Edinburgh beat Dragons to boost play-off hopes

Rugby World Cup

Edinburgh (26) 38

Cons: Thompson 3, Scott, Graham, Schoeman, Venter, and Currie

Dragons (0) 5

Edinburgh boosted their Rugby World Cup play-off hopes with a thumping victory over Dragons at Hive Stadium.

The hosts ran in six tries to earn a bonus point and advance to sixth place, with Dragons still trailing comfortably at the bottom of the table.

Edinburgh’s victory was all but assured by half-time thanks to a brace of tries from Paddy Harrison and further scores from returning Scotland stars Darcy Graham and Pierre Schoeman.

Early on, injuries stopped, including the departure of Edinburgh and Scotland wing Duhan van der Merwe, and dropped balls, but a powerful carry from Schoeman put Edinburgh on the right foot.

Harrison touched down as a result of an error that Edinburgh made in the corner, threw into the lineout, and rolled a maul over the Dragons line.

His second was anything but a typical hooker’s try.

Graham gathered a lovely chip, slammed it, and then slammed it before stumbling. The 15-year-old was then in a foot race with Huw Anderson, a full-back for the Dragons, who had left him in his dust to score.

A clever kick over the top from Ben Vellacott found space for Graham to outsmart the defense and dive over. The third came quickly.

Since defeating Ospreys on the season’s opening day, the Dragons have never won, and they have never looked even remotely capable of bringing that run to an end.

As the home team clinched the bonus point before half-time, Schoeman snuck home from close range to bring the game to an end.

After the break, Dragons first attacked, with Wainright digging over the line to close out a strong play.

Before Edinburgh scored their fifth try, substitute Venter scored the match’s fifth try, the intensity of the match significantly decreased.

The home side came to an end with a dramatic sweeping move that saw Currie stumbling over in the corner.

Replacements: McCann, Venter, Sebastian, Young, Douglas, Price, C Scott, and Cherry.

Anderson, Dyer, Westwood, Owen, Hewitt, Reed, R Williams, Martinez, Dee, Latu, Davies, Cummins, Lewis-Hughes, Keddie, Wainwright, and others.