Owsley gets his reward for hard work with double

By GARY HEATLY

Edinburgh ……..66pts

Tries: Young 5, 26; Ritchie 28, Graham 33, Owsley 37, 42; Muncaster 52, Watson 66, Bennett 72, Pyrgos 79

Conversions: Boffelli 5, 26, 28, 37, 42, 52: Savala 72, 79

Brive ………………..3pts

Penalties: Laranjeira 3

EDINBURGH winger Freddie Owsley had a debut to remember for the club, bagging a try double as they swept aside Brive on Friday evening.

The 25-year-old former athlete joined Edinburgh last summer from the Bristol Bears Academy, but has had to wait patiently for his chance with Mike Blair’s men.

Head coach Blair decided to unleash him on Brive in this Challenge Cup tie at the DAM Health Stadium and it was fair to say the French outfit did not know what had hit them.

Owsley’s two tries showed his devastating speed and his potential and he said: “I have had to wait to get my chance, but I have been training hard in recent months and this has to be up there with one of my best sporting memories.

“The crowd were fantastic and the team just clicked. We played some good stuff and the other guys have really helped me settle in well here.” Head coach Milke Blair said: “Freddie has worked really hard on his game, so I wanted to reward that and he was absolutely brilliant.

“Other guys showed up as well like Angus Williams and Harrison Courtney and Ben Muncaster brought energy off the bench.

“It was good to get a win with a scoreline like that, but also to give these guys game time.”

Edinburgh had lost in the same competition to London Irish last weekend, but were on top in this clash from the five minute mark.

Brive landed a third minute Thomas Laranjeira penalty, but after that it was all the home side. A try from Glen Young set the tone for what was to come. Emiliano Boffelli added the convers- ion. Young, the former Harlequins man, added a long range converted effort next.

Before the half hour Jamie Ritchie added a third converted try, before a five pointer from Darcy Graham and Owsley’s first – with Boffelli adding the extras – made it 33-3 at half-time.

With a bonus point in the bag, it was now just a question of how many more tries Edinburgh would add.

The answer was five, Owsley, Ben Muncaster, Hamish Watson, Mark Bennett and Henry Pyrgos going over with Boffelli and Charlie Savala adding extras to seal the comfortable win.