Edinburgh keep URC playoff hopes alive as Cardiff woes worsen after coach ban 

Edinburgh sealed a 7-24 victory over Cardiff in the United Rugby Championship clash at Cardiff Arms Park on Saturday to keep their playoff hopes alive.

Boosted by the return of Los Pumas back Emiliano Boffelli, Edinburgh grabbed three tries through forwards Pierre Schoeman, Ewan Ashman and Boan Venter to secure an away victory. Meanwhile, Ben Healy converted all three tries and added a penalty for a personal tally of nine points.

It was a bitter end for Cardiff, who were unable to give retiring flanker Ellis Jenkins a fitting send-off in his final game at Cardiff Arms Park. Rhys Carre’s try, converted by Tinus de Beer, was the side’s only consolation in a match that ended in a 7-24 defeat.

Prior to kick-off, the URC confirmed that Cardiff boss Matt Sherratt had been handed a six-game suspended ban after his inappropriate ‘interaction’ with referee Mike Adamson last week.

Click here for scorers

Cardiff have only won three competitive games all season and they produced an insipid performance on an afternoon which saw them lose Jenkins, Harri Millard and Thomas Young to injury.

Sherratt cops six-game suspended ban and fine for referee ‘interaction’

After a scoreless first 25 minutes, the game sprung into life when Duhan van der Merwe raced onto a well-judged pass from Healy to take Edinburgh into the opposition 22. The wing was hauled down, but his forwards maintained the pressure, with Schoeman forcing his way over from close range.

Healy converted before Cardiff lost flanker Jenkins, who limped off with a leg injury to end his final appearance for the club.

Edinburgh led 7-0 at the interval, but two minutes after the restart, they suffered a big blow when Van der Merwe was sin-binned for a high tackle on Theo Cabango.

Cardiff took immediate advantage when Carre burst over from the resulting line-out to score his eighth try of the season and celebrate his final appearance at the Arms Park before departing for Saracens at the end of the season.

The home side lost a second player to injury when Millard, was helped off with a leg injury.

Van der Merwe returned from the sin-bin and was immediately called upon to produce a try-saving tackle as he chased back to haul Mason Grady into touch just metres short of the try-line.

Edinburgh regained the lead when Ashman finished off a driving line-out before another try from Venter and a penalty from Healy sealed a deserved victory.

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Cardiff v Edinburgh

Cardiff: 15 Cam Winnett, 14 Harri Millard, 13 Mason Grady, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Theo Cabango, 10 Tinus de Beer, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Mackenzie Martin, 7 Ellis Jenkins, 6 Alex Mann, 5 Teddy Williams, 4 Ben Donnell, 3 Keiron Assiratti, 2 Liam Belcher (c), 1 Rhys Carré
Replacements: 16 Evan Lloyd, 17 Corey Domachowski, 18 Ciaran Parker, 19 Rory Thornton, 20 Thomas Young, 21 James Botham, 22 Ellis Bevan, 23 Jacob Beetham

Edinburgh: 15 Wes Goosen, 14 Emiliano Boffelli, 13 Matt Currie, 12 James Lang, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Ben Healy, 9 Ali Price, 8 Luke Crosbie, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Grant Gilchrist (c), 4 Sam Skinner, 3 WP Nel, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Dave Cherry, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Javan Sebastian, 19 Marshall Sykes, 20 Viliame Mata, 21 Ben Vellacott, 22 Mark Bennett, 23 Chris Dean

Venue: Cardiff Arms Park
Kick-off: 15:05 GMT
Referee: Frank Murphy (IRFU)
Assistant Referees: Maickel English (WRU), Elgan Williams (WRU)
TMO: Olly Hodges (IRFU)