kicker for the USA, he would step up. | :43:06. | :43:12. | |
Edinburgh need to defend this desperately difficult position under | :43:13. | :43:18. | |
the shadow of their own post. They have to go after this scrum and | :43:19. | :43:22. | |
attack it. There will be two attackers on the right hand side of | :43:23. | :43:27. | |
the under left. Edinburgh have four on the left against two. The need to | :43:28. | :43:37. | |
defend the right hand side of the scrum. This is a huge scrum. They | :43:38. | :43:48. | |
have got over according to the referee. Connacht have reached the | :43:49. | :43:53. | |
line and it is one of the substitutes who has got through. You | :43:54. | :44:01. | |
can see the gap just opening up for him to batter his way through and | :44:02. | :44:06. | |
for all that there were two men hanging on to them it was not | :44:07. | :44:12. | |
enough. That ball was held at the back for two or three seconds but as | :44:13. | :44:16. | |
soon as it got to the back of the scrum he went. Edinburgh had four | :44:17. | :44:20. | |
defenders on that side and they still sat on the heels when they | :44:21. | :44:25. | |
should have come forward. The pre-works hard to get out. That is a | :44:26. | :44:37. | |
bonus point and a fourth try. That is disappointing for Edinburgh at | :44:38. | :44:42. | |
this point. The referee was in a great position there. The kick was | :44:43. | :44:56. | |
taken and then an Irish player was brought down by some of the | :44:57. | :45:01. | |
Edinburgh players charging. This is how they scored, it was quick. | :45:02. | :45:06. | |
Edinburgh defenders have to stand on the goal-line, five metres back from | :45:07. | :45:12. | |
the scrum. They will be disappointed to have conceded that try. Just over | :45:13. | :45:21. | |
five minutes left. We have a 8-point game, 20-28 to Connacht. It is not | :45:22. | :45:27. | |
over until it is over. Edinburgh have possession again. Then | :45:28. | :45:38. | |
Whitehouse called them all quite early on there. If the ball does not | :45:39. | :45:46. | |
come out on the Connacht it is a scrum to Edinburgh. Dave Heffernan | :45:47. | :45:58. | |
has come on for Connacht. All of the dice are being rolled now. You | :45:59. | :46:06. | |
conceded the Connacht defenders in a line and a fourth one is staggered. | :46:07. | :46:16. | |
There is space on the outside edge. Hopefully Edinburgh can get some | :46:17. | :46:29. | |
success. They have both gone down. Let us go down to Andy Nicol. In the | :46:30. | :46:35. | |
second half Edinburgh have come into this. I thought Toolis has played | :46:36. | :46:45. | |
well. Buckley was good and Bundee Aki has been very good, but at the | :46:46. | :46:53. | |
start has been AJ MacGinty, he scored the try in the first half and | :46:54. | :46:58. | |
he has that interplay and has been in control and defended well. He is | :46:59. | :47:05. | |
my man of the match. Not a bad choice. A penalty for Edinburgh. A | :47:06. | :47:22. | |
points down. If Edinburgh score a try they will get a bonus point for | :47:23. | :47:30. | |
four tries and if they did not win the big get two points. They would | :47:31. | :47:37. | |
get for being within seven and 1.434 tries. -- and one four the four | :47:38. | :47:52. | |
tries. If they get a conversion they consult Chase it and they will get | :47:53. | :47:57. | |
something out of it anyway. I think we know happen here. Down it comes. | :47:58. | :48:10. | |
Watson has it. They shift left. They still have it. They have made | :48:11. | :48:17. | |
ground. They are all at sea. There are still bodies being thrown around | :48:18. | :48:24. | |
the place. It has gone to the ground and Edinburgh have it. The captain | :48:25. | :48:32. | |
will take it on. Five metres, they are coming this side. They go left | :48:33. | :48:45. | |
this time. Ben Toolis this time. Watson is on the rampage. He turns | :48:46. | :48:53. | |
