Edinburgh 34 London Irish 11

Edinburgh battled their way through to the knockout rounds with hard fought victory against London Irish. The reward: a prime tie facing Toulouse, the aristocrats of European rugby, at home.

Despite a strong opening from the Edinburgh pack, with the back row featuring prominently, London Irish got off the mark first. The Exiles drew two penalties from successive scrums which allowed Adrian Jarvis to slot a simple penalty. Edinburgh were stung into action and Fijian No.8 Netani Talei returned the resulting kick-off down the blindside to get Edinburgh moving. Inside the Irish twenty-two Edinburgh’s favourite Dutchman went to work. A cute grubber kick through by Laidlaw allowed Tim Visser to dive on the ball, with Laidlaw converting from close to the touch line.

Robust and physical play from both sides once again saw Edinburgh move into the danger zone. The messy contest at scum time- the scourge of the modern day game-saw Edinburgh come out on top with Laidlaw successful with the penalty. The Exiles responded well forcing themselves up field with Edinburgh giving away a penalty which Jarvis converted.

Laidlaw hit his third successful shot at goal to extend the lead after the Exiles did not release the player on the floor. Edinburgh were soon on the attack with smart breaks from Lee Jones, Geoff Cross and Mike Blair winning a lineout in the Irish twenty-two, after a hurried clearance. Forceful play around the ruck drew in the defence allowing fullback Jim Thompson to collect the ball on the bounce to score in the corner with Laidlaw adding the extras.

A scrappy start to the second half allowed the Exiles to threaten the Edinburgh line. A quick tap penalty five meters out saw Edinburgh’s stoical defence repel repeated attacks before eventually turning the ball over, winning a penalty and clearing towards halfway.

The battle for midfield continued with neither side giving way. A dummy from flanker Roddy Grant set Matt Scott through who swung it wide for Visser to score in the corner; only for Referee Fitzgibbon to call it back for a marginal forward pass.

The Exiles were soon to capitalise on the mistake with replacement No. 9 Ross Sampson managing to get the ball out to Jonathan Joseph, despite the attnetion of several Edinburgh players. Joseph grubber kicked through with Winger Adam Thompstone gathering and slipping the ball back inside to Joseph who evaded the cover defence to score. Jarvis was wide with the conversion attempt.

A penalty to Edinburgh allowed them to put themselves in prime position to reply. With the ball secured from the lineout the forwards set about the task of scoring. Man of the match Netani Talei eventually went over in the corner with Laidlaw flawless as ever with the conversion. Edinburgh could have extended the lead further but John Houston couldn’t find Winger Lee Jones who could have walked in to score. Jones, however, was not to be denied.

A typical Talei bust from a scrum was recycled before a neat pass put Jones away to score in the corner. Laidlaw recorded a clean sweep for the day by duly adding the conversion and sending Edinburgh through as top seeds from the group for a home quarter final draw.

Att: 10, 892 (An Edinburgh Heineken record)
Referee: P. Fitzgibbon (IRFU)
Teams:
Edinburgh: Thomson, Jones, Scott, Houston, Visser, Laidlaw (C), Blair, Jacobsen, Ford, Cross (Gilding, 72 ), Gilchrist (Lozada, 72), Cox, McInally, Grant, Talei

London Irish: Armitage, Ojo (Joesph, 57), Spratt (Shingler, 57), Hape, Thompstone, Jarvis, Hodgson (Sampson, 51), Corbisiero (Lahiff, 51), Buckland( Blaney, 37), Halavatau (Rautenbach, 46), Sandford, Casey (C), Garvey, Sisi, Gray