Edinburgh scrumhalf Hector Patterson stole the show as his side kept up their unbeaten run this season under coach Sean Everitt, smashing the 10bet Lions 31-10 in their Vodacom United Rugby Championship match on Friday night.
The halfback, who was a thorn in the Lions side in near monsoon conditions, scored a brace of tries and had two assists as the home side outclassed the Lions in all facets and dominated every part of the game.
There was always going to be a question mark over what performance the Lions would put up. Last week, in the wake of the shock death of their lock Hyron Andrews, they put up a performance fuelled by emotion. But there was always going to be a sense that it would be difficult to repeat.
Edinburgh secure back-to-back home wins in the #VURC 🏉👏 #SSRugby https://t.co/PQ3LOkF0d1
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) October 23, 2026
It may be true that they were a shadow of the Lions side we have seen over the past few years, but it must also be remembered that this Lions side has a very poor travelling record, and they have not won outside South Africa since beating Zebre in October 2024.
POOR TRAVELLING RECORD
In fact, the Lions’ only win in Scotland came at the Hive Stadium in October 2022, and with Edinburgh sitting unbeaten on top of the table, it was always the Lions who would be the underdogs on the night.
That, and the dreary weather, didn’t help - as the rain bucketed down, the commentators noted “there is a bit of rain about”, which was as vast an understatement as you could get.
Either way, the Lions would hold on for most of the first half and rode their luck at times, but eventually lost the physical battle and Edinburgh pulled away in the end.
And in the midst of it all, Patterson was the one who did the massive damage.
The Lions, to their credit, fought until the end, but never had the same penetration as Edinburgh and struggled to stop their momentum once the home side was on song.
And they will rue not taking the lead when they won a penalty in front of the posts late in the first half, as captain Francke Horn was over the line and pulled back, and the second wave knocked on the ball. Those small moments were costly for the Lions and none the more so than this one.
They will now head to Glasgow with some hopes of a better performance against Franco Smith’s side, but are unlikely to find a welcoming sight at Scotstoun.
RAIN PLAYED A BIG PART
Still, the Lions handled the opening exchanges well, even though both sides stuck to a mantra of hoofing the ball in the air during the opening 20 minutes, and little else.
When Edinburgh did try something else, they had almost immediate success, with Magnus Bradbury putting Matt Currie away down the far touchline, and Patterson on hand to receive the inside pass and send it back to Currie after drawing the defender for the opening score.
The Lions' only success in the first half was a penalty by Chris Smith, as the teams trudged off the rainy field with the home side 5-3 up.
But the second half went very much the way of the Scottish side. They were first stopped when Mose Tuipuluto went over the line after a powerful surge, only for the television match official to find a knock-on in the lead-up to the try.
Two minutes later, however, Tuipuluto had another powerful run, this time overpowering the defence to score an excellent try.
PATTERSON BRACE THE DIFFERENCE
From there things went from bad to worse for the Lions as Edinburgh ran the ball out of their 22 in the 50th minute, surged upfield for Patterson to run a superb supporting line and take the inside ball for his first try.
The Lions did respond, although it took a bit of work to get there. Having lost a lineout five metres out from Edinburgh’s line, PJ Botha put in a big hit to engineer the counter-ruck, which the Lions won and hammered the Edinburgh line, with a hole eventually opening up for Batho Hlekani to go over untouched.
Chris Smith finds Bathobele Hlekani 🏉💥 The Lions get their first try of the match 👏 📺 Stream #VURC on DStv: https://t.co/0P0NNhnwKw https://t.co/iSYt8nfhsq
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) October 23, 2026
But that was where their happiness ended. Edinburgh took control of the game, and won a penalty on the 22 metre line, and Patterson found the Lions napping, tapping the ball and sprinting in at the corner untouched for his second try.
Geordie Gwynn went in at the corner in the 74th minute, making up for the miss in the same area a few minutes earlier, and the Lions were well and truly beaten.
SCORERS
Edinburgh - tries: Hector Patterson (2), Matt Currie, Mose Tuipuluto, Geordie Gwynn. Conversions: James Grayson (2), Cammy Scott.
10bet Lions - try: Batho Hlekani. Conversion: Chris Smith. Penalty: Smith.