New signing flies in but another setback for star winger
Published 24th Oct 2026, 08:00 BST
The home win ensures they will remain top of the United Rugby Championship table regardless of other results this weekend.
They outscored the visitors by five tries to one and have now won all four of their URC games this season.
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Here are some talking points from an impressive victory in sodden conditions:
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The best start since Cameron was at No 10
You have to go back 11 years for the last time Edinburgh won their first four matches of the league season. Or, to put in another way, it was seven Prime Ministers ago.
Then, as now, there was a South African at the helm, with Alan Solomons the head coach as the club beat Leinster, Benetton, Ospreys and Ulster in their opening fixtures of the 2015-16 Guinness Pro12 campaign.
It would be fair to say that the good start didn’t catch the wider public’s attention. Only 2,478 turned up at Meggetland to see Damien Hoyland score a try double in a 16-9 win over Leinster in the opening game. There was a similar sized crowd at Murrayfield for the 20-9 victory over the Ospreys in round three when Phil Burleigh and John Andress got the tries.
Crowds are a lot healthier now and the 6,377 attendance on Friday was a record for an Edinburgh home game against the Lions.
Incidentally, the class of 2015-16 couldn’t maintain their impressive start and ended up finishing ninth in the 12-team league. And David Cameron was in No 10.
Hector Patterson and two key questions
Hector Patterson stole the show on Friday, scoring two tries and scooping the man-of-the-match award after another effervescent performance.
Two questions immediately spring to mind. Firstly, why didn’t the club tie him down for longer? And secondly, has he done enough to be involved with Scotland in next month’s Nations Championship games?
Gregor Townsend will name his squad on Monday and Edinburgh coach Sean Everitt thinks it may be a little bit too soon for Patterson who has played only nine games for the club, four last season and five this season.
“I'm not sure,” said Everitt after the Lions game. “Are they looking there? Is he ready for Test level? Maybe a few more URC games under the belt. He's just got to keep growing his game, becoming more consistent in what he does.
“It's not easy to get into a national team. He's got to understand that. I'm sure he's opening up a few eyes though with his performances.”
Duhan deserves a break
If it wasn’t for bad luck, Duhan van der Merwe would have no luck at all. The big winger lasted just 18 minutes of his comeback game on Friday night.
It was his first outing for Edinburgh since May 15 and he looked lively enough when he cut inside early on and tried to offload to Pierre Schoeman.
Unfortunately, he had to retire soon after and was replaced by Harry Paterson, another making his return after a long lay-off.
Everitt reported later that van der Merwe had suffered “a laceration to his hand” and his early exit had nothing to do with the ankle problems that have been troubling him.
Whether he will be fit for Edinburgh’s game against Benetton in Italy next Saturday remains to be seen. His participation in Scotland’s November programme is also up in the air.
Just you wait, Riley Higgins
The signing of Riley Higgins was trumpeted as “one of the most significant pieces of recruitment in Edinburgh Rugby's recent history” back in April and the New Zealand-born, Scottish-qualified centre has finally landed.
Higgins can operate at 12 and 13 and the All Blacks apparently tried to persuade him to remain in New Zealand where he shone for Canterbury and the Crusaders. Edinburgh won that battle but Higgins may have one of his own trying to dislodge Mosese Tuipulotu and Matt Currie from the team.
Both impressed against the Lions on Friday, with Tuipulotu in particular carrying so impressively. The pair were also among the tries as the Edinburgh backline continued to purr under the guidance of new attack coach Tim Sampson.