Hat-trick of tries by Hawick’s Darcy Graham helps earn Edinburgh their first United Rugby Championship play-off place since 2022
A hat-trick of tries by Hawick’s Darcy Graham during a 47-17 win at home to Ulster helped earn Edinburgh their first United Rugby Championship play-off place for three years.
That eighth win of the season in their last fixture ahead of a quarter-final away to Pretoria’s Bulls on Saturday, May 31, with kick-off at 12.30pm, leaves them seventh in the table, on 49 points from 18 matches, five places and 19 points worse off than their upcoming South African hosts.
Their scorers at the capital’s Hive Stadium in front of a crowd of 7,989 besides Graham on eight minutes, 73 and 80, taking his tally of tries for his club to 34 in 75 appearances, were No 8 Magnus Bradbury at the double, hooker Ewan Ashman and loosehead prop Pierre Schoeman, with flly-half Ross Thompson adding four conversions and his replacement Ben Healy another two.
Their Northern Irish visitors were awarded a 25th-minute penalty try for a deliberate knock-on by Graham, earning the right-winger his first yellow card since joining Edinburgh in 2017, with Werner Kok and Jude Postlethwaite also touching down.
Graham’s hat-trick was his third for his club, a record he holds jointly with the now-retired Tim Visser, and he remains their only player ever to score four tries in a game.
The 27-year-old was one of four Borderers in head coach Sean Everitt’s side but the only one in his starting XV.
West Linton’s Patrick Harrison replaced Ashman on 60 minutes, Melrose-born Charlie Shiel took over from Ali Price at scrum-half on 72 and Jedburgh’s Glen Young came on for tighthead lock Sam Skinner on 75.
Edinburgh have enjoyed mixed fortunes against Bulls so far this season, losing 22-16 away at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in the championship last September but beating them 34-28 in a European Professional Cub Rugby Challenge Cup quarter-final at home in April.
Everitt, 55, was delighted to see his side extend their season, saying afterwards: “We’ve done the job.
“I’m happy with our performance. It has been a high-pressure nine weeks, with knockout rugby as well as the URC, and the guys have hit some form, and I’m just happy for them because they have got better and better.
“The second half was probably the best 40 minutes we’ve had this season.
“We scored some outstanding tries and there was just some really good work from the forwards and back together.
“We’ve got to judge ourselves on performance because if you perform, you’ll win.
“Although we did lose narrowly to Bath and the Sharks, they were still good performances. It would have been nice to get the points and have a bit of a cushion, but I think the pressure the team have been under for the last nine weeks has helped us in situations like today and it is going to help us in knockout rugby going forward.
“I’m just happy with how the guys have improved and come together as a group.”
Defending champions Glasgow Warriors also face South African opposition in the last eight, hosting Cape Town’s Stormers at Scotstoun Stadium on Friday, May 30, at 7.35pm.