Everitt eyes Lions challenge as Edinburgh roar to bonus-point win

• 29 Mar 2025
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Edinburgh Rugby secured a crucial bonus-point victory over Dragons RFC at Hive Stadium on Friday night, propelling them back into the URC’s top eight.

Head Coach Sean Everitt, speaking after the dominant performance, praised his side’s resilience and focus, while already turning his attention to the upcoming EPCR Challenge Cup Round of 16 clash with Emirates Lions at Hive Stadium.

“There were some really good moments in that game,” Everitt began, reflecting on the 38-5 triumph. “We had a lot of opportunities in the first 20 minutes and didn’t quite get over the line, but the pressure counted at the end and we got the scores that we needed by half-time.”

The victory, detailed in the club’s official match report here, showcased Edinburgh’s clinical edge, particularly in the first half. However, Everitt was quick to acknowledge the challenges posed by the conditions.

“It was always going to be difficult playing into a strong wind in the second half and I thought the guys did really well to keep them down to one try.”

Everitt highlighted the team’s disciplined defence as a key factor in their success.

“Probably not a perfect performance. But we put enough pressure on them and our disciplined defence kept them out. We’re just happy with our defence and particularly our discipline in our defence. Because often when you’re defending for a lot of phases, you can give away penalties, something that we haven’t been good at. So that was a massive improvement tonight.”

A standout performer was hooker Paddy Harrison, who bagged two tries, demonstrating his versatility.

“That’s the Paddy that we know,” Everitt said. “He’s been a bit quiet in the last few games that he’s played, but he certainly does add impact. Sometimes we joke and say maybe he should play inside centre, and he showed the pace tonight to be able to do so.”

The Head Coach also lauded Darcy Graham, who earned the BKT Player of the Match award, saying, “And Darcy Graham’s individual brilliance was outstanding and he deserved the man of the match.”

Everitt leads the team out following the break

The victory has reignited Edinburgh’s push for a strong finish in the URC. “Every five points that you get is going to help the cause,” Everitt emphasised.

“But it’s not one that you need, you need to finish off really strong in this competition. We need to focus on every game in the URC going forward and try and win them all. That will make life a lot easier come the last round.”

With the focus now shifting to the knockout clash with Emirates Lions, Everitt acknowledged the challenge ahead, drawing on lessons from their previous encounter in South Africa.

“There will be a lot of motivation,” he stated. “The Lions would have loved that opportunity tonight with the number of balls that we coughed up and handling errors that we made. That’s what made us suffer at Ellis Park.”

He continued, “The guys know what to do. We’ve got to look at the second half when we played them at Ellis Park and that’s an example of what we need to do against a team like that. They’re a dangerous team, full of athletes, and they’ve got speed amongst the loose trio as well as really good outside backs. So a massive threat, and we’ll need an improvement on this performance.”

With momentum building, Edinburgh Rugby now look to carry their winning form into the crucial EPCR Challenge Cup clash against the Emirates Lions next Friday night (4 April), aiming to secure a home Quarter-Final.

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