This time it was sorry Benetton who lost their shape and their heads, losing two players, Malakai Fekitoa and Alessandro Garbisi, to yellow cards in quick succession early in the second period as they crumbled to their fate. Dylan Richardson and Darcy Graham both scored twice – the winger allaying injury fears after going down holding his knee in the first half – with additional scores from Duhan van der Merwe, Piers O’Conor and Magnus Bradbury embellishing the scoreline.

Everitt appeared remarkably composed and measured afterwards, although inside his heart must have been soaring at watching his charges put in the sort of performance that helps keep a head coach in a job.

“It’s great to win at home in front of our fans,” he said. “It’s been a frustrating few weeks. We’ve done a lot of good in those games [against Zebre and Munster] but haven’t come away with a win. So frustrating but determined to get it right and that’s the nature of this group.

“I knew we would bounce back tonight. I think the most pleasing thing is that we’ve put in some really good defensive performances over the last couple of weeks. Defence can win you games as does a set-piece. I’m very happy with the effort and the fight that the guys showed to keep them scoreless.

“We’ve been guilty of soft moments and Zebre was a really good example of that. I think tonight we were really disciplined what we were trying to do. Our plan was to keep them between the 15s because they’ve got dangerous runners on their edges and we managed to do that. I think after the first half we had forced them into 17 turnovers. So, I’m very happy with our defence. Attack-wise, we did come to life. I thought we did well to win the aerial battle which gave us good opportunities.”

The only possible downside were the injuries sustained by van der Merwe, who limped off early in the second half, and Graham, who hurt his knee but played on doggedly to score late in each half.

“Duhan has bruised his heel,” added Everitt. “We’ll take a look at that on Monday. It’s not the first time we’ve had bruised heels. Darcy struggled with that last year as well. But we hope that he’ll be good to go next week. Darcy got a knee-on-knee in the game. At this stage, it doesn’t look like there’s any soft tissue [damage] otherwise, I’m sure the medics would have pulled him off. We’ll monitor him.

“But he got through and scored a great try at the end, so he looks okay. He doesn’t like to come off. He is tough. He enjoys his rugby as well. He couldn’t wait to get on the field tonight to play at home. It’s hard to get him off but we listen to the medics.”

Everitt had spoken beforehand of a need to get the ball in the hands of his prized wingers more often and that paid off here within five minutes when van der Merwe streaked down the line to score the opening try.

“Duhan scored a great try. It just shows that when you get the ball in his hand with a bit of space, it’s really good. That was our plan today.”

A second soon followed, Richardson powered over the line by two of his team-mates after taking quick ball from Charlie Shiel. Both he and Cammy Scott put in strong performances in the half-back roles although the latter failed his HIA and won’t feature next week against Cardiff.

Graham claimed the third late in the half, taking a smart offload from Liam McConnell before sidestepping past Rhyno Smith to get the ball down. The two yellow cards all but ended any prospect of a Benetton comeback and Edinburgh kept their foot on the visitors’ throats. Garbisi was still walking off the field as the TMO decided Richardson had grounded the ball, delivering a fourth try and the bonus point in the process.

Wes Goosen then burst through a gap to tee up O’Conor who marked his home debut with a score, before Bradbury rumbled over from close range and Graham finished the scoring by scorching down the line for his second of a surprisingly one-sided match that ought to imbue Edinburgh with confidence for the challenges ahead.

Teams –

Edinburgh: W Goosen, D Graham, P O’Conor, J Lang, D van der Merwe (R McCann 45), C Scott (R Thompson 47), C Shiel (B Vellacott 66); P Schoeman (J Whitcombe 66), E Ashman (P Harrison 58), D Rae (P Hill 49), S Skinner, G Gilchrist, L McConnell (G Young 71), D Richardson (F Douglas 59), M Bradbury

Benetton: M Gallagher, R Smith, F Drago (L Marin 54), M Fekitoa, I Mendy, J Umaga, L Werchon (A Garbisi 49); M Spagnolo (T Gallo 49), B Bernasconi (N Gasperini 58) G Zilocchi (T Pasquali 51), G Marini (R Favretto 51), E Snyman (F Ruzza 58), A Izekor, J Bryant (M Zuliani 51), S Fa’aso’o

Referee: Ben Breakspear (WRU)

Yellow cards:

M Fekitoa (Benetton 45 mins), A Garibisi (Benetton 57 mins)

Scorers –

 Edinburgh: Tries: van der Merwe, Richardson 2, Graham 2, O’Conor, Bradbury; Cons: Scott 3, Thompson

Scoring sequence (Edinburgh first): 5-0, 7-0, 12-0, 14-0, 19-0, 21-0, (h-t), 26-0, 31-0, 33-0, 38-0, 43-0