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Head coach proud of landmark win over French giants
Pride was the overriding emotion for Sean Everitt after watching his Edinburgh team defeat high-flying Toulon at a rain-sodden Hive Stadium in their opening match of the Investec Champions Cup.
The coach has now challenged his squad to turn in performances like that on a more regular basis.
This European tie pitched the team sitting 10th in the URC against opponents who are third in the Top 14 but it was mid-table Edinburgh who came out on top.
Edinburgh Rugby head coach Sean Everitt congratulates Wes Goosen after beating Toulon. | SNS GroupPierre Schoeman, Ben Vellacott and Boan Venter all touched down for the hosts and there was also a penalty try as the hosts won 33-20, snaring a bonus point in the process. Ben White, Toulon's Scotland international scrum-half, scored a first-half double for the visitors and impressed with his sharpness and distribution before coming off midway through the second half.
Edinburgh are on five points in Pool 2, alongside Bath and Gloucester who they will meet in the new year. Their next fixture is against Castres away next Sunday.
“I'm very proud of the boys and the effort that they put in tonight,” said Everitt. “It was great that they were able to play the conditions as well as they did. And credit to Ben Vellacott and especially Cammy Scott and the way they managed the game.”
Edinburgh had trailed 10-0 after six minutes but fought back well and got their noses in front before half-time. It was a lead they would retain for the remainder of the match.
Home record remains unscathed
“We haven't lost this season at home yet,” said Everitt. “And the guys were obviously out to improve on their performance last week [the 19-17 win over the Ospreys in the URC], which was probably a little bit disjointed as we all admitted during the week.
“So, I’m just happy for the guys and the way the forward pack got stuck into a quality outfit, an international pack from around the world. The boys can be really proud of their efforts and the physicality that they showed in the set pieces.”
“It can't just be in the Champions Cup,” added Everitt. “It's got to be every week. But we're going to enjoy it tonight. Then get back on the bike on Tuesday and start working hard for Castres next Sunday.”
There were some notable performances from some of Edinburgh’s younger players, particularly Liam McConnell and Ollie Blyth-Lafferty, and Everitt had praise for both forwards.
Prop Ollie Blyth-Lafferty packed down well against Toulon. | SNS Group“I'm so happy for Liam. Like I say, hard work does get rewarded and the performances that he's put in since came back from the off-season have been admirable. I'm proud that he got man of the match and he's a guy that every week just gets better. The more he plays, the better he gets.”
Blyth-Lafferty, making his first competitive start for Edinburgh, played the first half before making way for Paul Hill and the teenage tighthead stood up well against Toulon’s France international prop Jean-Baptiste Gros.
“I was very happy with Ollie too,” added Everitt. “We wanted to give him a start to see what he could do, scrumming against a seasoned campaigner. I thought he did very, very well and the more he scrums at this level, the better he's going to get. He'll learn a lot from this.
Read More“I think the first two scrums of his were probably his two best ones. And then, obviously, he got done in one. But then he came back, and that's what you want. He's got the heart of a lion.”
Everitt said he didn’t see the incident which saw Toulon captain David Ribbans yellow-carded for hitting out at McConnell.