EDINBURGH’s last chance to salvage something from a sorry season vanished last night as Leicester won through to the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup with relative ease.
True, the visitors went 6-3 up at one point early in the second half thanks to two Emiliano Boffelli penalties in quick succession.
But within two minutes that lead vanished thanks to the one real moment of magic in the game – the try by substitute Jasper Wiese that put the Tigers firmly back in control.
The defeat was Edinburgh’s ninth in their last 10 games, and although it was far from their worst display, it still showcased some faults – notably handling errors and indiscipline – that have also been in evidence in their recent league outings. They still have two league matches to play – at home to the Ospreys then away to Ulster – but their hopes of a place in the URC play-offs were finally ended when they lost last week at Connacht.
Mike Blair’s team began the first half here just as they had played in that match in Galway, making far too many mistakes and giving away too many penalties. With five minutes played, Tigers stand-off Handre Pollard punished that indiscipline, opening the scoring with a 25-metre penalty.
The home side kept up the pressure for a good quarter-hour after that. But then, midway through the half, the normally reliable Pollard missed a longer-range effort.
The one encouraging thing about play up to then was that, for all their errors and indiscipline, Edinburgh were still only three points behind. And as half-time approached they began to put the home team under a bit of pressure, with Henry Pyrgos lobbing a kick into touch just metres from the Leicester goal line.
Then came a kickable penalty chance, but instead of going for goal, Edinburgh went for touch, and again the Tigers were able to deal with the danger.
The match had slowly got better after a poor start, and the last minute of the half saw scoring chances for both sides. First Darcy Graham kicked just too far ahead as he won the race into the Tigers’ in-goal, then a lightning-quick counter-attack looked like giving Leicester full-back Freddie Steward a scoring chance only for Boffelli to get back just in time to tidy up.
After a good start to the second half by his team, Boffelli scored a penalty to make it 3-3. Then, after Duhan Van der Merwe was tackled from an offside position, the Argentinian full-back was on target again to put his team ahead.
But the lead lasted less than two minutes. Van der Merwe lost the ball forward as he ran out from behind his own goal-line, Tigers substitute Jasper Wiese gathered, and the substitute bounced his way off three would-be tacklers before just grounding in the corner. Pollard added the conversion to make it 10-6.
Boffelli could have narrowed the gap with a third penalty a few minutes later, but this time his effort came back off a post. And that was as good as it got for the Scots. Right on the hour mark, Pollard scored with a penalty in front of the posts to extend his team’s lead to 13-6. The No 10 added another penalty ten minutes from time, and in the time remaining Leicester looked far more likely to add to their lead than Edinburgh did to eat into it.
The Tigers now go through to a last-eight meeting with the winners of today’s all-Irish match between Leinster and Ulster. They will visit Dublin if Leinster win, and be at home again should Ulster upset the odds.
Edinburgh, meanwhile, have a free weekend. They look like a team for whom the end of the season cannot come fast enough, and appear as much in need of a mental rest as a physical one.
