{"id":618634,"date":"2025-12-07T20:35:14","date_gmt":"2025-12-07T20:35:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/618634\/"},"modified":"2025-12-07T20:35:14","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T20:35:14","slug":"ribbans-sin-binning-crucial-as-edinburgh-grab-impressive-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/618634\/","title":{"rendered":"Ribbans\u2019 sin-binning crucial as Edinburgh grab impressive win"},"content":{"rendered":"

The opening round of the 2025\/26 Investec Champions Cup finished in a welter of excitement with Edinburgh beating Toulon 33-20 in a riveting encounter despite terrible weather conditions.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Little quality was expected given the relentless rain in the Scottish capital, but both teams defied this gloomy prediction and an end-to-end first half, which featured several spicy dust-ups, ended with the home side 18-17 ahead.<\/p>\n

There was less space to exploit in the second half, but the intensity didn\u2019t dip, and the result tipped Edinburgh\u2019s way with a penalty try at the scrum midway through the half, with Toulon vulnerable following the yellow-carding of ex-England lock David Ribbans.<\/p>\n

Capping off the hosts\u2019 great night, their Springbok<\/a> prop Boan Venter, whose influence at the scrum following his 56th-minute introduction was critical, then struck for the four-try bonus point on 74 minutes.<\/p>\n

Snappy<\/p>\n

The Sunday evening entertainment got going with Melvyn Jaminet<\/a> landing a second-minute drop goal for the visitors, and they appeared to have taken a commanding position five minutes later when Ben White ghosted in for the converted try that secured a 10-0 lead.<\/p>\n

Back in Scotland after last month\u2019s international duty for Gregor Townsend\u2019s Scotland<\/a>, the scrum-half demonstrated his fast-twitch movement to break the defensive line with a dart from the back of a ruck after great work by his forwards.<\/p>\n

Toulon, though, didn\u2019t get to breathe in their lead as skipper Ribbans was penalised for a tackle on Pierre Schoeman that allowed Cammy Scott to kick penalty points.<\/p>\n

The scores were then level on 15 minutes when Schoeman took advantage of Ewan Ashman\u2019s break to grab the try that Scott converted for 10-all.<\/p>\n

The exchanges continued to be snappy, and it was Toulon who struck next, with White scoring his second try, this time after a quickly taken tap penalty. Jaminet\u2019s conversion made it 17-10, but he injured himself in the act of kicking and was taken off.<\/p>\n

\n

It was brilliant to welcome @bentoolis<\/a> back to the capital to deliver tonight\u2019s match ball.<\/p>\n

Edinburgh Player #1184 \ud83d\udc99\ud83e\udde1 pic.twitter.com\/V30dKJ2zTP<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Edinburgh Rugby (@EdinburghRugby) December 7, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The margin was then cut to two points on 29 minutes when Edinburgh<\/a> scrum-half Ben Vellacott grabbed a try, and while Scott missed the conversion, he was on target a few minutes later with a penalty kick for the 18-17 lead that his team took into the interval.<\/p>\n

The hosts thought they had scored their third try eight minutes after the resumption when Darcy Graham went in at the corner following a counter-attack from Vellacott.<\/p>\n

However, on review, referee Matthew Carley and his officiating team identified a knock-on when Graham contested a high kick from Paolo Garbisi before the Edinburgh attack began.<\/p>\n

This decision instead left Edinburgh to settle for a 54th-minute penalty from Scott for their next score, a kick that Mat\u00e9o Garcia soon responded to with an effort for Toulon.<\/p>\n

Toulouse vs Sharks: Five takeaways as hosts power past \u2018understrength\u2019 Sharks but \u2018drop-off\u2019 raises concern ahead of title hunt<\/a><\/p>\n

Pau v Northampton: Five takeaways as Saints survive \u2018sterile Piardi effect\u2019 and the James Ramm red<\/a><\/p>\n

It was now, with the score at 21-20, that the match took a dramatic twist. Toulon skipper Ribbans was yellow-carded for hitting out at the nuisance of Liam McConnell, and the pressure of this numerical advantage resulted in a scrum-five for Edinburgh.<\/p>\n

Minus Ribbans in their second row and scrummaging with just seven players, the Toulon scrum went in reverse, and Carley decided the ensuing infringement merited the penalty try that pushed Edinburgh 28-20 ahead.<\/p>\n

Another scrum before Ribbans\u2019 yellow expired resulted in a penalty kick that Scott was unable to hit the target with, but Edinburgh now had the bit between their teeth and sub prop Venter burrowed over six minutes from try to clinch his team\u2019s four-try bonus point and seal their deserved win.<\/p>\n

The teams <\/strong><\/p>\n

Edinburgh:<\/strong>\u00a015 Harry Paterson, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Wes Goosen, 12 James Lang, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Cammy Scott, 9 Ben Vellacott, 8 Magnus Bradbury (c), 7 Dylan Richardson, 6 Liam McConnell, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Marshall Sykes, 3 Ollie Blyth-Lafferty, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Pierre Schoeman. Replacements<\/strong>\u00a016 Harri Morris, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Glen Young, 20 Freddy Douglas, 21 Charlie Shiel, 22 James Lang, 23 Piers O\u2019Conor<\/p>\n

Toulon:<\/strong>\u00a015 Melvyn Jaminet, 14 Ga\u00ebl Drean, 13 Nacho Brex, 12 J\u00e9r\u00e9my Sinzelle, 11 Mathis Ferte, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Ben White, 8 Zach Mercer, 7 Esteban Abadie, 6 Lewis Ludlam, 5 Brian Alainu\u2019uese, 4 David Ribbans (c), 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Teddy Baubigny, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros. Replacements<\/strong>\u00a016 Jeremy Toevalu, 17 Leo Ametlla, 18 Dany Priso, 19 Corentin Mezou, 20 Joe Quere Karaba, 21 Baptiste Serin, 22 Mat\u00e9o Garcia, 23 Mathieu Smaili<\/p>\n

Referee:<\/strong>\u00a0Matthew Carley (Eng)
Assistant Referees:<\/strong>\u00a0Sara Cox (Eng), Greg MacDonald (Eng)
TMO:<\/strong>\u00a0Daniel Jones (Eng)<\/p>\n

READ MORE<\/strong>: Ben Youngs: Three \u2018world-class partnerships\u2019 and why it\u2019s time for South African teams to \u2018really show up\u2019 in Investec Champions Cup<\/a><\/p>\n