Edinburgh march into Challenge Final

Editor

Edinburgh claimed a spot in their maiden European Final thanks to a 45-16 victory over Newport Gwent Dragons in Friday's Challenge Cup semi-final at Murrayfield.

The Scottish side will now face the winners of Saturday's other semi-final between Gloucester and Exeter on May 1 at Twickenham Stoop.

Tries from flanker Stuart McInally and wing Tim Visser plus a handful of penalties from scrum-half Sam Hidalgo-Clyne saw Edinburgh lead 21-9 at the interval.

Edinburgh had been dominant in most areas during the opening half but Dragons prop Brok Harris pulled a try back to keep the game alive early in the second period.

But the home side romped to victory in the final half-hour as lock Ben Toolis, wing Dougie Fife and Hidalgo-Clyne all added further tries to seal an historic win.

The result represents a record European margin of victory for Edinburgh, while Hidalgo-Clyne's 25-point haul also sets a new mark for an Edinburgh player.

Dragons will be disappointed with their effort (as will those who bet on sport, namely them) which fell well short of some of the heights they've hit this season.

Indeed, the Welsh side will harbour a number of regrets, not least of which their poor discipline with three yellow cards proving costly.

The scorers:

For Edinburgh:
Tries:  McInally, Visser, Toolis, Hidalgo-Clyne, Fife
Cons: Hidalgo-Clyne 4
Pens: Hidalgo-Clyne 4

For Dragons:
Try: Harris
Con: D.Jones
Pens: D.Jones 3
Yellow cards: Faletau, Evans, Thomas

Edinburgh: 15 Jack Cuthbert, 14 Dougie Fife, 13 Sam Beard, 12 Andries Strauss, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Phil Burleigh, 9 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 8 Mike Coman (c), 7 Roddy Grant, 6 Stuart McInally, 5 Ben Toolis, 4 Anton Bresler, 3 WP Nel, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Alasdair Dickinson.
Replacements: 16 Neil Cochrane, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 John Andress, 19 Fraser McKenzie, 20 Cornell Du Preez, 21 Nathan Fowles, 22 Tom Heathcote, 23 Tom Brown.

Dragons: 15 Jason Tovey, 14 Tom Prydie, 13 Tyler Morgan, 12 Jack Dixon, 11 Hallam Amos, 10 Dorian Jones, 9 Jonathan Evans, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Nic Cudd, 6 Nick Crosswell, 5 Cory Hill, 4 James Thomas, 3 Dan Way, 2 T. Rhys Thomas (c), 1 Brok Harris.
Replacements: 16 Rhys Buckley, 17 Phil Price, 18 Lloyd Fairbrother, 19 Matthew Screech, 20 James Benjamin, 21 Luc Jones, 22 Ashton Hewitt, 23 Geraint Rhys Jones.

Venue: Murrayfield
Referee: JP Doyle (Eng)
Assistant referees: Luke Pearce (Eng), Marius Mitrea (Ita)
TMO: Marshall Kilgore (Ire)