Edinburgh survive major scare to beat Benetton

Magnus Bradbury (left) scored two of Edinburgh's seven tries

United Rugby Championship

Edinburgh (35) 50

Tries: Van der Merwe, Muncaster 2, Bradbury 2, Hill, Price Cons: Thompson 5, Healy Pens: Healy

Benetton (0) 33

Tries: Odogwu, Creevy 2, Izekor, Fekitoa Cons: Umaga 4

Edinburgh survived a major second-half scare to claim a bonus-point win over Benetton and move up to seventh in the United Rugby Championship table.

The capital side were utterly dominant in the first half, scoring tries through Duhan van der Merwe, Ben Muncaster, Paul Hill and a double from Magnus Bradbury to lead 35-0 at the break.

Benetton mounted an extraordinary comeback, with two tries from Agustin Creevy and one for Paolo Odogwu, and although Ali Price crossed for the hosts, Alessandro Izekor and Malaka Fekitoa scores ensured a nervy finish.

Muncaster grabbed his second try late on and Ben Healy kicked a penalty to ensure Edinburgh held on for the win.

Sean Everitt's side's focus now switches to the European Challenge Cup with a trip to Gloucester on Friday.

The game was barely a minute old when a slick backs move put Edinburgh full-back Wes Goosen through a gap and he fed Van der Merwe to race home for the try.

The second was not long in coming. From a messy line-out on the 22, Muncaster gathered the loose ball, powered through several tackles and stretched for the line to score.

Benetton failed to deal with Edinburgh's power and Bradbury battered through a few bodies to go over as the home side forged a 21-point lead in as many minutes.

Bradbury crossed for his second moments later as Edinburgh wrapped up the bonus point before the 25-minute mark.

Prop Hill then pounced on a loose ball to charge home for a try in the final play of the first half to round off a one-sided opening 40 in blustery conditions.

With the wind behind them, Benetton finally showed some signs of life early in the second half - Odogwu and substitute Creevy crossing in quick succession to check the home side's momentum.

What looked like a fleeting show of defiance threatened to become something more when Creevy ploughed over again to make it 35-19.

Edinburgh restored some order when Darcy Graham skipped his way through and popped a pass off the deck for Price to score.

Benetton kept coming though, propelled forward by the wind, and flanker Izekor forced himself over to bring his side back within two scores.

Fekitoa then went over for the Italians' fifth try and the grim spectre of collapsing from 35-0 up was staring Edinburgh in the face.

The capital side brought themselves back from the brink, Muncaster going over from close range for his second try and Healy splitting the posts off the tee to secure a victory that should have been a lot more straightforward than it was.

Line-ups

Edinburgh: Goosen, Graham, Currie, Tuipulotu, Van der Merwe, Thompson, Price; Schoeman, Ashman, Hill, Sykes, Gilchrist, Ritchie, Muncaster, Bradbury.

Replacements: Harrison, Venter, Rae, Skinner, Douglas, Vellacott, Healy, McCann.

Benetton: Smith, Mendy, Fekitoa, Zanon, Odogwu, Umaga, Uren; Tetaz, Manfredi, Avaca, Scrafton, Snyman, Izekor, Halafihi, Favretto.

Replacements: Creevy, Aminu, Pasquali, Kingi, Koroiyadi, Velez, Marin, Lynagh.

Referee: Ben Breakspear