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WHAT DOESN'T KILL YOU MAKES YOU STRONGER
Gunners: 40 USAP: 17
This year has seen the Gunners saddled with just about every obstacle they could possible face, many of them unnecessary. They are playing teams with budgets that dwarf their own by an almost obscene margin (USAP have about £6 million to play with); they have had a crippling injury list in an already tiny squad; they have lost their key men to international calls on a regular basis; and this week's off-field activity in the Murrayfield area has added a fair bit of unwelcome uncertainty to everyday life.
But the words above from Todd Blackadder's column in today's match programme proved oddly prophetic this afternoon. Many times this season, Edinburgh have been down. But each time, they have got back to their feet and come back for more. And perhaps this last Heineken game of this Edinburgh season saw a turning point. Good things may well be round the corner for this team. If anyone doubts the ability of this Gunners side to slug it out with Europe's best, even with both hands tied behind their backs, well, no contempt is too contemptuous for such foolish folk. To quote certain French characters from Monty Python And The Holy Grail - "I blow my nose in your general direction." So there.
USA Perpignan, like Toulouse before them, came to Edinburgh in confident mood. They needed a bonus point win to get through to the next round, and set out their stall early, knocking several kickable penalties to the corner. They were serious; they wanted to win; and they wanted to win big.
Yet at no-side, Edinburgh had turned the French aristocrats into a disorganised, demoralised rabble with a performance of high class that had the locals thinking back to last season's Heineken heroics. In some ways, this was an even better win than that Meadowbank epic against Toulouse. For the scoreline today accurately reflects the balance of play. One side had only forward power and endeavour to offer, while the other had pace, and zip, and verve. It wasn't even close. USAP were cuffed, stuffed, and generally given a right good seeing to.
The Chainsaw opened his and Edinburgh's account with a beautifully struck penalty on four minutes after Perpignan came in at the side at an offensive Edinburgh ruck. Then Kellock ran the subsequent kick off back well to set up a Gunners lineout at halfway. Off quick ball, Godman's audacious switch of play back to the left wing put Hugo then Jackie Joiner into the USAP 22, setting up another penalty for a desperate defender not rolling away in the tackle. Again, Laney nailed the penalty for the 6-0 lead.
Edmonds got USAP onto the board with a penalty on 12 minutes, but the Gunners had the upper hand. Simon Webster, marking his return from injury with a typically buccaneering display, made a useful break, before Laney was just wide with a third penalty attempt from just inside the USAP half. Then Jacobsen was unfortunate to be called back by the referee after taking a perfectly good quick tap penalty on half way. A herd of wildebeest was seen sweeping majestically across the wide open spaces in front of the Chunky one, but he had clearly fancied his chances of outpacing the cover for the score.
But the crowd did not have to wait long for the Gunners first touchdown, which came on 20 minutes. Tricky play from Godman saw Webster make ground on the left into the USAP 22, before the ball was spun across field for Hogg to cruise over from distance for the superb unconverted score in the corner.
Unfortunately, USAP hit back immediately. Their much vaunted maul seemed to be going nowhere in the Gunners 22, then right wing Bomati appeared from nowhere and nipped over for a try, converted by the Australian Edmonds. The 11-10 home lead more than flattered the visitors, but USAP started to come back into the game a little as the half drew to a close, with Blackadder and "The Grim Reaper" Di Rollo shining in defence with some important interventions. The visiting eight were helped in no small measure the referee's strange reluctance to penalise them for shoving a second or two before the put-in on Gunners scrummage ball throughout the half.
The half ended with an alert Hugo kick into the Perpignan 22 for Joiner to chase foiled only by a deliberate knock on by tiny full back Cermeno, followed by some more useful Edinburgh phases close in.
USAP emerged for the second period reeling from Ian Turner's game efforts to relay important Heineken Cup information in French to the travelling support. The tears of laughter on visiting faces, however, turned to tears of despair on 44 minutes as a fabulous Webster run sliced through the cover. The ball was spun across field through Godman and a very impressive overhead pass from The Reaper to see Joiner nailed just short. But Andy Kelly was on hand to bullock over for the try from the ensuing breakdown.
With 50 minutes gone, USAP were still knocking kickable penalties into touch, but still getting no change from the Edinburgh defence. With the Gunners under some pressure, The Reaper managed to nail the receiver from a Gunners clearance, then cleverly steal possession for the Gunners scrummage. But Edmonds nipped over for a converted try off the back of a maul to give USAP a short-lived lead on the hour.
Then two master strokes. Much wailing and gnashing of teeth goes on nowadays about the sheer number of substitutions in the modern game. But that wily tactician, Mr Hadden, introduced four fresh pairs of legs to the fray, in the shape of Hall, Dickinson, Callam and Blair with less than 20 minutes to go. Then the Chainsaw popped over a neat dropped goal with ten minutes to go that regained the lead after a neat pass by The Reaper had put Hugo surging towards the tryline from halfway, in a move that almost saw Webster, then Joiner over.
A brilliant Blair grubber forced USAP to clear to touch five metres from their own line. At first it seemed like the Gunners had been forced back, then Laney shrugged off a throat high tackle at the USAP ten, made ground, then Hogg surged over for his brace, with Godman kicking the difficult conversion.
At 26-17 with two minutes of normal time remaining, USAP's Heineken hopes were not looking great. They looked slightly worse five minutes later, when an excellent Edinburgh maul set up Godman in traffic seven yards out. He danced through tacklers in a style that was oddly Laney-esque to cap a fine display with a super try, converted by himself.
The visiting drums had been silent for some time in any event, but USAP were a beaten side at that stage, and their heads were down as the conversion went over. But encouragingly - and with locals baying for the bonus point - the ruthless Gunners put them out of their misery with another superb try involving a great deal of skill and derring-do from various parties. Sadly, the editorial notebook was heading up into the stratosphere at that point, propelled there by its joyful owner, so the details are a bit sketchy; suffice it to say that Ali Dickinson powered over in the corner for a fifth superb try, converted again by Godman. The referee blew for time, and the Gunners and their fans were ecstatic.
Fantastic.
If this is to be a genuine turning point, as it should be, the Gunners must now push on, starting with the Scarlets at Murrayfield this Friday. The Heineken and Celtic League may be out of reach this year, but Heineken qualification and the Celtic Cup are still very much up for grabs for rejuvenated Edinburgh. Who knows? Maybe one or two folk with a few million might start to think that there's something in this franchising malarkey after all.
MAN OF THE MATCH:
SIMON WEBSTER for a roaring comeback from his injury lay off. But in truth, all 22 of the Gunners squad, plus the passionate home support, should share in the prize.
SCORERS:
EDINBURGH: Godman 1T 3C, Laney 2P 1DG, Hogg 2T, Dickinson 1T, Kelly 1T
USAP: Edmonds 1T 2C 1P, Bomati1T
TEAMS:
EDINBURGH: Hugo, Joiner, Laney, MacDougall, Webster, Godman, Lawson, Jacobsen, Kelly, Smith, Kellock, Murray, Blackadder, Hogg, Strokosch. Replacements: Hall, Dickinson, Pringle, Callam, Lee, Blair, Di Rollo.
PERPIGNAN: Cermeno, Bomati, Hume, Manas, Luger, Edmonds, Loustau, Freshwater, Grelon, Mas, Alvarez Kairelis, Porcu, Le Corvec, Robertson, Goutta. Replacements: Van Der Heever, Cheron, Gaston, Tonita, Durand, Giannantonio, Grandclaude.
MB
