A late penalty by Ross Thompson secured a 29-25 win over RC Vannes on the road in a Round 3 match of the 2024/25 EPCR Challenge Cup.
After some early pressure, Edinburgh threw pick-and-go after pick-and-go at RC Vannes five metres out, before Ali Price whipped it wide for Wes Goosen to cross after just seven minutes.
10 minutes later some fluid play from the visitors put Ali Price away to extend their lead to 12-3 following a penalty for Vannes knocked over by Jules Lebail.
Joe Edwards got a try back for Vannes from close range before a coast-to-coast cracker was finished by Ali Price again to put them 19-10 up before Vannes hit back again through Robin Taccola to make it 17-19 at halftime break.
After Jules Lebail knocked over his second penalty of the day to put RC Vannes 20-19 ahead in the second half after a thrilling first 40, Duhan van der Merwe raced to the line out wide.
Tani Vili responded for the French side again with a super solo score showing incredible power to break through from near the halfway line and reduce the gap to just a point with 15 minutes to play.
But a late penalty from Ross Thompson extended Edinburgh's lead to 29-25 and secure the win on the road.
Scorers:
RC Vannes: Joe Edwards, Robin Taccola, Tani Vili. Conversions: Jules Lebail (2). Penalties: Jules Lebail (2).
Edinburgh Rugby: Tries: Wes Goosen, Ali Price, Ali Price, Duhan van der Merwe. Conversions: Ben Healy (3). Penalty: Ross Thompson.
Teams
RC Vannes: 15 Gwenael Duplenne, 14 Salesi Rayasi, 13 Robin Taccola, 12 Francis Saili, 11 Filipo Nakosi, 10 Jean Cotarmanac’h, 9 Jules Lebail, 8 Joe Edwards (c), 7 Matthieu Uhila, 6 Leon Boulier, 5 Timothe Mezou, 4 Christie van der Merwe, 3 Paga Tafili, 2 Theo Beziat, 1 Thomas Moukoro. Replacements: 16 Pat Leafa, 17 Hugo Djehi, 18 Simon Bourgeois, 19 Matteo Desjeux, 20 Jesse Parete, 21 Stephen Varney, 22 Tani Vili, 23 Inaki Ayarza.
Edinburgh Rugby: 15 Wes Goosen, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Matt Currie, 12 James Lang, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Ben Healy, 9 Ali Price, 8 Ben Muncaster, 7 Luke Crosbie, 6 Jamie Ritchie (c), 5 Sam Skinner, 4 Marshall Sykes, 3 Javan Sebastian, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Pierre Schoeman. Replacements: 16 Paddy Harrison, 17 Boan Venter, 18 D’arcy Rae, 19 Glen Young, 20 Hamish Watson, 21 Charlie Shiel, 22.l Ross Thompson, 23 Mosese Tuipulotu.