EDINBURGH made it three wins from their first five games in the URC with this battling result, and although they were some way below their best, they deserved full marks for perseverance as they claimed the bonus point with the last play of the game.
The outcome was in the balance for the first half and more at the Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, but the injection of momentum off the bench after the break was enough for Mike Blair’s team to pull clear of Zebre. Having claimed a draw as well as that trio of victories from the first block of matches in the new league, they go into the international break three points ahead of Glasgow, albeit having played a less difficult set of fixtures.
“It wasn’t ideal in terms of the performance, but we’ve got through these five games pretty successfully,” the head coach said after substitute Ben Vellacott’s last-gasp try had secured the full five match points. “There’s still a lot of growth in us and a lot of areas we can get better. But coming away to Italy and taking five points is definitely a positive.
“We’re a club who are at the start of a journey together. It’s good to see the growth in terms of where we’re going.”
Blair’s team are a further three points clear of Benetton, and out of sight of Zebre, who have now lost all five of their games to sit bottom of the URC table. The comparison between the Scots and Italian sides will be particularly relevant at the end of the campaign, when the most highly ranked of the four earns a place in next season’s Champions Cup, but the Edinburgh coach was reluctant to read too much into the current state of play.
“To be honest, I’ve tried not to look at the table too much,” he added. “It’s once you get to the business end of the season things like that become more important. Especially with the way the league is just now and the different conferences, there’s all sorts going on.”
There was little going on in a soporific first half which saw Blair Kinghorn open the scoring with a penalty before Zebre hit back, scoring a try through winger Pierre Bruno try after the pack had come close. Carlo Canna converted, but Edinburgh were back in front well before the break, with Jack Blain finishing off in the right-hand corner following good work by Kinghorn and captain Jamie Ritchie.
Only 8-7 ahead at the break, Edinburgh toiled to impose themselves in the opening ten minutes of the second half, but the arrival of Vellacott and his fellow-substitute Boan Venter made all the difference. Stuart McInally got his team’s second try from a lineout drive after a penalty had been sent to touch. Then, within a minute of Zebre back-row Jimmy Tuivaiti being sent to the sinbin for not allowing Vellacott to go ten metres from a tap penalty, Venter finished off after another solid drive.
Kinghorn’s conversion took his team’s tally to 20, and although Zebre soon cut the deficit with an Antonio Rizzi penalty, Edinburgh had the last word. They might have thought their chance was gone when Charlie Savala was held up over the line, but there was still time for them to create one last opening, and this time Vellacott made no mistake, slipping in at the corner for another converted try.
Scorers: Zebre Parma: Try: Bruno. Con: Canna. Pen: Rizzi.
Edinburgh: Tries: Blain, McInally, Venter, Vellacott. Cons: Kinghorn 2. Pen: Kinghorn.
Zebre Parma: J Laloifi (M Biondelli 58); P Bruno, G Bisegni (captain), E Lucchin, E Cronje; C Canna (A Rizzi 61), A Fusco (G Palazzani 66); D Fischetti (P Buonfiglio 67), L Bigi (M Ceciliani 64), E Bello (I Neculai 58), D Sisi, L Krumov (A Zambonin 68), J Tuivaiti, L Andreani (P Leavasa 64), R Giammarioli.
Edinburgh: H Immelman; J Blain (C Savala 65), J Johnstone, C Hutchison (C Dean 73), D Hoyland; B Kinghorn, C Shiel (B Vellacott 49); P Schoeman (B Venter 49), S McInally (D Cherry 53), L de Bruin (L Atalifo 60), J Hodgson, P Phillips (M Bradbury 68), J Ritchie (captain), L Crosbie, V Mata (M Kunavula 58).
Yellow card: Zebre: Tuivaiti 59.
Referee: F Murphy (Ireland).
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