Edinburgh 17-16 Lions: Hosts hold off visitors to secure back-to-back wins

Ewan Ashman's converted score proved crucial

Edinburgh held off the Lions to make it two wins from two to start their United Rugby Championship campaign.

Luke Crosbie scored the only try of the first half as Edinburgh spurned numerous chances, with Jordan Henrikse kicking two penalties for the visitors.

Francke Horn's try gave the Lions the lead before substitute Ewan Ashman's stunning score swung the pendulum back towards Edinburgh.

Henrikse knocked over a another penalty but Edinburgh held on for a 17-16 win.

After grinding their way back from 14 points down to beat Dragons in Wales on the opening weekend, the home side started much more brightly and should have opened the scoring when Mark Bennett broke free, only for the centre to ignore a glaring overlap and get stopped short as he looked to go it alone.

Edinburgh were on the board 15 minutes in, a huge carry from Viliame Mata setting the stage for Crosbie - one of five Scotland players returning to the squad after the Rugby World Cup - to force his way over the line.

Bennett, Wes Goosen and Blair Kinghorn all sliced through as Edinburgh continued to find gaps in the Lions defence at various points, but they were wasteful in the red zone.

A successful long-range penalty attempt from Lions fly-half Henrikse, to add to his earlier three-pointer, ensured it was a one-point game at the break.

Healy almost singlehandedly dragged Edinburgh to victory with his boot last weekend and a penalty early in the second period stretched their lead to four.

The home side were far from in control, though, and they breathed a sigh of relief when a try from Lions flanker Ruan Venter was ruled out for an obstruction on Hamish Watson.

The South Africans were sensing vulnerability and number eight Horn peeled off the back of a maul to power his way through some weak defence to put his side into the lead for the first time.

A brilliant aerial take from Goosen followed by a burst from the unlikely figure of WP Nel got Edinburgh back on the front foot and from nowhere Ashman arrived like a freight train to charge to the line.

Henrikse banged over another three points from long range to shave the lead back down to a single point and set up a tense finale, but Edinburgh saw it out for the win.

Next up for Edinburgh is a trip to Dublin to take on Leinster on Saturday while the Lions head to Italy to face Benetton on Sunday.

Edinburgh's Hamish Watson told Viaplay: "It was nowhere near perfect, there's a lot to work on. Our conversion rate in the 22 wasn't good enough. They stayed in the game and made it really hard for us.

"It's great to be back. It's good to come back into a winning team. It's hopefully going to be an exciting year for us."

Edinburgh: Kinghorn, McCann, Bennett, Currie, Goosen, Healy, Vellacott, Venter, Cherry, Sebastian, Young, Gilchrist, Crosbie, Watson, Mata.

Replacements: Dean for Currie (49), Shiel for Vellacott (62), Hislop for Venter (54), Ashman for Cherry (54), Nel for Sebastian (47), Sykes for Young (49), Boyle for Watson (75). Not Used: Scott. Sin Bin: McCann (57).

Lions: Q Horn, R. Kriel, H van Wyk, Louw, Van der Merwe, Hendrikse, Nohamba, Fourie, Botha, Dreyer, Schoeman, Landsberg, Tshituka, Venter, F Horn.

Replacements: Coetzee for van der Merwe (57), van den Berg for Nohamba (68), Naude for Fourie (52), Visagie for Botha (52), Ntlabakanye for Dreyer (52), Alberts for Schoeman (68), Sirgel for Venter (68). Not Used: Jonker. Sin Bin: van der Merwe (12).