EDINBURGH THROUGH TO FINAL
15 November 2003 - Connacht 25 Edinburgh Rugby 26
"You can reach me by sailboat, climb a tree and swing rope to rope. I don't care how you get here, just get here if you can" continues the Ed's slightly unhealthy obsession with vaguely obscure lyrics, in this case by Oleta Adams. Galway City is indeed not the easiest place to get to from Edinburgh if you're in a hurry, but a vocal band of travelling supporters made it by various routes to see Edinburgh beat Connacht 26-25 this afternoon to earn the right to face Ulster in the Celtic Cup final on 20 December. The performance and result were a big improvement on the Gunners' previous trip to the Sportsground, which had resulted in a disappointing 11-3 loss in the first game of their Celtic League campaign.
The Gunners were boosted by the early availability of Allan Jacobsen and Scott Murray, back from World Cup duty, and by the return to fitness of talismanic Todd and Brendan Laney after injuries they'd picked up in the win over Munster. With Tom Philip out with injury, the Joiner - Di Rollo combination was reunited in midfield.
The final score did not fully reflect Edinburgh's superiority. While Connacht played a simple, but effective game, with a strong driving maul, Edinburgh played most of the rugby, and had the lion's share of possession and pressure. If anything, it was slightly worrying that they got to half-time very much on top, but only 14-10 ahead.
The best players in any sport are the ones who always seem to have more time than anyone else to play. Brendan Laney seemed to go through this game in slow motion, orchestrating his backs beautifully, and exercising a calming influence on his younger team-mates throughout.
Craig Smith opened the scoring on twelve minutes with his first try of the season, after a number of Edinburgh phases. The big tighthead ploughed over after good driving play from Blackadder. Talismanic Todd belied the serious hand injury he'd sustained against Munster and was prominent throughout the game, particularly in the first half. Another Guinners player to show up well was Allan Jacobsen. Whatever he's been up to in his short time Down Under has clearly paid off. He scrummaged solidly all game, and showed up very well in the loose, regularly popping up in the backline and taking and giving like a centre.
Five minutes after the first Gunners try, Laney crossed for another under the posts after Edinburgh won turnover ball on their 22 and Hogg scorched up the touchline. Laney's conversion took the score to 14-0 Gunners and it seemed like it was only a matter of how much they would put past the home team.
But credit to Connacht, they clawed their way back into the game with an Elwood penalty on 22 minutes, followed by Yapp's first of three tries on the half hour, taking the score to 14-10 Gunners. The Connacht maul was a regular feature of their game, but proved difficult to stop.
Edinburgh turned the screw, though, and only gutsy Connacht defence kept the capital men out on several occasions before half time. If anything, it was slightly worrying that the Gunners did not turn possession and pressure into points, particularly with two fine kickers on the opposition side, in the form of Elwood and McHugh.
Yapp's second try, on 45 minutes, took the score to 15-14 Connacht, and when Webster was penalised for holding on in the tackle, and Elwood kicked the penalty, all of a sudden Connacht were 18-14 ahead, quite against the run of play. But the Gunners hit back immediately to kill the game, with tries from first Lee, then Laney, to take the score to 26-18 Edinburgh. Laney's try, in particular, was a thing of beauty. A burst from Jacobsen took the ball to halfway, where Laney took over. Though not the quickest back you've ever seen, and surrounded by Connacht defenders, a series of outrageous steps and dummies took him, impossibly, across the home line and over for the try.
Edinburgh could have really put the home team away, but both the Gunners' flying props knocked on with the line at their mercy. A Yapp try, goaled by Elwood, on 75 minutes made it interesting, and when McHugh stepped up to take a penalty from halfway in injury time, away fans' hearts were in their mouths. Happily for them, his kick fell short. And his three susequent dropped goal efforts from the same range also fell short, to leave the Gunners into the Celtic Cup final after a hard-fought, but well-deserved, 26-25 victory. The 20th December will see Ulster come back across the water to play Edinburgh for the first piece of silverware of the season. With the World Cup lads back to strengthen the squad, Edinburgh will be looking to improve on their most recent performance against the men from the Province.
The vexed question of what to shout in unison may have been answered by the intrepid away support. "EMBRA" seemed to work very well this afternoon, and proved that even the reticent Edimbourgeoisie can gie it laldy when provoked. Why not give it a go at Meadowbank during the Toulouse game on Sunday 7 December? Don't be bashful - you know you want to.
There's now a two week break in the Celtic League to allow the World Cup players to become reacquainted with their teams. Edinburgh's next fixture will be away to the Celtic Warriers at the Brewery Field, Bridgend on 29 November. As always, get in touch with Ann at Edinburgh Rugby on edinburghrugby@sru.org.uk if you fancy joining the growing travelling support.
MAN OF THE MATCH
The travelling support's award went to BRENDAN LANEY, but there were a number of fine performances from the likes of Hogg, Lee, Jacobsen and Blackadder.
Edinburgh scorers: Laney 2T 3C Smith 1T Lee 1T
Connacht scorers: Yapp 3T Elwood 2C 1P
Edinburgh Rugby: D Lee; S Webster, M Di Rollo, C Joiner, H Southwell; B Laney, R Lawson; A Jacobsen, A Kelly, C Smith, S Murray, A Kellock, T Blackadder (Capt), A Hogg, S Cross. Replacements: C Di Ciacca, R Mathieson, N Pike, A Dall, G Burns, A Warnock, M Dey.
Connacht: D Hewitt; M Mostyn, D Yapp, M McHugh, C McPhillips; E Elwood, M Walls; R Hogan, B Jackman (Capt), A Clarke, D Browne, A Farley, M Swift, P Neville, J O'Sullivan. Replacements: J Fogarty, F Boiroux, M McCarthy, T Carter, C O'Loughlin, T Allnutt, W Munn