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TREVISO PREVAIL IN FORGETTABLE ENCOUNTER

Benetton Treviso: 3 (20) Edinburgh Rugby: 16 (9)



Kennedy whipped quick ruck ball wide, Harry's bullet found Strauss, whose lovely sleight of hand put Cornell du Preez on the charge near half way.  The big blindside's powerful running and a couple of dummies saw him over for a good try, converted by Bezuidenhout.  Just the sort of heads-up rugby one likes to see from the Embramen.  It was a shame that we had to wait until injury time at the end of the second half to see it tonight.

Fourth from bottom played second from bottom at the Stadio Monigo this evening and, boy, did it look like it.  It would have been an injustice had the Gunners taken the points, as the only side showing any ambition in the second period was the Italian hosts.  Their execution may have been ropey at times, but they were rewarded with two tries in the middle of the second half, on 60 and 65 minutes, which killed the game.  It was fitting that Ghiraldini notched the first, as the livewire hooker had looked eager throughout. 

There was a fair bit of huffing and puffing, but precious little inspiration.  I don't mind playing poorly and winning.  I am less keen on playing poorly and losing. Accuracy in execution was conspicuous by its absence and the Gunners wasted decent opportunities in the first half, in particular, with basic unforced errors that they simply should not be making. 

And it was individual errors that cost them the tries.  While one would have liked them to secure some ball and a bit of territory, the Embra defence looked pretty comfortable in the second period.  But it only took a couple of individual errors - Kennedy's comically poor non-tackle on Ghiraldini for the first and Tom Brown's classic schoolboy error of letting the high ball bounce, and bounce, and bounce for the second - and it was game over.

Meanwhile, a solid-looking visiting scrummage simply collapsed once Dickinson was replaced by Blaauw at loosehead just before the tries.  And I have rarely been so angered by a chance tossed away as I was when Hilterbrand's appalling throw at a late attacking lineout when this thing might yet have been pulled out of the fire allowed Treviso the chance to clear their lines instead.  The coaching staff have had nearly a season now to get to know their charges.  There are a few who are running out of chances to show Mr Solomons why they should be around next term.

Things were looking reasonable at the end of the first half.  The Gunners ended it 9-3 up, thanks to the boot of Bezuidenhout and might have been further up, had du Preez not uncharacteristically guddled the ball, perhaps caught in two minds, with the line beckoning late on.  They should have been looking to kick on and widen the lead after teh break.  But it was the home side who took the iniaitive.

After Strauss had done well to rip the ball from Cittadini as the big man drove over the Embra line, Ghiraldini's fine effort for a front rower saw the Italian international notch the first try of the evening at the end of the third quarter.  His front row partner de Marchi smashed over shortly afterwards and that was pretty much that.  While Edinburgh had looked steady enough in defence in the second period, they had offered little in attack, Jack Cuthbert apart.

Edinburgh now sit in ninth place in the league, level on 30 points with the Newportgwentdragons, who they play next.  Llanelli are now placed sixth on 36 points in the final top flight European berth.  Even with a game in hand, the Gunners' chances of overtaking them look increasingly slim.  What's certain is that more of this sort of thing will not be good enough.