Two early penalties from Ian Keatley and a late try from Fionn Carr were the only highlights for Connacht at Murrayfield on Friday as they were comprehensively beaten by an in-form Edinburgh side.
In their first match at Murrayfield under new coach Rob Moffat, Edinburgh had to come from behind to beat a dogged Connacht side that eventually gave way in the second half.
But once they got on top, their try-scoring touch was to the fore as Mark Robertson (2), Ben Cairns, Chris Paterson, captain Allister Hogg, Alan MacDonald, Andrew Turnbull and Roddy Grant all crossed the visitors’ whitewash.
The pinpoint Paterson kicked eight conversions and two penalties to finish with a 27-point haul as the men from the Scottish capital made it nine home league wins in-a-row since last September.
Moffat made one change to the team that edged out Cardiff last weekend – bringing in Turnbull on the left wing for the benched Tim Visser. 2009 Lions Ross Ford and Mike Blair were also notable inclusions on the bench.
Connacht travelled off the back of a 19-12 home defeat to the Ospreys. Injuries to Niva Ta’auso, Brett Wilkinson and Robbie Morris forced Michael Bradley’s hand, and he brought Troy Nathan into midfield and Jamie Hagan and Ronan Loughney into the front row.
Without a win on Scottish soil since 2006, Connacht got off to an encouraging start thanks to two penalty goals from Ian Keatley inside the opening 12 minutes.
Edinburgh lost flanker Alan MacDonald to an early sin-binning but they managed to sandwich a try in between Keatley’s two kicks.
Phil Godman sent winger Mark Robertson through a hole in the Connacht defence, he cantered into the 22 and sidestepped his way over the line.
Paterson converted and then traded penalties with Keatley and Edinburgh had to show patience as Connacht’s well-structured defence stood up well to anything the hosts could muster.
Keatley missed his fourth shot at the posts and the game began to drift away from Connacht before half-time. Edinburgh gave themselves somewhat of a comfortable cushion at the break, leading 20-6.
Paterson kicked his second penalty of the night, shortly before a quick counter attack inspired Edinburgh’s second try.
Connacht built some pressure in the hosts’ 22 but scrum half Frank Murphy coughed up possession and a hacked clearance from lock Craig Hamilton led to centre Cairns dotting down.
Paterson’s conversion took the hosts to the 20-point mark and they had two more converted tries chalked down, ten minutes into the second half.
Cairns turned provider as he carried to within sight of the Connacht line and the recycled ball teed up the hard-working Paterson for a deserved try.
Connacht sent for reinforcements, bringing on Johnny O’Connor, new out-half Miah Nikora and Conor O’Loughlin, but yellow cards in quick succession for skipper John Muldoon and replacement Mike McCarthy left the westerners in dire straits.
Edinburgh showed no mercy and kept piling on the points – by the hour mark, Robertson, Hogg, MacDonald and Turnbull had all tagged on further tries.
Hogg’s effort came as he slipped through off the back of a scrum, while Turnbull turned on the gas to cover 50 metres on a rewarding break.
Godman continued to pull the strings behind the Scots’ scrum until he was replaced, and Paterson determinedly maintained his 100% kicking return.
With twelve minutes to go, Connacht engineered some space for winger Fionn Carr to collect a consolation try which debutant Nikora converted.
But Edinburgh were not finished yet. They had the final say when openside Grant charged over for try number eight, completing their biggest win in Magners League history. Their previous best was a 53-7 victory over the now defunct Border Reivers back in 2003.
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