Duhan van der Merwe scored a brace as Edinburgh beat the Glasgow Warriors 23-7, while there were also wins for the Cardiff Blues, Ulster, Ospreys, Leinster and Benetton Treviso in the Pro14.
‘Derby day’, as this round of fixtures in the Pro14 is known, was full of twists and produced a few upsets. But none more so than in the Scottish derby, which saw Edinburgh shock title favourites Glasgow.
Van der Merwe, the South African wing, was in top form for the hosts as he scored two tries in the ultimately one-sided clash.
Edinburgh sped to a 13-0 lead in the opening quarter after an intercept try by Van der Merwe, followed by a conversion and two penalties from his compatriot Jaco van der Walt.
Glasgow’s first real attack came late in the first half and it resulted in a try for Peter Horne as they went into the break trailing 13-7.
Van der Walt and Van der Merwe combined again in the second half to secure the win for Edinburgh. The former slotted a third penalty before the latter scuttled away to score another intercept try. Van der Walt added the conversion to maintain his flawless goal-kicking record for the season.
In other results, the Cardiff Blues pipped the Dragons 19-16 and the Ospreys shocked the Scarlets 19-12 in two exciting Welsh derbies.
Hooker Rob Herring crossed for a crucial try to help Ulster defeat Munster 19-12 in the highly anticipated Irish derby, while Leinster outlasted Connacht to claim a 33-29 win in the other all-Irish affair.
In the final game of the round, Treviso ground out a 10-8 triumph over Zebre to secure bragging rights in the Italian derby.
Round 11 results:
Edinburgh 23 Glasgow Warriors 7
Cardiff Blues 19 Dragons 13
Ospreys 19 Scarlets 12
Ulster 19 Munster 12
Leinster 33 Connacht 29
Zebre 8 Treviso 10
Photo: www.pro14rugby.org
