Edinburgh Rugby sense momentum shift after delivering on 'must-win' admission

The clock had already gone beyond the 80-minute mark when Cammy Scott's penalty struck the post and bounced back into play, handing the Italians an opportunity to mount one last attack.

A sense of dreaded deja-vu came over the visiting side as Benetton carried the ball up towards the halfway line and into the Edinburgh half before a knock-on brought the sweet release of the referee’s final whistle.

It would have been typical of Edinburgh’s season to date had they contrived to lose the match from such a position, having been on the wrong end of narrow away defeats three times this season – twice by just a single point.

But the hard-fought victory has handed Sean Everitt’s side a positive momentum shift after the back-to-back defeats to Glasgow Warriors in the 1872 Cup left their season in the balance.

“It’s massive for us,” admitted Everitt afterwards. “It keeps us in the competition and the belief that we can win away from home is important. We had three games away from home in the first block and lost them all by three points. We’re just pleased we got there in another nailbiter away from home and luckily the scoreboard was on our side.”

With 17 players out injured and Grant Gilchrist forced into a late withdrawal from the starting line-up due to a dead leg, Edinburgh required some huge performances in what was their first victory in Treviso for more than eight years.

Darcy Graham was effective in both defence and attack, bagging his team's second try through sheer determination, chasing down his own clearance kick and forcing a fumble after intercepting a Benetton pass inside his own 22.

Youngsters also shone with 20-year-old Freddy Douglas named player of the match after some peerless jackaling while Harri Morris at hooker, on his 11th Edinburgh appearance at the age of 24, won a huge turnover in the 78th minute.

Ben Vellacott had went over in the first half with a Ross Thompson conversion followed by a penalty handing Edinburgh a 10-point lead at the break. Graham’s unconverted try made it 15-0 before Benetton responded with two converted tries through Thomas Gallo and Malakai Fekitoa to set up a nervy finish, which Edinburgh survived thanks to immense defending.

“Benetton did really well to wrestle momentum back, especially in that second half,” Douglas told Premier Sports.

“We were under the pump quite a lot and they played until the very final minute. But I think [we] showed that – when we do that right and don’t give away penalties – we’re a really hard team to beat.

“For us to do that in the last minute of the game to win is huge for us. It’s going to give us some real momentum going into our next few games.

“We kinda put this game as a must-win to keep our season on track so to come away from home and get the result is really big for us.”