Zebre get hammered at Murrayfield

Try time: Ross Ford

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Teams

• Edinburgh
• Zebre

Edinburgh ran five tries past PRO12 newcomers Zebre for an easy 41-10 victory at Murrayfield on Friday.

Two tries from Tim Visser helped Edinburgh on their way to a comfortable bonus-point.

A penalty from the reliable boot of Greig Laidlaw settled any early nerves for the hosts but they had to wait until midway through the first half to add to their lead as new boys Zebre, who are yet to win a game, battled hard.

Edinburgh were the better side though and made the first major breakthrough thanks to a trademark snipe from scrum-half Richie Rees. He found Sean Cox on his shoulder and the big forward did the rest.

Daniel Halangahu did get the visitors on the scoreboard with three points shortly afterwards but Laidlaw restored the 10-point advantage with another penalty before a try from the prolific Visser gave them even more breathing space at the break.

A rare scrum against the head laid the foundations for Visser's try and the Dutchman finished the move off with aplomb before Laidlaw added the conversion to make it 20-3 at half-time.

The home side picked up where they left off in the second half as well, with hooker Ross Ford crossing early on after a terrific break from centre Matt Scott had made the try possible.

And Edinburgh duly wrapped up the bonus point with a fourth try midway through the half, the forwards driving their Italian counterparts back relentlessly and forcing the referee to award a penalty try.

Zebre did grab a try of their own through their Samoan full-back Sinoti Sinoti but, just as they looked like finishing the game strongly, Visser hacked the ball on from inside his own half and left everyone else trailing in his wake before touching down.

The fifth try was perhaps harsh on the visitors but there was no doubt about the result, which sees Edinburgh well-placed towards the top of the table but leaves Zebre rooted to the bottom.

The scorers:

For Edinburgh:
Tries: Cox , Visser 2, Ford, Penalty try
Cons: Laidlaw 5
Pens: Laidlaw 2

For Zebre:
Try: Sinoti
Cons: Halangahu
Pens: Halangahu

Yellow cards: Geldenhuys (Zebre - 34th min)

Edinburgh: 15 Greig Tonks, 14 Lee Jones, 13 Nick De Luca, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Greig Laidlaw (capt), 9 Richie Rees, 8 Netani Talei, 7 Ross Rennie, 6 Stuart McInally, 5 Sean Cox, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Willem Nel, 2 Ross Ford, 1 John Yapp.
Replacements: 16 Andy Titterrell, 17 Allan Jacobsen, 18 Geoff Cross, 19 Perry Parker, 20 Dimitri Basilaia, 21 Chris Leck, 22 John Houston, 23 Tom Brown.

Zebre: 15 Sinoti Sinoti, 14 Giovanbattista Venditti, 13 Matteo Pratichetti, 12 Daniel Halangahu, 11 Ruggero Trevisan, 10 Alberto Chiesa, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Andries van Schalkwyk, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Emiliano Caffini, 5 Josh Sole, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Luciano Leibson, 2 Carlo Festuccia, 1 Andrea De Marchi.
Replacements: 16 Andrea Manici, 17 Matias Aguero, 18 Luca Redolfini, 19 Filippo Cazzola, 20 Filippo Ferrarini, 21 Alberto Chillon, 22 Paolo Buso, 23 Alberto Benettin.

Venue: Murrayfield
Referee: Giuseppe Vivarini (FIR)