and twists. He lifted the ball which gave Connacht the opportunity to | :48:54. | :48:58. | |
challenge. It will be interesting to see how they got that. I was not | :48:59. | :49:06. | |
sure about that placement. Hamish Watson goes and then the tackle | :49:07. | :49:16. | |
spins him. It is the captain. The referee ordered the penalty really | :49:17. | :49:20. | |
quickly but I think it is fair. Unlucky for Hamish Watson. He is | :49:21. | :49:25. | |
impressive every time. It was clever the way that they turned him so that | :49:26. | :49:29. | |
when he came over on his back it presented Muldoon with that | :49:30. | :49:38. | |
opportunity to get the ball. He has technical ability to hold his body | :49:39. | :49:41. | |
weight. That was disappointing for Edinburgh. But Connacht have been | :49:42. | :49:46. | |
impressive this evening and they look like a team that deserves to be | :49:47. | :49:55. | |
at the top of the league. Edinburgh have been given the ball. They need | :49:56. | :50:12. | |
and must have a good delivery. This is where Edinburgh have two chance | :50:13. | :50:18. | |
their arm. You have two. In the last minute. I suppose you can go for the | :50:19. | :50:25. | |
line but you need something special to score here and looks as if they | :50:26. | :50:31. | |
are ready to attack. This is for a point in the league. 20 seconds to | :50:32. | :50:45. | |
go. It could not be any clearer from the referee. This will be the last | :50:46. | :50:51. | |
play, because Connacht get it they will just it. It has gone down. It | :50:52. | :51:04. | |
is a big decision what to do next. Let us see what happens. He is the | :51:05. | :51:14. | |
coolest man on the park, the referee. It has been a good game. Do | :51:15. | :51:22. | |
not try anything silly. That is fair enough. A massive scrum. The last | :51:23. | :51:33. | |
play because we are in the red zone and the clock has gone beyond 80 | :51:34. | :51:35. | |
minutes. Edinburgh with the next shelf, here | :51:36. | :51:52. | |
it comes. They turn it inside. He is on his own here. Surrounded by white | :51:53. | :52:05. | |
shirts. That was some clearance. Highland. A bit of reshuffle to take | :52:06. | :52:16. | |
it in. Could not make much ground. Edinburgh are going right. Short in | :52:17. | :52:22. | |
numbers. They need a good clearance and a quick ball. It is not the | :52:23. | :52:32. | |
quickest. ITV to the left-hand side. Tom Brown on the attack. It goes to | :52:33. | :52:37. | |
ground. There are quite shirts everywhere. Coming up the middle. | :52:38. | :52:48. | |
Penalty coming. Advantage to Edinburgh. The game will continue. | :52:49. | :52:56. | |
Up to the 22. Hamish Watson breaches the line. Still advantage. The | :52:57. | :53:10. | |
captain takes it. The captain rules. The ball is presented. The advantage | :53:11. | :53:18. | |
is still being played. We are still playing at two and a half minutes | :53:19. | :53:24. | |
into overtime. The penalty is in the middle of the field so that changes | :53:25. | :53:31. | |
it. He has taken the steps forward to be in the right place. That would | :53:32. | :53:41. | |
take them, they are going to go for one point. If they get within seven | :53:42. | :53:49. | |
points in total they will get that. I think that is sensible. It is the | :53:50. | :53:57. | |
percentage decision. No cake is easy but the way that Connacht defended I | :53:58. | :54:00. | |
think it is probably the right decision. There is so much to talk | :54:01. | :54:09. | |
about which we will share with our colleagues on the touchline. The | :54:10. | :54:15. | |
second half has been absolutely fascinating in all sorts of ways. | :54:16. | :54:22. | |
Hidalgo-Clyne has the chance to secure a losing bonus for Edinburgh. | :54:23. | :54:30. | |
Almost directly in front of the posts. The final kick of the game. | :54:31. | :54:53. | |
He gave it a good thump. He got the two flags. That is as much as he | :54:54. | :55:00. | |
