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Toulon spoil Edinburgh's unbeaten start as Jaminet scores 22 in Challenge Cup win

Carys BevanPublished 11m ago2 min readBased on 5 sources
Toulon spoil Edinburgh's unbeaten start as Jaminet scores 22 in Challenge Cup win
Photo by Like tears in rain / CC BY-SA 4.0

Melvyn Jaminet scored two tries and 22 points as Toulon beat Edinburgh 27-17 at Hive Stadium on Friday, 16 October, to open their European Challenge Cup campaign. The result ended Edinburgh's unbeaten start to the season, according to BBC Sport.

The Challenge Cup is Europe's second-tier club competition, sitting below the Champions Cup. Toulon arrived in Scotland as 2023 winners of the tournament. The match in Edinburgh was one of two ties kicking off Round 1 on Friday, alongside Dragons against USAP.

It was tight and cagey at first. Toulon led only 6-3 at half-time. Jaminet kicked two penalties to one from Edinburgh's James Grayson. Welsh referee Ben Breakspear kept a firm grip on a stop-start opening 40 minutes.

The game opened up after the break. Jaminet crossed twice, with power and sharp footwork in the wide channels. A try is worth five points for touching the ball down over the try-line. Seta Tuicuvu added Toulon's third try.

Jaminet did the rest with the boot. He kicked three conversions, the extra kicks after a try, plus his two first-half penalties. That made up Toulon's 27 points: three tries, three conversions and two penalties.

Edinburgh kept pushing. Hooker Ewan Ashman and winger Geordie Gwynn scored their tries. Grayson converted both and added a penalty for their 17 points. But they could not close the 10-point gap.

The win puts Toulon top of Pool 3 with four points and a plus-10 points difference after one game, according to EPCR. Edinburgh have zero points and minus-10. The Pool 3 table was listed after Friday's Round 1 action.

Elsewhere on Friday, Dragons RFC beat USAP 29-14 to lead Pool 1. That match was played in Newport, with Dragons taking four points and a plus-15 difference.

What makes this stand out is the control Toulon found away from home. Edinburgh had made Hive Stadium, their home ground in the Scottish capital, a difficult place to visit this season. Jaminet's kicking kept the scoreboard moving even when the game was scrappy.

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