Edinburgh suffered another humbling defeat in Johannesburg at the hands of the Lions who ran in eight tries in a completely dominant performance.
The result means Sean Everitt’s side have just two wins in their last eight games and sit 12 points behind the play-off places with five games to go.
When Edinburgh came here in October 2024, they produced one of their most insipid performances of the Everitt era, trailing 48-0 at half-time and eventually losing 55-21.
And on this occasion, after 26 minutes, with the Lions having already run in four tries, there was a real fear that episode would be repeated.
Lions’ lock Ruan Venter got the first, set up by captain Francke Horne who crashed over the second in the 18th minute.
The third was irresistible, a brilliant break down the left with Sibabalwe Mahashe timing an offload perfectly to Darrien Landsberg, with the lock galloping over from distance.
Scrum-half Morne van den Berg got the fourth, as the Lions once again cut through the visiting defence with ease. This time, it was fly-half Chris Smith who did the scything, popping to his half-back partner to score.
It looked like Edinburgh might score before the break. Horne had been binned, they had a scrum in the Lions’ 22m and the man advantage.
Yet the ball was given away, the Lions broke up the pitch and Bronson Mills crossed to make it 35-0 at the break.
With the game done and dusted by half-time, Edinburgh did put up more of a fight in the second half but the Lions still managed to outscore them in the second 40 minutes.
Ewan Ashman got the visitors on the scoreboard at the back of a driving maul but it was another Lions try that really got fans out of their seat.
They thought they’d scored another when Smith acrobatically flicked a pass inside but the ball was already out.
Not to worry, as they scored from the next play with Smith’s cross-field kick perfectly picking out Angelo Davids, who scored with a somersault flourish.
The sides continued to trade tries until the end. Freddy Douglas scored after a Charlie Shiel snipe and Davids got a second when he somehow got on to a booming Mills grubber kick that sat up perfectly for the Lions winger.
Matt Currie hit back for Edinburgh, skipping out of one tackle in midfield and sprinting over to give the visitors some hope of a bonus-point try.
However, it wouldn’t come as the Lions pinned them back and scored their eighth through Hassiem Pead, the substitute scrum-half who spotted a gap next to a ruck and wiggled through.
While this is an undoubtedly tough fixture, hosted in the gloried Ellis Park Stadium, the humiliating defeat seems to reflect Edinburgh’s current trajectory.
Eighteen months on from their last game in Johannesburg, in which Edinburgh were torn apart in defence, languid in attack and utterly lacking in leadership, they produced an almost identical performance.
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