Laney Hat-trick Piles On The Agony For Swansea

SWANSEA 22, EDINBURGH 27
Swansea skipper Scott Gibbs couldn’t have put it any better when he said: “we are in the depths of hell”
This was last season’s Welsh/Scottish League champions’ eighth league defeat of the season – they only lost four last term – and means they could struggle to finish among the top five Welsh clubs in the battle for a place in the Heineken Cup.
Nobody could complain about a four tries to one victory for Edinburgh and only the boot of Gavin Henson kept the Whites in the hunt after they coughed up a try after only two minutes to the former New Zealand captain Todd Blackadder.
His try from a simple, but highly effective, rolling maul gave the Scottish side the confidence they needed to notch one of their best victories on Welsh soil since the Welsh/Scottish League started.
And where Blackadder led, so his fellow Kiwi, now Scottish international, Brendan Laney followed.
Laney helped himself to a hat-trick of tries as he proved the big difference between the two teams.
Gibbs grabbed a try for the home side, but the rest of their points came from Henson’s boot as three times he kicked the Whites into a slender lead.
The only good point for the home team was the return to action of Wales and Lions centre Mark Taylor after a nine month lay-off following knee surgery.
Scorers: Swansea: Try: S Gibbs; Con: G Henson; Pens: G Henson 3; DGs: G Henson 2. Edinburgh: Tries: B Laney 3, T Blackadder; Cons: G Ross 2; Pen: G Ross.