Blair Kinghorn stars as Edinburgh beat Benetton to stay near top of URC
Blair Kinghorn was at the heart of the action as in-form Edinburgh moved up to second in the United Rugby Championship with a bonus-point 24-10 victory against Benetton at the DAM Health Stadium.
The number 10 helped create the Scots’ opening two tries and then scored the third himself as Mike Blair’s team posted a fourth consecutive victory and leapfrogged Ulster – who visit the Ospreys on Saturday – in the table.
Benetton got the first points on the board in the eighth minute when Leonardo Marin pinged a penalty between the posts after Edinburgh were penalised for not rolling away quick enough.
The game swung back in the hosts’ favour in the 12th minute when Benetton captain Dewaldt Duvenage was sin-binned for cynically stopping a try-scoring opportunity. It proved costly for the Italians as Edinburgh scored two tries in his absence.
The first came within two minutes of his departure from the fray when Ben Vellacott scooped the ball from the back of the scrum and quickly fed Kinghorn, who in turn played in Darcy Graham to dart over the line wide on the right. Kinghorn hooked his conversion attempt well wide.
Edinburgh’s second try came after some excellent build-up play in the 23rd minute, just before Duvenage returned to the field.
The move began with brilliant work by both Kinghorn and Graham to drive the team forward wide on the right, before the ball was worked across to the left by Vellacott, Jamie Hodgson, Matt Currie and Damien Hoyland, who fed Emiliano Boffelli.
The Argentine duly powered over the line to mark his home debut with a score. Kinghorn once again missed the target with his conversion.
Edinburgh asserted their authority five minutes after the break when the opportunistic Kinghorn had the easy task of slamming the ball down for a try after Benetton dropped the ball into his path wide on the right. This time the fly-half successfully converted to open up a 17-3 lead.
Benetton got themselves back into it on the hour when replacement Manuel Zuliani forced his way over the line after a sustained spell of pressure. Marin added the conversion.
Edinburgh regained full control in the 67th minute when Stuart McInally touched down just to the left of the posts after a strong line-out drive, having stepped off the bench. Kinghorn again converted as the hosts avenged their last-gasp defeat in Treviso in Round Two.
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Think it was a great defensive performance by Northampton. They didn't have stage fright in the first half, the Nienaber defense smothered them. They limited Leinster to 15-3 in the first half. It could have been over by then. A great try from Leinster in the start of the second half looked to have sealed it. But Byrne missed another conversion. Northampton started trying little kicks behind the Leinster wingers. Leinster messed one and Smith brilliantly made the conversion. Leinster decided to tighten the game after Byrne missed a straight forward penalty. A few errors got NH into the 22 and they scored and converted with a few minutes left. Another brilliant steal from Lawes saw NH have a final attack which was turned over by Conan. A classic semi final. World record attendance of 82,300. Leinsters 3 week preparation warranted for this one.
Go to commentsJust came back from the game and the atmosphere was amazing. Players stayed afterwards for more than a hour to sign stuff and take photos with fans. Great day out.
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