London Scottish suffer 57-21 defeat away to Edinburgh in final preseason match at BT Murrayfield.
The Scots’ try scorers included Rob Stevenson, Jordan Brodley and Dan Barnes.
Jamie Farndale, Nick Haining, Dougie Fife, captain Chris Dean, Ewan Ashman, Nic Groom, Damien Hoyland and Tom Brown all ran in tries for the home side.
Having won against Chinnor the previous week, Edinburgh presented the Scots with more of a challenge.
Harry Sheppard kicked off proceedings at a sunny, but windy BT Murrayfield. The visitors gave away a penalty not long after when they failed to release the ball at a ruck, but their defence held strong and Edinburgh were pushed back into their own half.
After a period of play where the two sides were settling into the game, Edinburgh received a penalty which they kicked to the corner where they set up a driving maul that eventually saw the ball being given to the backs and a gap opened up for Jamie Farndale on the right wing (5-0).
Scrum-half Jaco van der Walt added the extras, to bring the scores to 7-0 with 15 minutes played.
Not long after the exiles gave away another penalty after being offside at the ruck. Edinburgh opted for the scrum right on the five-metre line. Number eight Haining picked the ball up from the back of the scrum and went over to score. The conversion was missed by Walt (12-0).
Scottish took the restart well and some lovely offloading from the backs in midfield saw left wing Rob Stevenson slip through several tackles to score the visitors first try with 20 minutes left until half-time. Fly-half Harry Sheppard added the extras (12-7).
Edinburgh ran in their third try off the back of another penalty, London Scottish offside again. Having opted for the scrum, the forwards then went through the phases which lead to a man advantage out wide. Winger Fife was the recipient of a great pass to see him go over. Walt landed the extras (17-7).
With only three minutes left until half-time, a poor kick from Scottish handed Edinburgh a line out. Richard Cockerill’s men moved the ball from left to right across the field, Henry Pyrgo’s offload falling into the hands of his captain, Dean, who scored. The conversion saw Edinburgh’s lead stretch to 26-7 at half-time.
London Scottish were unable to capitalise on a poor Edinburgh line out early in the second half, the ball being overthrown for a third time. Matt Davies gathered the ball and punched a hole through the home side’s defence.
Edinburgh managed to turn over the ball and Scottish were then penalised for a high tackle. The driving maul, which the home side set up off the back of the line out, ended with Ashman going over the whitewash. The conversion was missed (31-7).
A break down the middle of the field from Dean ended with several offloads and the ball finishing in replacement Groom’s hands, for a try. Walt kicked the extras (43-7).
After a poor restart by the home side, Scottish were handed a penalty which was kicked to the corner. Another penalty was awarded to the traveling side, which saw them set up a scrum right in front of the posts. With the forwards camped on the try line and going through the phases, the ball ended up in Brodley’s hands. Barnes kicked the extras (45-14)
Not long after Edinburgh scored their seventh try through Hoyland, which was converted (50-14).
A charge down from James Tyas should have seen him score. The team went through the phases though and Barnes went over to score for the second time in two games. The conversion went over (45-21).
Nineteen-year-old Blain went over after a 40-metre sprint to bring the score to 50-21.
The final try came 10 minutes before the full-time whistle, when replacement Brown went over on the openside. The conversion brought the scores up to 57-21 at full time.
London Scottish next face Cornish Pirates in their opening match of the season in two weeks’ time at the RAG.
