Despite a promising first half at Murrayfield, Connacht were put to the sword by Edinburgh as they fell to a devastating 43-10 defeat in round 9 of the RaboDirect PRO12.
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS: EDINBURGH 43 CONNACHT 10
Scotland international Greig Laidlaw kicked 23 points as his side recorded a bonus point win with four tries, gaining revenge for Connacht’s 32-24 victory here last April.
A drop goal from out-half Dan Parks was well taken in the 11th minute and Connacht went on to score a first half try through returning full-back Robbie Henshaw.
Some very impressive offloading from the backs from the halfway line created the opportunity for Henshaw, who raced in for his first league try since the sides met at Murrayfield last season.
Parks’ conversion kick was spot on but proved to be the last score of the game for Connacht on a disappointing visit to the Scottish capital.
Edinburgh, through Laidlaw, took an early lead with a penalty kick in the ninth minute when Connacht were penalised for being ahead of the kicker. Parks responded for Connacht with a successful drop goal kick from 30 metres out.
Brilliant passing through the hands of the Connacht backs saw Henshaw finish with a try in the left corner on the quarter hour mark, and Parks added the extras to make it 10-3.
But Laidlaw knocked over penalties after 20 and 29 minutes to cut the gap to the minimum and Edinburgh soon started to dominate both territory and possession.
When the hosts were penalised for going offside, Parks had a chance to extend Connacht’s lead with a penalty kick from the 22-metre line. But the ball bounced off the right post and back into Edinburgh hands.
Just before half-time, a penalty allows Edinburgh to kick to the corner and position themselves for a decisive score. Winger Dougie Fife burst through for his side’s first try of the night and Laidlaw kicked the conversion to put them 16-10 up.
A break by Henshaw early in the second half saw him run 40 metres up the left wing where he was tackled five metres from the whitewash. Unfortunately for the westerners, his offload to winger Matt Healy was knocked on and Connacht left the hosts’ 22 scoreless.
The province’s front row was changed for the remaining half-an-hour with hooker Jason Harris-Wright, Denis Buckley and Rodney Ah You all coming on.
But things went from bad to worse for Pat Lam’s men when they were penalised for hands in the ruck and Laidlaw made it five from five from the kicking tee.
A penalty kick from Parks after 54 minutes hit the upright again before the veteran out-half was replaced by Craig Ronaldson.
Laidlaw went on to slot a penalty of his own when Connacht were penalised for not rolling away and Edinburgh looked good at 22-10 with 20 minutes to play.
As Connacht tried to chase the game in the closing stages, structures collapsed under pressure and the visitors leaked a try to man-of-the-match Cornell du Preez in the 73rd minutes, with Laidlaw converting.
In the last five minutes Connacht crumbled as two tries were added by Edinburgh centre Nick de Luca and prop Willem Nel – both converted by Laidlaw – to seal a 43-10 bonus point success.
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