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United-rugby-championship
Edinburgh Rugby is in uncharted waters at the top of BKT URC after they won their first three league matches for the first time in over a decade.
You have to go back to 2015 and the days of the old PRO12, the last time a Scottish side started with three consecutive wins.
Moreover, they are the only team in the competition to have won every match so far this season.
They continued their dream start with a 29-12 bonus point win over their home side Zebras Parma comes out Italy to support the triumphs Ulster Rugby and DHL Stormers.
The maximum catch came in the final minute of the game at the Sergio Lanfranchi Stadium when hooker Ewan Ashman crossed for try number four.
United Rugby Championship
P
W
L
D
PF
Well
PD
BP T
BP-7
BP
In total
1
3
3
0
0
14
2
3
2
0
1
13
3
3
2
1
0
11
4
3
2
1
0
11
5
3
2
1
0
10
6
3
2
1
0
9
7
3
2
1
0
9
8
3
1
1
1
9
9
3
1
1
1
9
10
3
1
2
0
8
11
3
0
1
2
8
12
3
1
2
0
7
13
3
1
2
0
6
14
3
1
2
0
5
15
3
0
2
1
5
16
3
0
3
0
1
Coach Sean Everitt said: “It was really tough. Zebre seems to be ready for these games when we come to Parma.”
“They were our bogeyman. We’ve only beaten them once in four outings, so we’re very happy with the result.”
“I’m just happy that we managed to get the win and, on top of that, the bonus point.”
Edinburgh captain Matt Currie, who opened the scoring from the centre, added: “It’s always very difficult to get to Zebre.
“We haven’t had too much success here the last couple of seasons, so it was really important for us to come out and play the game we wanted to.
“It worked in the end, but we were definitely under pressure until the 80th minute.
“Zebras are a team that keeps coming, they never give up and we definitely felt it. We had to fight until the very end for that win.”
The man of the match award went to try number 8.
Magnus Bradbury who said: “We’ve had a really long conversation this week about how we’re going to play it.
“We’ve come here the last couple of years and beaten the Zebras one out of four times. So all we’ve talked about is playing our DNA.”
“We went off script and started doing our own thing and that’s when we put ourselves under pressure. But we doubled down on who we are and it paid off.”
It’s a Scottish one-two at the business end of last season’s table tops Glasgow Warriors now to second place.
They made up for their draw at home to Ulster Rugby in Round 2 with a 36-19 bonus point win over Connacht Rugby at wet and windy Scotstoun.
Captain Sione Tuipulotu said: “We talked about the mood during the week.
“We were really disappointed after that Ulster game. We’re not used to drawing or losing at this ground and, to be honest, that draw was a real loss.
“I’m happy with the way the boys came back, especially the pack. The four maul tries really set the tone for the game. In weather like this, we have to rely on our pack and they did a tremendous job for us.”
Vodacom Bulls have jumped to third place after sending 10Bet Lions to their first loss of the season, running for nine tries in a convincing 57-15 bonus point win at Loftus Verfeld in Pretoria, with No.8 Cameron Hanekom scoring twice.
Then comes DHL Stormers who won the second South African derby by defeating early season players Hollywoodbets Sharks 39-22 in front of a crowd of 42,368 in Cape Town.
They touched six times against the only team to pick up maximum points from the first two rounds, with No.8 Hacjivah Dayimani grabbing a pair.
There was also a huge crowd in Dublin with 20,600 sold out at the Laya Arena for Leinster BKT URC’s first rugby match in their newly renovated €52 million RDS home.
The champions marked the occasion by claiming their first win of the season, collecting the maximum number of points in the victories Cardiff Rugby 29-5, and Sam Prendergast was named man of the match.
In another place, the Ospreys beat the Dragons 38-31 in Friday night’s Welsh derby at Rodney Parade, while Scarlets came from 21-7 down at halftime to win Benetton Rugby 27-26.
Ulster Rugby also staged a revival after the break to draw for the second consecutive week. Trailing 26-5 to Munster Rugby at the interval in Belfast ended in a 26-26 draw with Stuart McCloskey’s converted try bringing the sides level three minutes from time.
