Edinburgh 61-13 Southern Kings: Hosts reclaim top spot in Pro14 Conference B

Eroni Sau and Matt Scott both got on the scoresheet as Edinburgh hammered Southern Kings

Edinburgh reclaimed top spot in Pro14 Conference B with a comprehensive win over Southern Kings at Murrayfield.

The visitors opened the scoring through Erich Cronje but were up against it after prop Pieter Scholtz was sent off.

Mike Willemse, Duhan van der Merwe and Matt Scott crossed in the first half, and although JT Jackson hit back, Edinburgh cut loose after half-time.

Scores from James Johnstone, Eroni Sau, Dave Cherry, Charlie Shiel, Mark Bennett and a penalty try routed Kings.

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Munster's defeat at Ulster on Friday meant Edinburgh knew a win here would send them back to the top of the conference ahead of Scarlets.

So often reduced to cannon fodder when they venture outside South Africa, the Kings indicated this may not be the Saturday evening stroll for the home side many had predicted by striking with the opening try.

Fly-half Jackson took the ball to the Edinburgh defensive line before angling a lovely little chip into the path of winger Cronje to touch down.

The positivity of that start for the visitors evaporated moments later when prop Scholtz led dangerously with a forearm to the throat of John Barclay and was deservedly sent off. From the penalty, Edinburgh kicked to the corner, sent the rolling line-out maul thundering towards the line and hooker Willemse peeled off the base to score.

Despite the man advantage, Edinburgh were struggling to settle into any sort of groove until Van der Merwe struck with the second try. A neat first-phase scrum move brought the flying winger into the line and he tore away from the surrounding defenders to score.

That seemed to break Kings' resistance as just four minutes later Scott was put in by Sau for an easy run to the line after a lovely offload from Barclay created the opening.

Edinburgh's fans screamed for a second red card when Nick Haining was floored, but referee Joy Neville ruled it was an accidental clash of heads in contact with Schalk Ferreira.

The 14 men gave the home side something to think about right on half-time, Jackson going over in the corner to reduce the deficit back to six.

Duhan van der Merwe crossed in the first half before Edinburgh blew Kings away in the second

After a rousing win derby win over Glasgow in front of 27,000 fans last week, this was an altogether different test; Johnstone banished any doubts about the result early in the second half by running in the fourth try to seal the bonus point.

Despite their dominance, Edinburgh's discipline and accuracy continually let them down as they hunted for more scores, to the clear frustration of Richard Cockerill in the coaches' box.

Blair Kinghorn fluffed a two-on-one by going himself and getting hauled down short of the line. Then substitute Simon Berghan saw a try ruled out for an earlier knock-on as Edinburgh struggled to make the Kings pay.

When the fifth try eventually arrived, it came in the form of a penalty try after the Kings halted a rolling maul illegally.

Aston Fortuin was identified as the offender and sent to the bin, and with DJ Terblanche off the field, the Kings were down to 12 men. Edinburgh made the numbers count straight away as Sau finished off a move started with a fine break from substitute Shiel.

The last thrusts of a challenge from the visitors were long gone and substitute hooker Cherry got in on the act to power over from close range.

Shiel marked a lively cameo with a try as the home side passed the 50-points mark, and Bennett rounded off the scoring with the ninth Edinburgh try.

TEAMS

Edinburgh: Blair Kinghorn; Eroni Sau, James Johnstone, Matt Scott, Duhan van der Merwe; Jaco van der Walt, Henry Pyrgos (Capt); Jamie Bhatti, Mike Willemse, WP Nel; Lewis Carmichael, Grant Gilchrist; Magnus Bradbury, John Barclay, Nick Haining.

Replacements: Dave Cherry, Pierre Schoeman, Simon Berghan, Ben Toolis, Luke Crosbie, Charlie Shiel, Simon Hickey, Mark Bennett.

Southern Kings: Courtney Winnaar, Yaw Penxe, Sibusiso Sithole, Howard Mnisi (Capt), Erich Cronje; John-Thomas Jackson, Stefan Ungerer; Schalk Ferreira, Jacques du Toit, Pieter Scholtz, Jerry Sexton, Aston Fortuin, Ruaan Lerm, Thembelani Bholi, Elrigh Louw.

Replacements: Alandre van Rooyen, Xandre Vos, De-Jay Terblanche, John-Charles Astle, Bobby de Wee, Theo Maree, Bader Pretorius, Andell Loubser