Scotland duo are instrumental as Edinburgh Rugby chalk up bonus-point win

Edinburgh had to be patient - all four of their tries came in the second half - and they also had to keep their cool in a match that threatened to boil over at times.

There were three yellow cards, two for Cardiff and one for the hosts’ captain, Grant Gilchrist, during an enthralling and sometimes frantic evening. Edinburgh had to wait until the 80th minute for the bonus-point score, Ewan Ashman diving over at the back of the lineout after a Cardiff overthrow.

The hosts had trailed 5-3 at half-time to Thomas Young’s try but a score from Duhan van der Merwe early in the second period edged them ahead and it was a lead they never relinquished. Van der Merwe looked dangerous and saw far more of the ball than the previous week. There was also a big performance from scrum-half Ali Price who was excellent throughout and played in Darcy Graham for Edinburgh’s third try. Their other score came from Pierre Schoeman who came off the bench early in the second half and roused his team and the home crowd.

After opening the season with three successive defeats, Sean Everitt’s side have now won two in a row and face a trip to Wales next week to play the Ospreys before the international break.

Edinburgh hit Cardiff with wave upon wave of attack in the early stages but all they had to show for it was a Ross Thompson penalty.

Van der Merwe went looking for the ball from the off. He had one particularly promising run down the left wing but checked back inside and his offload went awry. Not to be outdone, Graham was equally lively, attacking from deep and then showing some great dancing feet which took him close to the Cardiff line.

The visitors were defending with great courage and they hit Edinburgh with a classic sucker punch after 28 minutes. Having gradually worked their way back into the match, they pulled off a good lineout move which saw Mason Grady carry close to the line. The ball was worked back to the left and Rory Jennings looped the ball out to Thomas Young to score the game’s opening try.

The match had been played at a frantic pace up until that point and there was no let up in the final 10 minutes of the half which were incident-packed, featuring two yellow cards, two disallowed tries and an accusation of eye-gouging.

Gilchrist was the first to head to the sin-bin and the decision looked harsh on the Edinburgh captain. Grady ran straight at him and the pair clashed heads but referee Morne Ferreira deemed it a dangerous tackle and showed yellow.

Young was next to go, but only after he’d had a try chalked off for offside. The Cardiff flanker’s offence was to kill the ball, stymying Edinburgh’s best move of the match which began with a perfectly executed cross-kick from Thompson to Graham then continued with a surging run up the wing by Paddy Harrison.

Edinburgh looked in the mood and van der Merwe crossed in the corner but the score was not given, apparently because Thompson’s looping pass was forward. Tensions were rising and the half ended with a dust-up on the visitors' line, with Cardiff captain Callum Sheedy making the gouging claim.

Van der Merwe wasn’t to be denied for long and got the try his performance deserved six minutes into the second half. Once again, Edinburgh had dominated the opening stages. They pummelled the Cardiff line and when Price flicked the ball out to van der Merwe the winger produced a smart finish to dive over the top of Cam Winnett. Thompson converted impressively from the touchline to move Edinburgh 10-5 ahead.

Cardiff came straight back. Hooker Evan Lloyd sprinted 70 metres before being hauled down by van der Merwe. Then Sheedy landed a penalty to cut the home side’s lead to two points.

Edinburgh needed to regroup and they did so. There was no panic and, bolstered by a new front row, they scored two tries in four minutes to put the game beyond Cardiff. Schoeman got the first, peeling off the back of a lineout drive after Gilchrist had soared highest. Thompson fluffed the conversion but Edinburgh came again and Graham got the try after a big carry by Hamish Watson and a fine offload from Price. Thompson struck the post with the conversion attempt but Edinburgh’s lead was now 20-8.

Cardiff’s evening ended on a low note when lock forward Josh McNally became their second player to be yellow-carded and they gifted Edinburgh a fourth try a couple of minutes later when Lloyd misjudged a lineout throw and Ashman gratefully accepted to flop over the line. Thompson converted to make the final score 27-8.

Scorers: Edinburgh: Tries: van der Merwe, Schoeman, Graham, Ashman. Cons: Thompson 2. Pen: Thompson. Cardiff: Try: Young. Pen: Sheedy.

Yellow cards: Gilchrist (Edinburgh, 30min), Young (Cardiff, 39min), McNally (Cardiff, 72min)

Edinburgh: W Goosen; D Graham, M Currie, M Tuipulotu, D van der Merwe; R Thompson (C Scott 80), A Price (B Vellacott 6); B Venter (P Schoeman 47), P Harrison (E Ashman 47), D Rae (P Hill 47), M Sykes (M Sykes 66), G Gilchrist, L Crosbie, B Muncaster, M Bradbury (H Watson 57). Replacement: M Scott.

Cardiff: C Winnett; G Hamer-Webb, M Grady (B Thomas 30-40), R Jennings (B Thomas 57), I Stephens; C Sheedy, E Davies (J Mulder 68); E Byrne (D Southworth 66), D Hughes (E Lloyd 49), R Litterick (K Assiratti 49), J McNally, T Williams, J Botham, T Young (A Mann 61), A Lawrence (M Martin 63). Replacement: R Thornton.

Referee: Morne Ferreira (SARU).

Attendance: 6,507.