Everitt praises attacking intent in second-half comeback

Trailing 3-5 at the break, Edinburgh came out firing in the second period with tries from Duhan van der Merwe, Pierre Schoeman, Darcy Graham and Ewan Ashman securing a vital 27-8 victory that moves the capital side into sixth place in the URC.

“Yes, we did [get there in the end],” said Everitt. “It was a frustrating first half – we probably left half a dozen opportunities out there. But I was just very happy in the way we played in the first half to create those opportunities.

“There was more flow in our attack, and we got the ball into our wingers’ hands in space. So hats off to the inside backs for that.

“I thought Ali Price was outstanding in clearing the breakdown, and Ross Thompson distributed well, which gave them the space on the edges.

“The breakdown was a bit of a concern – we’ll have a look and see how Cardiff got away with some shenanigans there. But that’s rugby. It’s all about speed of ball, and we need to be better in that department so we can get the speed of ball that we need to be able to get over the line.”

Both of Edinburgh’s star wingers – Van der Merwe and Graham – impressed on the night with the former’s sensational finish in the corner a reminder of his sheer power and body control.

“Duhan has worked hard at his game,” continued Everitt. “When you’re on the wing and are a world class player, the opposition tend to close you down and we’ve got to understand that teams don’t want Darcy and Duhan to get the ball, so they’ll do everything in their capacity to stop us getting the ball there.

“It was a great finish. I don’t think many wings would’ve scored that but that’s why he is one of the best and that’s why we want to keep him in Edinburgh.

“I’m happy those guys were able to get the time on the ball and that does them well for the autumn.”

Sean Everitt’ men have now secured back-to-back bonus-points wins, the perfect response to a tough run of opening fixtures.

The capital side now prepare to close out the opening block of URC matches with a trip to face Ospreys in Bridgend next Saturday, a challenge that Everitt is relishing.

“We got the response we needed but it’s about backing up the performances last week into this week, and we’ve got a difficult task going to Bridgend to play Ospreys next week,” continued Everitt.

“They will be hurting after their defeat last night [against Ulster], I know they rested some players and will have the cavalry coming back next week.

“It will be a good challenge for us and the way Cardiff came at us will be a learning curve going into next week.”