The Scotland on Sunday's Iain Morrison reflects on Edinburgh's Heineken Cup victory over Racing Metro.
"Whatever else you say about Edinburgh Rugby, they offer value for money because the team always plays for the full 80 minutes. Phil Godman’s winning kick sailed over the bar 14 seconds after full time. Edinburgh never triumph by more than a short nose, so despite winning four of their five matches the club still boasts a minus five points differential.
"A few weeks back a London-based broadsheet bemoaned the state of English clubs in general, and Northampton Saints in particular, after the Midlands club had fallen to Castres. Northampton, the journalist explained, were desperately underpowered in comparison to their cross-channel rivals who had bigger budgets and could field bigger, stronger players.
"They should all be force fed the video of Edinburgh’s extraordinary double bill against French giants Racing, who have an annual budget of approximately ¤22 million. Just as the race does not always go to the swift, so too the match does not go to the muscle and so it proved on Friday night. For all their forward power, Racing often looked lost in the face of a swarming Edinburgh defence that never gave them time.
"The French club’s woes were made flesh by Sebastian Chabal. The totemic No.8 wasn’t just looking his age on Friday he was looking mine and that can’t be good. It wasn’t his coach beckoning him from the field midway through the second half, that was retirement calling."
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