LAST season in the URC, Edinburgh won five of their first seven matches in a run of fixtures that for a time took them to the top of the table. Just one of the seven, away to Benetton, was a defeat, with the other a home draw with the Stormers.
This season, after just four matches, they have already lost three. Far from closing in on the summit, they are in the lower half of the league, with Friday night’s 22-19 home defeat by the Lions having left them in ninth place before yesterday’s games.
There are a couple of mitigating factors in that reversal of fortunes. First, the fixture list has been altogether less benign. And second, the South African sides, who took a while to get up to speed on their introduction to the league, have hit the ground running this time round.
