Edinburgh Rugby sealed their return to the United Rugby Championship play-offs for the first time in three seasons with a bonus-point 47-17 victory at home to Ulster Rugby.
Ulster, who suffered their 11th defeat of the season, kept it competitive in the first half by scoring twice through a penalty try and Werner Kok before Edinburgh eased away after the interval to a comfortable win as Darcy Graham completed his hat-trick.
It was the home side who got on the board first after a cagey start. Wes Goosen collected an Ulster kick forward, then picked out Graham, who took the pass and darted through a hole for a try converted by Ross Thompson.
Edinburgh landed a second score when Magnus Bradbury fastened on to a short pass from Ali Price and powered his way past three Ulster defenders to get the ball down.
Edinburgh’s momentum, though, was disrupted when they conceded a penalty try and lost a man to the sin-bin.
Jack Murphy’s pass wide was headed for Zac Ward, clear on the wing until Graham stuck out a hand and was shown a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on.
Ulster were soon level. Goosen failed to control Murphy’s kick into the Edinburgh 22, allowing Kok to burrow his way over.
It was end-to-end, and Edinburgh soon landed their third try of a frenetic first half shortly before Graham returned from the sin-bin.
Ewan Ashman was the man to get it, the hooker picking up the loose ball from his own line-out and barrelling his way past some half-hearted tackles to score, with Thompson adding the extras.
Graham thought he had landed his second try of the game, and Edinburgh’s fourth, only to be denied by a brilliant Kok tackle in the corner.
But the home side did land the bonus point soon after when Bradbury was driven over the line for his second try following a tap-and-go penalty.
Edinburgh were well on top by this stage and Pierre Schoeman stretched for the line for their fifth try, again converted by Thompson, to make sure of the win.
Ulster landed their first try of the second half when Jude Postlethwaite ran the length of the pitch to score.
Edinburgh hit back when Graham scrambled over for his second then completed his hat-trick with the clock in the red, both tries converted by Ben Healy.
Scorers:
Edinburgh Rugby: Tries: Darcy Graham (3), Magnus Bradbury (2), Ewan Ashman, Pierre Schoeman. Conversions: Ross Thompson (4), Ben Healy (2).
Ulster Rugby: Tries: Penalty try, Werner Kok, Jude Postlethwaite.
Teams:
Edinburgh Rugby: 15 Wes Goosen, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Matt Currie, 12 James Lang, 11 Harry Paterson, 10 Ross Thompson, 9 Ali Price, 8 Magnus Bradbury (c), 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Ben Muncaster, 5 Sam Skinner, 4 Marshall Sykes, 3 D’arcy Rae, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Pierre Schoeman. Replacements: 16 Paddy Harrison, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Javan Sebastian, 19 Glen Young, 20 Jamie Ritchie, 21 Charlie Shiel, 22 Ben Healy, 23 Mark Bennett.
Ulster Rugby: 15 Michael Lowry, 14 Werner Kok, 13 Jude Postlethwaite, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Jack Murphy, 9 Nathan Doak, 8 David McCann, 7 Nick Timoney, 6 Cormac Izuchukwu, 5 Iain Henderson (c), 4 Kieran Treadwell, 3 Tom O’Toole, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Andrew Warwick. Replacements: 16 Tom Stewart, 17 Callum Reid, 18 Scott Wilson, 19 Harry Sheridan, 20 James McNabney, 21 Dave Shanahan, 22 Aidan Morgan, 23 Stewart Moore.