BBC SPORT | Rugby Union | European | Edinburgh roll Newport over

Edinburgh 27-17 Newport

Edinburgh got their Heineken Cup campaign off to a perfect start against Newport at a rain-lashed Meadowbank.

Brendan Laney's - who notched 19 points - opened his account after just five minutes with a penalty as Edinburgh flew out of the blocks against the shell-shocked Black and Ambers.

He repeated the feat in the 16th minute from closer range after Chris Paterson was felled by a high challenge.

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But the hosts took their foot off the pedal and allowed Newport to claw their way back through two quick-fire Jason Strange penalties.

The Scots reacted quickly and regained the initiative by carving out the game's first try. They gambled by kicking a penalty to touch and the move paid handsome dividends as skipper Todd Blackadder was driven to within a couple of paces of the line.

The ball was swiftly recycled on the narrow side and Laney slid over after latching onto Mike Blair's perfectly delivered pass.

Allan Jacobsen lands another tough tackle for Edinburgh
It was a bruising encounter at Meadowbank
Laney slotted the conversion from the widest angle only for Strange to reply with his third penalty.

Edinburgh made a great start to the second half as they plundered a second try.

Blair did the initial damage with a 40-metre dash from a quickly-taken free-kick and two penalties later Marty Leslie was catapulted over.

Laney kicked wide with the difficult conversion but was instantly back in the groove with another penalty.

Strange landed his fourth kick, but Duncan Hodge took over the boot duties from the injured Laney to restore Edinburgh's 15-point advantage.

Newport piled on the pressure in the dying minutes and salvaged some pride with a try from scrum-half Ofisa Tonu'u.

Victorious coach Frank Hadden said afterwards: "It was the quality and intensity of our defending that won it for us.

"Newport were very strong - but our markers were even stronger when it mattered.

"They kept trying to batter through us, but apart from their try at the very end, we gave them no holes."

Edinburgh: D Lee; S Webster, B Laney, A Dickson, C Paterson; D Hodge, M Blair; A Jacobsen, D Hall, C Smith, N Hines, S Murray, T Blackadder (capt), M Leslie, S Taylor.
Reps: C Di Ciacca, J Brannigan, G Perrett, A Dall, G Burns, T Philip, C Joiner.

Newport: S Howarth; L Nabaro, M Mostyn, A Marinos, A Wagstaff; J Strange, O Tonu'u; R Snow, J Richards, C Anthony, S Raiwalui (capt), M Voyle, G Gravell, J Forster, J Powell.
Reps: M Pini, S Williams, D Burn, C Jones, P Young, S Ojomoh, A Powell.

Referee: Didier Mene.


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