Perpignan 31 Edinburgh 14
James Hook kicked 11 points in another impressive performance as Perpignan ended Edinburgh's mini revival with a 31-14 victory in the Heineken Cup.
The Scottish side caused one of the biggest shocks of round one with a victory over Munster, having gone into the match on the back of five consecutive defeats. But the Catalan giants proved too strong yesterday and put Alan Solomon’s team to the sword with a commanding second-half performance.
Tim Visser’s first-half try put the visitors in the ascendancy but they were blown away as Perpignan secured a maximum-points haul with tries from Wandile Mjekevu (two), Joffrey Michel and Justin Purll.
Cornell Du Preez crossed in the closing stages but it was merely a consolation for Edinburgh, who left France empty-handed.
The result has blown Pool Six wide open, with every team having won once in the opening rounds of the European competition.
Edinburgh face Gloucester in the December double-headers and cannot afford another slip-up if they are to reach the last 16. They made a bright start at Stade Aime Giral and dominated the opening 10 minutes.
Shoot for goal
A powerful Du Preez break after just two minutes gave Greig Laidlaw the chance to shoot for goal but he was uncharacteristically off-target. However, Hook, back in his favoured outhalf position, made no mistake to open the scoring on 11 minutes.
Edinburgh continued to cause the hosts problems and they were unfortunate to miss out on a try when Argentinian trialist centre Joaquin Dominguez was adjudged to have had a foot pushed into touch as he dived for the line.
But they were eventually rewarded for their dominance in the opening half with some sublime play from Jack Cuthbert, Nick de Luca and Dominguez laying the foundations for Visser to race clear.
Laidlaw made some amends for the earlier miss by slotting the conversion to hand the Scots a slender 7-3 lead at the break, but Perpignan returned an altogether different team following the break.
Hook was at the heart of everything the Blood and Golds did well and giant wings Watisoni Votu and Mjekevu rampaged out wide.
PERPIGNAN: Michel;Votu, Marty, Piukala, Haughton; Hook, Duvenage; Taumalolo, Guirado, Jgenti, Vahaamahina, R Taofifenua, Purll, Perez, Narraway. Replacements: Mjekevu for Haughton (17), Allan for Hook (65), Durand for Duvenage (55), S Taofifenua for Taumalolo (54), Terrain for Guirado (17), Pulu for Jgenti (52), Charteris for R. Taofifenua (59), Chateau for Purll (65).
Edinburgh: Cuthbert; Fife, De Luca, Dominquez, T Visser; Leonard, Laidlaw; Dickinson, Ford, Nel, Gilchrist, Cox, Leonardi, Grant, Du Preez. Replacements: Tonks for Cuthbert (59), Atkins for Leonard (77), Blaauw for Dickinson (55), Cross for Nel (65), van der Westhuizen for Cox (59).
Referee: Marius Mitrea (Italy).