could have expected and hoped for because it has got Edinburgh | :55:01. | :55:04. | |
something out of this game. They have a lot to talk about and a lot | :55:05. | :55:09. | |
to be pleased with in the second half when they fought back from what | :55:10. | :55:14. | |
seemed like an impossible task. It has been a fantastic match batting | :55:15. | :55:20. | |
we have seen by Connacht are at the top of the league. They know how to | :55:21. | :55:26. | |
close the game and to get in front and to deal with it when they do get | :55:27. | :55:32. | |
in front. They give it everything. They are a complete side. Edinburgh | :55:33. | :55:42. | |
has shown considerable improvement. In the second half especially | :55:43. | :55:48. | |
popular, dangerous side. Connacht at the top of the league. They were so | :55:49. | :56:00. | |
well organised, so well led by John Muldoon, they deserved their victory | :56:01. | :56:06. | |
but also their 5-point victory and that stretches their lead at the top | :56:07. | :56:11. | |
of the Guinness Pro12. The other teams watching this will take some | :56:12. | :56:15. | |
heart from the way that Edinburgh managed to put Connacht under | :56:16. | :56:20. | |
pressure because when they are under pressure there are some groans that | :56:21. | :56:27. | |
could be exploited. At the end of the day it was still a | :56:28. | :56:31. | |
disappointment for Edinburgh. They do get a losing bonus point because | :56:32. | :56:38. | |
the final score is Edinburgh, 23 - Connacht, 28. An unbelievable second | :56:39. | :56:48. | |
half year at Murrayfield. Connacht were too strong. It was a good | :56:49. | :56:55. | |
second half. Edinburgh dug really deep because they were blown away in | :56:56. | :56:59. | |
the first half, so to get the bonus point in the end I did not see any | :57:00. | :57:04. | |
of that happening at half time. They played better in the second half and | :57:05. | :57:08. | |
came away with the bonus point. At the end of the season it will be | :57:09. | :57:12. | |
tight for a player positions and European Champions Cup positions. | :57:13. | :57:16. | |
That point may be important in the end. What about decision-making at | :57:17. | :57:23. | |
the end of the match? There were potential opportunities for | :57:24. | :57:25. | |
penalties but they pushed for scrums. When you are a points down | :57:26. | :57:32. | |
and you've only got two minutes left you need to scorers so get yourself | :57:33. | :57:36. | |
into bonus point territory and NCT Getty chance to get a match-winning | :57:37. | :57:43. | |
score. They got there in the end. They got the point that they needed | :57:44. | :57:47. | |
and the point that the second half performance deserved because it was | :57:48. | :57:53. | |
very good. Connacht are better than anyone be seen so this season. They | :57:54. | :58:00. | |
were given a chance by Edinburgh in the second half but every ten | :58:01. | :58:02. | |
Edinburgh scored Connacht came back into control. Edinburgh got close | :58:03. | :58:07. | |
but I always felt Connacht had enough to step away from them. That | :58:08. | :58:14. | |
was impressive. It was a 5-point victory with the bonus point. You | :58:15. | :58:21. | |
can get reports and match analysis on BBC Scotland right now. Next week | :58:22. | :58:30. | |
we will be here doing a live rugby show on the BBC, the Scotland Six | :58:31. | :58:33. | |
Nations against France, that will be on BBC Radio Scotland and we will be | :58:34. | :58:40. | |
back for the game in Glasgow on Sunday against Cardiff and that | :58:41. | :58:46. | |
should be a cracker. Join us for that if you can. At Murrayfield | :58:47. | :58:52. | |
Edinburgh putting a massive second half performance but it was not | :58:53. | :58:58. | |
enough. Connacht are supreme and are the champions so far. Goodbye for | :58:59. | :58:59. | |
now. | :59:00. | :59:05. |