Edinburgh Rugby 17-18 Sharks

Mark Atkinson reports from Hive Stadium.

Transcript

00:01Good evening from the Hive Stadium. What a game of rugby that was between Edinburgh and the Sharks.

00:07Not the result though that the host wanted, the South African side, pipping the capital hosts 18-17 at the death.

00:15Last play of the match, Makazoli-Mapimpi crossing in the corner to give the Sharks victory.

00:21Massive dent for Edinburgh's playoff aspirations with three games left of the regular season now.

00:27A chance they'll have to win all three of the remaining matches and they'll probably drop out the top eight after this weekend's action.

00:33A bit unfair, you'd say, on Sean Everett's team, given that they played some really good stuff here against a Springbok-laden Sharks team.

00:41They had 12 South African internationalists in their side.

00:44They brought physicality in spades, but Edinburgh fronted up.

00:47Jamie Ritchie in particular, absolutely magnificent in the breakdown.

00:50The Scotland flanker rolling back to his best form.

00:54Edinburgh actually played really well, given that they lost a couple of key players to injury.

00:57Wes Goosin failed late for this test, he couldn't start.

01:01And then Ross McCann went up injured, a big shout out to Jack Brown, who came on for only his second appearance.

01:05The 19-year-olds played very well indeed.

01:08Ultimately though, Edinburgh didn't take their chances.

01:10They left a couple of tries out there in the second half.

01:13And the Sharks showed their champion spirit right at the end of that tribe.

01:17They had a sell-out crowd here to completely deflate the Edinburgh support and their players.

01:23Sean Everett must get his players to regroup now ahead of that.

01:26Trio of matches coming up.

01:28They're away at Zebra next weekend, which looks the easiest of the three games on paper.

01:32Connett away and then Ulster at home complete the fixture list for Edinburgh.

01:37There's little margin for error now if they're to go one better than last year and finish in the top eight.

01:42After a gripping and often tempestuous contest here at Hive Stadium, it finished Edinburgh 17, Sharks 18.