Racing Metro went top of Heineken Cup Pool 1 after a dour 15-3 victory over Edinburgh in dreadful conditions at Murrayfield.
Neither side threatened to score a try in what must rank as one of
the worst 80 minutes in the tournament's history. Gaetan Germain kicked
four penalties for the side from Paris after Olly Barkley's
early opener, while Piers Francis kicked Edinburgh's only points.But it was Francis' misses which proved crucial, as he wasted four other chances at goal, before losing the kicking duties to Greig Tonks, who also missed with his one attempt.
There was little rugby played of any note, apart from a couple of bursts from the respective hookers Dimitri Szarzewski and Ross Ford which merely set up more opportunities for their colleagues to infringe or knock-on.
Francis missed three kicks at goal - two with truly woeful slices - in the opening half, while Barkley was also wide with an attempt from just inside the Edinburgh half before the sides went in with Metro leading 6-3.
Germain missed his only kick as he hit a post and Francis sliced another one before the game was briefly livened up by the sin-binning of first Netani Talei and then Eddy Ben Arous, both for taking men out off the ball.
Germain kicked a couple of decent penalties in the closing stages to stretch the lead and thankfully that was it.
Racing will head back to Paris after their first back-to-back wins in the Heineken Cup and with genuine hopes of reaching the quarter-finals for the first time.
Edinburgh are rockbottom of the pool without a single point after four games, that after reaching last season's semi-finals.
http://www.skysports.com/rugbyunion/match_report/0,,11069_55405_1,00.html
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