Brittle scrum killed Edinburgh

Editor

Edinburgh head coach Alan Solomons admitted that his team eased off too much in the build-up to their match with Connacht.

Edinburgh head coach Alan Solomons admitted that his team eased off too much in the build-up to their match with Connacht.

The Scottish Pro12 side lost 13-14 to their Irish visitors on Friday, with their scrum taking a battering as they lost seven out of ten on their own ball.

“The set scrum was difficult,” said the Edinburgh coach.

“We will sit down and go through every one of them with a fine toothcomb. We have to get to the bottom of it because that was a killer for us, even right at the end there.

“I thought that the scrum made an enormous difference. We were just too passive, we were too flat, but there is no doubt that what happened at scrum time had a bearing.

“We spoke all week about how we peaked against Munster and we spoke about making sure that we were in the right frame of mind, mentally and physically.

“We took things relatively easy during the week and, obviously, Connacht are a side never to be underestimated. We just weren't at the races.”

Connacht boss Pat Lam wasn't entirely jubilant despite snatching an impressive win away from home.

“It's quite a sombre dressing room,” said Lam.

“Again, we're pleased with the win but very frustrated with handling errors, dropped balls and lack of execution.

“We made a lot of mistakes but thankfully we kept the pressure on to grind out the win.

“It's back to work on Monday for a massive week ahead of the game against Leinster.”