Young Edinburgh side beaten in pre-season opener

The hosts lead at half time, but a younger Edinburgh side were unable to keep on top of the scoreboard in the second half.

Connacht thought they had scored in the opening exchanges, but the Edinburgh forwards managed to get underneath the ball and hold it up.

The visitors did soon score an early try through lock Joe Joyce, however when Charlie Shiel made a break up the left off the back of a scrum, Adam McBurney was on hand to finish in the corner two phases later.

Cammy Scott, making his first start at stand-off, then made an excellent break in midfield and passed inside to Wes Goosen, who touched down under the posts.

And shortly after another half break from Scott on the left got Edinburgh going forward, captain Mark Bennett sprinted through the smallest of gaps and grabbed Edinburgh’s third.

Half time: Edinburgh 19-7 Connacht

Having already made one substitution in the first half, Edinburgh then made 14 more at half time as they utilised the 33-player squad selected for the fixture.

Connacht came flying out of the traps after the break, and Andrew Smith brought the visitors within five points.

And they soon took the lead Shamus Hurley-Langton worked his way over from short range.

A fourth try for the visitors came through Tom Farrell, who found a gap in midfield and raced over on the right side.

Connacht had the majority of possession and territory in the second half, and Hurley-Langton soon went over for his second of the night.

The away side then grabbed two more tries in the dying minutes to stretch the scoreline, but Edinburgh showed plenty to give encouragement ahead of their second Scottish Building Society Pre-Season Series fixture against Bath next week.

Full time: Edinburgh 19-45 Connacht