Edinburgh slay Dragons and receive salute from a legend

Dragons 14 Edinburgh 30

WHEN someone of the stature of Shane Williams starts salivating over a team’s free-flowing style of rugby, you know things are going rather well.

Gaining his approval would be akin to getting the nod from Jimmy Page on a guitar riff you had written yourself.

Williams scored a remarkable 58 tries in 87 caps for Wales, putting him way out in front as the leading try-scorer in his nation’s history.

In his co-commentary duties at Rodney Parade last night, the former Welsh wing wizard waxed lyrical as Edinburgh produced an outstanding attacking performance to secure a bonus-point win.

‘As a back-three player, I wouldn’t mind playing for this Edinburgh team just now,’ said Williams during a first half which had seen Edinburgh threaten to blow the Dragons away.

The visitors scored three excellent tries in the opening period — and all three were made in Argentina.

Full-back Emiliano Boffelli scored on his debut, while fellow Pumas winger Ramiro Moyano touched down twice.

That set the stage for Damien Hoyland to burst through and score the bonus-point try in the final play of the game to round off a superb night for Mike Blair’s team.

They now move up to third in the United Rugby Championship table in a season which is steadily beginning to gather pace.

It had been a first-half blitz from Edinburgh which held the key to victory, and it offered tangible evidence of their change in style and just how far they have developed in a short space of time.

‘I don’t know how it came across on TV, but that was genuinely one of the worst winds in a game I’ve ever been involved in,’ said Blair. ‘It was so strong, blowing all over the pitch.

‘It was a funny one. With about 76 minutes on the clock, we were nine points ahead. I was thinking: “Are we just going to secure the win, or are we going to go for the bonus point?”

‘Going for the bonus point was excellent. The players showed a huge amount of drive to go and get it.

‘We wanted to play with tempo and keep hold of the ball, rather than just giving it back to the Dragons.’

On the contribution of Boffelli and Moyano, Blair added: ‘I deliberately paired them. I felt that would be important for them in terms of communication. The pair of them were outstanding and deserved their tries. There’s a lot more to come from Emiliano especially, as he only joined the group earlier this week.’

Having toured with Argentina throughout the Autumn Nations Series, Boffelli only touched down in Scotland on Monday.

He might not speak much English just yet, but he wasted no time in showing his new employers what he’s all about. Plainly, attacking rugby is a language universally understood.

Giving chase to his own kick, the Pumas flyer raced clear to score the game’s opening try after just two minutes, with Blair Kinghorn slotting the conversion.

Moyano then finished a superb flowing team move by racing over in the corner to score Edinburgh’s second try on 20 minutes.

At that point, it was looking like the Scots might run riot. They were rampant, carving the Dragons open every time they went forward.

But then the Dragons scored a fine try of their own on 23 minutes. Skipper Harri Keddie broke the Edinburgh line and fed fly-half Sam Davies to score on the inside. Davies converted his own try and the Dragons revival really came alive when Wales winger Jonah Holmes scampered in to score in the corner just after the half hour. Davies converted again. But Edinburgh were rampant. On 37 minutes, Moyano got his second try of the night. After another kickand-chase, he outstripped the Welsh defenders to dive over. Edinburgh led 17-14 at half-time and, for all that the Dragons came back at them, there was little doubt that the visitors had been the better team. A Kinghorn penalty on 57 minutes extended their advantage. The fly-half then slotted another which, crucially, took his team beyond a converted try and out of reach. With seconds left, Hoyland (above) took a pass from Henry Pyrgos to ensure a maximum haul of five points in the bag.