Defeat for Dragons at Hive Stadium
Aaron Wainwright grabbed a second half score but Dragons endured a difficult night in the Scottish capital as a power-packed Edinburgh side secured a 38-5 BKT United Rugby Championship win at Hive Stadium.
A strong opening half from the hosts – who have never lost to a Welsh side at the venue - saw them wrap up the bonus point by the break with tries from Paddy Harrison (2), Darcy Graham and Pierre Schoeman.
A score from Wainwright in the second half halted home momentum before the Scotsmen finished strong to wrap up the victory.
For Dragons, who have not beaten Edinburgh in Scotland since March 2012, this was a night of frustration, and they now turn their attention to a derby double-header in April with Judgement Day first up.
Head Coach Filo Tiatia made four changes with Rodrigo Martinez, Paula Latu – with a first club start - Steve Cummins and Joe Davies all coming back into the pack.
A fully loaded Edinburgh side, by comparison, recalled six Scottish internationals after Six Nations exploits.
Wainwright made an early powerful burst off the back of a scrum and blew past tacklers only for Edinburgh to turn the ball over and then hurtle back up the other end with a 50:22.
Lock Joe Davies disrupted ball on the floor and spilled ball from the home side saw an early chance gone before they went off their feet at the next attack to lose possession again.
Dragons were pinned in their own half and Darcy Graham twice broke the defensive line but, on both occasions, looked to force a final pass and lost the ball.
Westwood and Latu carried strongly as Tiatia’s team battled for possession before Huw Anderson brilliantly spotted space but after his initial chip blew open room the kick ahead ran dead.
Edinburgh finally worked a penalty and kicked to the corner and rumbled over the line with a driving maul courtesy of hooker Paddy Harrison.
The hooker added a second four minutes later when Graham kicked ahead and collected before kicking in ahead for Harrison to touch down. Thompson added the extras for a 12-0 lead after the first quarter.
A poor ten-minute spell was compounded when more back field space saw Edinburgh capitalise again as Ben Vellacott kicked in behind and opportunistic wing Graham dotted down. Thompson added the extras.
Hewitt was close to breaking away but Graham popped him into touch, and then matters went from bad to worse when the wing was yellow carded for tackling off the ball.
Dyer took a high ball under huge pressure but when play was worked in field the Scots ripped ball and broke away again down the left.
The home side kicked to the corner again and won a succession of penalties before Schoeman wriggled his way over from close range to secure the try bonus before the interval.
Westwood brought Anderson into play at the start of the second half, but ball was lost before Jared Rosser was introduced to make his 100th appearance.
A big scrum from Dragons then won a penalty that Will Reed nudged into the corner. And patient play was then rewarded when Wainwright burrowed over to bite into the lead.
Dragons were working hard to keep Edinburgh at bay with Cummins stealing lineout ball when the home side went to the corner and the maul.
But as the penalties mounted the hosts finally worked a way with Boan Venter over from a tap penalty.
Josh Thomas made his club debut with 14 minutes remaining before the dangerous Anderson cut a superb line but his pass to Blacker went to the floor when a try looked on.
And it was Edinburgh who finished strong with Matt Currie going over in the final seconds.
Timeline:
16m Harrison t 5-0
20m Harrison t Thompson c 12-0
24m Graham t Thompson c 19-0
37m Schoeman t Thompson c 26-0
47m Wainwright t 26-5
64m Venter t Scott c 33-5
79m Currie t 38-5
Edinburgh: Wes Goosen, Darcy Graham, Matt Currie, James Lang, Duhan van der Merwe, Ross Thompson, Ben Vellacott; Pierre Schoeman, Paddy Harrison, D’arcy Rae, Marshall Sykes, Grant Gilchrist, Jamie Ritchie, Hamish Watson, Magnus Bradbury
Replacements: Dave Cherry, Boan Venter, Javan Sebastian, Glen Young, Freddy Douglas, Ali Price, Cammy Scott, Ross McCann
Dragons RFC: Huw Anderson, Rio Dyer, Joe Westwood, Aneurin Owen, Ashton Hewitt (Rosser 47), Will Reed (Thomas 67), Rhodri Williams (Blacker 67); Rodrigo Martinez (Kelleher-Griffiths 47), Elliot Dee (Coghlan 55), Paula Latu (Evans 70), Joe Davies, Steve Cummins (Langton-Cryer 67), Shane Lewis-Hughes, Harrison Keddie, Aaron Wainwright (Basham 66)
Replacements: Brodie Coghlan, Dylan Kelleher-Griffiths, Nathan Evans, Barny Langton-Cryer, Taine Basham, Dane Blacker, Josh Thomas, Jared Rosser
Referee: Morne Ferreira (SARU, 18th game)
Attendance: 6,240
