- Finn Russell kicked three conversions and a penalty to help English side to victory at Hive Stadium
- Bath will face the winners of Sunday’s semi-final between Lyon and Racing 92
EDINBURGH head coach Sean Everitt admitted his team blew a huge chance to reach the European Challenge Cup final after falling to a 39-24 defeat against Bath.
Up against Scotland superstar Finn Russell, Edinburgh threatened a huge shock as they led the English Premiership pace-setters 17-12 with half an hour to play.
Despite being put under intense pressure from the visitors, Edinburgh had a fighting chance to claim what would have been one of the finest results in their history.
But a mixture of ill-discipline and basic errors proved to be their undoing over the final 30 minutes, scuppering what had been a terrific effort in defence.
Finn Russell commiserates with Edinburgh winger Darcy Graham after Edinburgh’s defeat
Javan Sebastian (left) and Ross Thompson are dejected at full-time after Saturday’s defeat
Proud of his team’s efforts, Everitt was left to rue a missed opportunity as a barrage of Bath pressure eventually told in the end.
‘We showed a lot of fight and a lot of pride in the jersey, but unfortunately we fell just a little bit short,’ said the Edinburgh head coach.
‘I’m proud of how we defended our goal-line with so much energy and passion.
‘But we knew it was always going to be difficult against a Bath team who can put you under so much pressure in that area.
‘We weren’t accurate enough in the middle third of the field. That’s something we need to look at.
‘In the second half, our discipline also wasn’t what it needed to be. We allowed Bath too many easy entries into our 22.
‘Bath are one of the most efficient teams in Europe in that area and they can really punish you.
‘They put us under pressure and really kept us pinned in our own 22 for a lot of the second half.
‘In saying that, we put ourselves into a good position early in the second half and got ourselves into the lead.
Bath superstar Finn Russell can’t stop Edinburgh’s Ali Price from scoring
Finn Russell scored three conversions and a penalty as Bath reached the Challenge Cup final
‘It’s disappointing that we weren’t able to capitalise on that. The guys are absolutely gutted but we need to pick ourselves up now.
‘There are a lot of positives we can take from this and we’re going to need that over the next few weeks in the URC.’
Bath will now be strong favourites to go and win the final later this month, which will see them face either Lyon or Russell’s old club Racing 92.
Although this wasn’t Russell’s most influential display, Everitt feels Bath will take some stopping.
‘I think Bath could go all the way now,’ he said. ‘They can hurt you in so many different areas.
‘We defended so well to keep them out and that’s credit to our boys. But they are going to be very difficult to stop in the final.
‘They have so much power and quality in their pack. You can see it throughout their forwards and the guys they can bring off the bench.
‘We showed so much fight to keep them relatively quiet in terms of their back line. But they can hurt you in so many different ways.
‘It’s slightly disappointing that we couldn’t impose our own game on them more, but Bath are a quality side. They are top of the Premiership for a reason.’
