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Edinburgh bury Bayonne with second-half onslaught

By PA
Darcy Graham of Edinburgh Rugby scores his team's third try during the EPCR Challenge Cup match between Edinburgh Rugby and Aviron Bayonnais at Hive Stadium - Edinburgh Rugby Stadium on December 13, 2024 in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Edinburgh ran in eight tries as they blew away Bayonne 52-12 to get off the mark in Pool 3 of the European Challenge Cup.

Bouncing back from an opening loss to Gloucester, Edinburgh opened the scoring as Matt Currie celebrated his new contract with a try and, after Magnus Bradbury and Esteban Capilla were sent to the sin bin, Mosese Tuipluotu crossed for his first try for the club to make it 12-0 at half-time.

Lucas Martin got Bayonne on the board early in the second half, and Baptiste Germain quickly responded to a try from Darcy Graham with another score for the visitors, but the floodgates were about to open for Edinburgh as the tries came in a rush.

Duhan van der Merwe ran between the posts before Graham got his second, finding a way through a scrambling defence, and Tom Dodd then got two in quick succession, both from rolling mauls.

Jamie Ritchie added the final Edinburgh try in the 77th minute.