Edinburgh suffer eight-try defeat by Lions

Edwill van der Merwe scored two of Lions' eight tries

United Rugby Championship

Lions (48) 55

Tries: Q Horn, Maxwane 3, Van der Merwe 2, Jonker, F Horn Cons: Wolhuter 5, Nohamba 2 Pen: Wolhuter

Edinburgh (0) 21

Tries: Gilchrist, Harrison, Muncaster Cons: Healy 2, Thompson

Dismal Edinburgh suffered a third successive United Rugby Championship defeat this season as they conceded eight tries away to Lions.

The South African outfit crossed seven times before half-time as they carved the Scottish side open at will.

Rabz Maxwane and Edwill van der Merwe both scored two tries in the first half, while there were also tries for Quan Horn, Francke Horn and Rynhardt Jonker.

Sean Everitt's side improved after the break, and scored three tries of their own, but the game as a contest was already over.

It felt like Lions took their foot off the gas after the break, but Maxwane completed his hat-trick late on to take them past the 50-point mark on a chastening afternoon for Edinburgh.

Everitt and his players will have looked back at last week's loss against Bulls with regret. It was poor game management and a lack of cutting edge that prevented a first win of the season.

Still, they will have come to Johannesburg with optimism. Lions finished ninth in the URC last season and are not as daunting an opponent as Stormers or indeed Bulls.

However, Edinburgh's soft underbelly was exposed in humiliating fashion in a 40-minute performance unbecoming of a team packed with internationals.

Home fly-half Kade Wolhuter opened the scoring off the tee, and that sparked a remarkable spree of point-scoring against a porous visiting defence.

Quan Horn crossed in the corner with the Edinburgh defence stretched, in what would become a theme of the first half.

Lions continuously found joy in wide areas, and looked likely to score almost every time they had possession. Edinburgh were weak in the tackle, and looked totally overwhelmed by the speed and power of the hosts.

Maxwane slipped past a couple of would-be tacklers down the right for his first try, before Van der Merwe gathered Morne van den Berg's clever reverse kick and skipped past Darcy Graham for Lions' third.

The bonus-point try came on 27 minutes as Jonker strolled over under the posts. Lions were jubilant; Edinburgh stunned. It was defending you rarely ever see at professional level, and did not reflect at all well on Everitt and his coaching staff.

Maxwane and Van der Merwe's second scores were both embarrassingly easy, either side of Francke Horn crashing over from close range.

To ship 48 points in one half of rugby simply is not acceptable for a club like Edinburgh.

Yes, the three second-half tries made the scoreline more respectable, but it mattered little given the carnage that went before.

Things don't get any easier for Edinburgh. They next face Stormers on 12 October.

Edinburgh scrum-half Ben Vellacott: "The damage had already been done in first half. They came out firing, we played into their hands with mistakes and they punished us.

"We were a little bit naive, and we spoke at half-time about respecting the ball a bit. We’ve got a short turnaround, and then we’re into the Stormers. They are a class outfit so we need to be at the top of our game."

Line-ups

Lions: Q Horn, Maxwane, Cronje, Jonker, Van der Merwe, Wolhuter, Van den Berg; J Schoeman, Marais, Ntlabakanye, Nothnagel, Landsberg, Pretorius, Cairns, F Horn.

Replacements: Visagie, Pohlmann, Van Vuuren, R Schoeman, Du Plessis, Nohamba, Louw, Van Wyk.

Edinburgh: Goosen, Graham, Tuipulotu, Scott, McCann, Healy, Vellacott; Schoeman, Ashman, Hill, Sykes, Gilchrist, Ritchie, Watson, Bradbury.

Replacements: Harrison, Venter, Rae, Hodgson, Muncaster, Price, Thompson, Dodd.