Edinburgh 5-26 Connacht: Irish side secure URC play-offs in final round

While Edinburgh were already out of playoff contention, Connacht arrived with everything to play for. A victory would secure a top-eight finish and a place in the quarter-finals if either Cardiff or Ulster slipped up elsewhere. Under bright sunshine and in front of Edinburgh’s third sell-out crowd of the season, the home side were hoping to end their campaign on a high.

Connacht threatened early, with full-back Sam Gilbert and Shane Jennings combining dangerously out wide, only for Edinburgh’s Harry Paterson to intercept. Edinburgh quickly won a pair of penalties and pushed Connacht deep into their own 22, but the visitors held firm. The opening 15 minutes saw both sides trade possession and territory, but neither could create a breakthrough.

Edinburgh appeared the more likely to score, showing promising attacking shape and strong set-piece work. However, Connacht’s defence proved stubborn, repeatedly forcing turnovers and penalties while spending very little time in Edinburgh’s half.

Tempers briefly flared in the 22nd minute after Edinburgh earned a penalty just metres from the Connacht line, but referee Aimee Barrett-Theron swiftly restored order.

Moments later, Connacht struck. After winning a scrum penalty, the visitors moved the ball wide to Harry West, who powered through several defenders before offloading to scrum-half Josh Ioane just outside the Edinburgh 22. The fly-half beat multiple defenders himself before grounding the ball for the opening try.

Despite dominating much of the half, Edinburgh found themselves behind—and things soon worsened. Connacht launched another dangerous attack from halfway, with captain Cian Prendergast nearly crossing before the visitors recycled possession and Sean Jansen Hurley-Langton crashed over under the posts. A TMO check confirmed the score.

Connacht were not finished there. With the clock in the red, sustained pressure on Edinburgh’s line ended with Joe Joyce powering over for a third try, while Gilbert added his second conversion.

Edinburgh emerged for the second half with renewed intent, clearly having received stern words from Sean Everitt. Darcy Graham sparked early momentum, helping drive the hosts deep into Connacht territory. Pierre Schoeman came close more than once, carrying hard to chants of “Schooee!” from the crowd, but Connacht’s defence remained immovable.

Even when Edinburgh built pressure, Connacht found ways to escape. A crucial turnover between the posts drew thunderous boos from the home support, whose frustration continued to grow as calls from the officials failed to go their way.

That frustration turned to despair when Connacht secured the four-try bonus point. A loose Edinburgh pass was scooped up by replacement Matthew Devine, who raced half the length of the pitch to effectively seal the result with 20 minutes remaining.

Connacht now looked comfortable, their playoff place within touching distance. The question became whether Edinburgh could salvage anything before the final whistle.

The answer came through persistence. After Piers O’Conor and Darcy Graham narrowly failed to capitalise on a clever grubber, Edinburgh finally broke through when Duhan van der Merwe burst into space. After charging half the length of the field, the winger timed his offload perfectly for hooker Ewan Ashman, who finished in the corner to score Edinburgh’s first points of the evening.

As Connacht captain Cian Prendergast was announced player of the match, Edinburgh had one final chance. They worked into Connacht’s 22 as the clock turned red, but a late penalty conceded ended both the match and their 2025/26 season.

With favourable results elsewhere from the Arms Park and Affidea Stadium, Connacht had even more reason to celebrate—their bonus-point victory securing a place in the URC playoffs.

EDINBURGH: 5

TRIES: 1 (Ashman 72’)

CONVERSIONS:

PENALTIES: 0

DROP GOALS: 0

YELLOW CARDS: 0

RED CARDS: 0

15. Harry Paterson 14. Darcy Graham 13. Piers O’Connor 12. Findlay Thomson 11. Duhan Van Der Merwe 10. Ross Thompson 9. Hector Patterson 1. Pierre Schoeman 2. Ewan Ashman 3. Ollie Blyth-Lafferty 4. Marshall Sykes 5. Glen Young 6. Tom Dodd 7. Freddy Douglas 8. Magnus Bradbury (c)

Replacements:

16. Jerry Blyth-Lafferty 17. Boan Venter 18. Paul Hill 19. Callum Hunter-Hill 20. Euan McVie 21. Tom Currie 22. Charlie Shiel 23. Jack Brown

CONNACHT: 26

TRIES: 4 (Ione 25’, Hurley-Langton 36’, Joyce 42’, Devine 60;)

CONVERSIONS: 2 (Gilbert 37’, 43’, 60’)

PENALTIES: 0

DROP GOALS: 0

YELLOW CARDS: 0

RED CARDS: 0

15. Sam Gilbert 14. Shane Jennings 13. Harry West 12. Bundee Aki 11. Shayne Bolton 10. Josh Ione 9. Ben Murphy 1. Billy Bohan 2. Eoin de Buitlear 3. Finlay Bealham 4. Joe Joyce 5. Josh Murphy 6. Cian Prendergast (c) 7. Shamus Hurley-Langton 8. Sean Jansen

Replacements:

16. Mikey Yarr 17. Peter Dooley 18. Sam Illo 19. David O’Connor 20. Paul Boyle 21. Matthew Devine 22. Jack Carty 23. Sean Naughton