United Rugby Championship

Edinburgh 31 (5)

Tries: M. Currie, M. Tuipulotu, He. Patterson 2, Gwynn Cons: Grayson 2, Scott

Lions 10 (3)

Tries: Hlekani Cons: Smith Pens: Smith

A sparkling display from scrum-half Hector Patterson inspired Edinburgh to a comfortable bonus-point victory over Lions in the URC.

Two days after signing an improved contract at the club, the 21-year-old continued his fine start to the season with two tries and two assists as Edinburgh made it four league wins from four.

In wet and windy conditions in the Scottish capital, Edinburgh edged a tight first half thanks to Matt Currie’s try, which came after a neat combination with Patterson down the left flank.

Edinburgh’s line-out was totally dominant, with lock Glen Young and flanker Liam McConnell particularly impressive, but the hosts’ forwards were outshone by their effervescent nine.

Mosese Tuipulotu – having been denied a similar score minutes earlier – powered over for Edinburgh’s second try on 47 minutes after gathering a Patterson offload.

And provider turned scorer soon after as Patterson raced under the posts following a slick backs move.

Batho Hlekani crossed for Lions’ only try after a spell of pressure on the Edinburgh line, but they were unable to build on that score.

Patterson’s second try was a superb piece of opportunism and effectively killed the contest, taking a quick tap-and-go penalty and pinning his ears back to score in the corner with no-one in red able to get near him.

In the closing stages, winger Geordie Gwynn went over in the corner to add further gloss to the scoreline and cap an Edinburgh impressive display.

Sean Everitt’s team stay top of the URC table on 19 points, while Lions have won two of their four league matches.

The only negative for Edinburgh was a curtailed return for star winger Duhan van der Merwe, who was forced off less than 20 minutes into his first start after injury.

Edinburgh: O’Conor, Gwynn, M. Currie, Tuipulotu, Van der Merwe, Grayson, He. Patterson; Schoeman, Ashman, Blyth-Lafferty, Young, Gilchrist, McConnell, T. Currie, Bradbury.

Replacements: Morris, Stewart, Hill, Sykes, Dodd, McAlpine, Scott, Ha. Paterson.

Lions: Q. Horn, Mpeku, Van Wyk, Mills, Cronje, Smith, Steyn; Venter, Brandon, Van Vuuren, Oosthuizen, Delport, Notshe, Hlekani, F. Horn.

Replacements: Botha, Kotze, Schoeman, Sjoblom, Mahashe, Cilliers, Kriel, Chamberlain.

Referee: Peter Martin