Hodge frustrated as Edinburgh crumble under fire from Dragons

Edinburgh coach Duncan Hodge admitted he was a frustrated man after the game, both with his own players and some borderline decisions.

However, in particular he was frustrated because this was a game his team certainly could have won had they carried on playing as they started, with lineout dominance, strong scrum and exciting offloading providing the platform that wins most games.

Key moments went against them, including some tight refereeing calls with former Connacht scrum half Frank Murphy taking charge of his first Pro12 game as poacher turned gamekeeper.

However this was the Dragons, fourth win in a row at home and they had the advantage at the breakdown and in terms of finishing off chances created. In the end that was enough, as a late penalty denied the visitors a bonus point which was the least they deserved.

“They put a lot of pressure on us in the breakdown area and in the fifteen minutes before half-time we tried to go wide too early and got ahead of ourselves,” admitted Hodge, who preferred not to go into detail on the refereeing decisions that was close calls.

“We lost our way a bit in that period and they scored a couple of freak tries that stunted us. There was some good stuff in the second half, but some poor decisions.

“That result is a setback for us, that is a game we were planning to win. The most frustrating thing is that the signs were definitely there, but inconsistency means we cannot string it together for 80 minutes.

“They were physical and won the collisions and that gave them momentum.”

Even though it was an international weekend Edinburgh went into the match close to what has been a full strength team his season.

The front row was not the first choice, but injury has meant that is the usual situation, while they were also without their two first choice openside flankers. It was still an unusually strong side for the time of year.

Edinburgh nailed their colours to the mast right from the start of the game, effectively saying from the kick-off: “We are here to play an offloading game and keep the ball in hand at all costs.”

The intent may have been telegraphed but the execution was not and it was certainly effective. After some early softening up they worked their way upfield, left wing Mike Allen came back against the drift defence and space was created on the right.

A try could have been scored by any one of three or four players, in the end Ben Toolis gave the pass for No 8 Nasi Manu to go over, with Jason Tovey converting back at the ground where he made his name.

However far from setting up Edinburgh for more of the same, it was the Dragons who took over with an Angus O'Brien penalty the precursor of a good try of their own with full back Carl Meyer bursting through the middle to go thirty yards to the line.

The Dragons scored again shortly afterwards with prop Sam Hobbs bullocking his way over from short range.

Edinburgh did have centre Chris Dean to finish off a move which once again was the reward for good distribution, but the Dragons were beginning to get on top in terms of territory and possession.

O'Brien ran from his own half and used the supporting Sam Beard well, the centre then putting through a kick for the outside half to add a third try for his team – thanks to the television replays. O'Brien also converted for a 24-12 lead.

Edinburgh had chances to narrow that gap before half-time, but became too loose and were looking to get the ball wide before drawing any defenders so the chance was frittered away.

The second half picked up where the first left off in terms of things not quite clicking for the visitors, who threw their substitutes on early – probably a pre-planned move because a few of their Scotland squad players were brought on.

It needed something to lift Edinburgh and that moment was provided by young full back Blair Kinghorn who spotted a gap to blaze through from defence, passed on to centre Phil Burleigh and put the Scots back on attack.

Replacement No.8 Viliame Mata was the player who was able to squeeze over from short range after a period of pressure on the line, Duncan Weir converting.

Kinghorn again provided the attacking threat with time running out as he found space down he right, but what could have been a scoring pass did not go to hand. That proved to be the last clear opportunity – a late O'Brien penalty denying the losing bonus point into rub salt in the wounds.

Edinburgh: Tries – Manu, Dean, Mata. Cons – Tovey, Weir.

Newport Gwent Dragons: C Meyer; P Howard, S Beard J Dixon (T Morgan 52), A Hewitt, A O'Brien (G Jones ), T Knoyle (S Pretorius 52); S Hobbs (P Price 50), TR Thomas (R Buckley 40), B Harris (L Fairbrother 66), N Crosswell, M Screech (J Thomas 41), L Evans (Capt), O Griffiths (N Cudd 61), E Jackson.

Edinburgh; B Kinghorn; D Hoyland, C Dean (G Bryce 50), P Burleigh, M Allen; J Tovey (D Weir 52), S Kennedy (S Hidalgo-Clyne 52); J Cosgrove (K Whyte 70), N Cochrane (Capt, McInally 40), M McCallum, F MacKenzie (L Carmichael 75), B Toolis, M Bradbury, J Ritchie, N Manu (V Mata 52).