Four wins in a row for capital side who are top of United Rugby Championship
Riley Higgins, Edinburgh’s big signing of the summer, has arrived in the capital and should be fit to play by early December.
The highly-rated Scottish-qualified centre has joined the club from Super Rugby Pacific side Hurricanes on a three-year deal. He was due to arrive at the conclusion of the NPC season in New Zealand but a shoulder injury ruled him out of action. He is now close to full fitness.
“Riley's arrived,” said Edinburgh coach Sean Everitt. “He's in his final stages of rehab with a shoulder surgery that he had earlier in the year. Hopefully he'll be in an Edinburgh jersey by early December. But it's great to have him in the building.
“He can come to terms with what we're trying to do, spend some time with the boys next week. He did spend a couple of weeks here earlier in the season. so we expect him to hit the ground running.”
He has arrived at a club sitting proudly atop the United Rugby Championship after opening the new season with four wins in a row.
Hector Patterson shines as Edinburgh beat Lions to stay top of URC
The latest came on Friday as Edinburgh beat the Lions 31-10 on a sodden evening at Hive Stadium. Hector Patterson, the scrum-half, celebrated the new contract he signed this week by scoring two tries and was a worthy recipient of the player of the match award. Edinburgh’s other tries came from Matt Currie, Mosese Tuipulotu and Geordie Gwynn, with Batho Hlekani replying for the South Africans.
Another signing from New Zealand, scrum-half Louie Chapman, will arrive in Edinburgh on November 6 but Everitt pointed out that he will have his work cut out to dislodge Patterson who seems to improve with every passing week. He has now scored five tries in nine senior games for Edinburgh.
Big competition at scrum-half
“Louie Chapman will be arriving in Edinburgh on November 6,” said Everitt. “He's playing in the NPC final on Monday [for Canterbury against Northland]. If he comes through unscathed, he should be in the mix for the first game of December.
“There's going to be interesting competition there [at scrum-half]. Hector's been really good and has shown growth in every game that he's played. He was disappointed in his performance last weekend [against Toulon in the Challenge Cup]. He came back really strongly tonight and got man of the match. The other nines are going to have to work hard to displace him. That's what we want in the club.”
Everitt praised his side who led 5-3 at half-time but pulled away in the second half, adding four more tries.
“The guys had to work hard for that,” said the coach. “We had to keep knocking on the door and I thought we did a lot of damage in the first half.
“The guys chatted at half-time about keeping doing what we're doing. They stuck to the plan and we had a strategy in place and I thought they did really well in executing it.
Edinburgh were brave in the way they moved the ball
“It was really difficult conditions to play in. I thought the guys were brave in moving the ball. We said we wanted to move the ball and move the point of contact and I thought they did that really well. We wanted kicking variation and we got a bit of it as well.
“Well done to Hector, he got man of the match. He kicked very well from the base of the ruck as well as set piece. I'm happy with the result and it's good to get five points against the Lions at home.”
Everitt felt Patterson’s second try, from a tap penalty, was a key moment which put the game beyond the Lions.
“We want to play fast. We spoke about that and that's what we want to do. We encourage the players to be brave. That [try] was probably the turning point in the game.
Duhan van der Merwe injury explained
“We took the arm wrestle away and put the game in our favour. Forwards got ascendancy in there all as well at the end of the game.”
Supporters in the stadium rose in the fifth minute to applaud in memory of Hyron Andrews, the Lions forward whose death last week at 31 was such shocking news. The Johannesburg club have remained in Europe and are playing to honour the former lock who wore the No 5 jersey.
“The Lions have had a tough week, it’s been really difficult for them,” said Everitt. “A lot of emotion over the weekend and obviously putting all that energy into the game. I don't think they were at their best tonight.”
Meanwhile, Everitt confirmed that Duhan van der Merwe had to go off in the 18th minute due to a cut hand. The Edinburgh and Scotland winger was playing his first match of the season after recovering from an ankle injury.
“Duhan got a laceration to his hand. I'm not sure what it is. I haven't been inside to chat to the medics yet. But we'll probably find out in due course. I think he came off after the high ball. I'm not sure what could have happened there.”
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