Edinburgh boost play-off hopes with win at Connacht

United Rugby Championship

Connacht (0) 21

Tries: Treacy 2, Bolton Cons: Hanrahan 3

Edinburgh (14) 31

Edinburgh boosted their hopes of a top-eight finish in the United Rugby Championship with a vital bonus-point victory over Connacht.

First-half tries from Pierre Schoeman – named in Andy Farrell’s Lions squad on Thursday – and Hamish Watson had Edinburgh in control at half-time, but Connacht hit back after the break.

Finn Treacy crossed twice in the opening 11 minutes of the second half to level the scores and a captivating back-and-forth battle followed.

Ben Muncaster crashed over to restore Edinburgh’s seven-point advantage following a powerful rolling maul, but Connacht – with faint play-off ambitions of their own – continued to fight.

Shayne Bolton dotted down in the corner, allowing home fly-half JJ Hanrahan to make it 21-21 off the tee.

However, with seven minutes to play, a moment of magic swung the match Edinburgh’s way.

Replacement scrum-half Charlie Shiel darted down the side of a ruck and showed an impressive burst of pace to go under the posts for the visitors’ bonus-point score before Ben Healy kicked a penalty in the final minute to ensure victory.

Sean Everitt’s side are ninth in the URC table, just two points behind Benetton in sixth, while Connacht are out of contention in 14th.

Connacht: Cordero, Bolton, Gavin, Aki, Treacy, Hanrahan, Murphy; Buckley, Heffernan, Bealham, Murphy, Murray, Prendergast, Oliver, Jansen.

Replacements: Tierney-Martin, Dooley, Aungier, Dowling, Boyle, Blade, Forde, Hawkshaw.

Edinburgh: Goosen, Graham, Currie, Tuipulotu, Brown, Thompson, Price; Schoeman, Ashman, Rae, Sykes, Skinner, Muncaster, Watson, Bradbury.

Replacements: Harrison, Venter, Sebastian, Young, McConnell, Shiel, Healy, Lang.