Following Edinburgh’s 47-17 victory over Ulster, here’s our five takeaways from the United Rugby Championship (URC) match.
The top line
Five-try Edinburgh flexed their dominance up front and their backs ran amok to continue their 2024/25 United Rugby Championship journey as Ulster exited the competition with a whimper.
Tries from Darcy Graham, Magnus Bradbury, and Ewan Ashman gave the hosts a slender seven-point buffer at half time, with Ulster scoring through a penalty try and the ever-present Werner Kok.
While it was a closely-fought first half, the second was not as Edinburgh pulled away courtesy of a second Bradbury score and a double for powerhouse prop Pierre Schoeman.
Jude Postlethwaite grabbed a runaway try in the final 10 minutes, but that was quickly wiped off as Graham doubled up before keeping the best for last as he completed his hat-trick.
Edinburgh charge into the play-offs
Clearly emotionally charged with so many star men playing what will be their final appearance at Hive Stadium and with a chance of making the play-offs, Edinburgh outclassed their Irish counterparts today.
It was a performance starkly better than that produced against Zebre a few weeks back, as they were accurate and aggressive in contact and won the tight exchanges on the whole.
It was a performance worthy of the quality in the squad and one that they will have to replicate with a challenging quarter-final awaiting them, regardless of where they go.
For the first time since 2021, Edinburgh are off to the play-offs.
Statement Schoeman
Schoeman is one of three loosehead props in the British and Irish Lions squad, and many would predict that he is perhaps the third choice behind Ireland’s Andrew Porter and England’s Ellis Genge, but the South African-born front-rower looks hellbent on making it a tough decision.
He was sublime today in every single facet of the game, racking up a respectable 13 tackles and winning a turnover on defence while gaining 19 metres from eight carries and grabbing two tries.
It was a mighty effort from the prop who also dominated Tom O’Toole in the scrums.
There is plenty of time for Lions stars to press their claims, particularly once the squad get together, but Schoeman has well and truly laid down a marker with this performance.
Dazzling Darcy
While Schoeman did get the nod for the tour to Australia, Scotland’s pocket rocket speedster Graham did not, and he showed Andy Farrell what he is missing out on.
Duhan van der Merwe, who did get selected, remains on the sidelines as does Connacht’s Mack Hansen, who many believe was lucky to get in the squad ahead of Graham, too.
Farrell is set to name two further players to tour with the Lions, and injuries are bound to come into play at some stage, which could well open the door for the dazzling Scot, who is certainly letting his performances do the talking.
His three tries were all extremely well-taken as he capitalised on Wes Goosen’s initial brilliance to canter through and speed past the Ulster defence, while his second was a clever bit of footwork near the line.
The third was much like the first, as he showed that there is no substitute for out-and-out pace, something one could argue the Lions squad does lack a bit of, but his performance was far more than his 15 points.
He had several key involvements in the middle of the park and put in some excellent kicks, too. There are physical attributes that point to his exclusions too but that hasn’t stopped the likes of Kurt-Lee Arendse and Cheslin Kolbe from starring at the highest level for the Springboks, and why can’t the same be true for Graham and the Lions.
Back to the drawing board for Ulster
Ulster limp over the finishing line of the 2024/25 season, winning seven of their 18 matches, which includes four straight defeats in the final rounds.
Their last victory of the season was a 38-34 success over the Stormers, but the 43-31 loss to Bordeaux in the Investec Champions Cup seemingly derailed their play-off run.
That defeat was a wake-up call for the Stormers, who have since sealed fifth position in the final standings, while Ulster crashed from sixth, and depending on how other results go in the final round, they could fall as low as 15th – an implosion of epic proportions.
It’s a sombre end to Richie Murphy’s first season in charge as a pivotal rebuild awaits the club in the off-season. Replacing key cogs in the squad like Kieran Treadwell, Alan O’Connor, Matty Rea, and John Cooney will be the major tasks that Murphy will want to address as soon as possible.
Perhaps missing out on Champions Cup qualification will be a blessing in disguise as Ulster go back to the drawing board and rebuild the squad next season.
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/edinburgh-v-ulster-five-takeaways-as-bi-lions-snub-darcy-graham-dazzles-while-richie-murphys-men-epically-implode
