Edinburgh captain Ben Vellacott said his side made life too easy for Stormers as they ran in seven tries to record a win as comfortable as it was emphatic in Cape Town.  

A hat-trick from Suleiman Hartzenberg, plus two scores each from Leolin Zas and Evan Roots saw the hosts home, and Vellacott said his side gave them too many easy opportunities.  

Scrum-half Vellacott said: “We let in some really soft tries. We gave Stormers the 'in' that we'd usually defend against.  

“Stormers are a very attacking team and if you give them easy ins like we did, they are going to take them.“ 

READ MORE: Five things we learned from Edinburgh's thumping by Stormers

Head coach Sean Everitt conceded there were few positives to take from a sobering afternoon.  

“It's always difficult to try and find a positive,” he said.  

“We managed to stay in the game when we weren't really able to fire a shot from a territory or possession point of view. We got into the opposition 22 twice, we scored twice. That is a positive for me.” 

He also praised his team’s scramble defence, without which the hosts would have been out of sight well before half-time.   

Everitt said: “The work rate and the effort of the players was really good.  

“The scramble defence, which people often don't see, where the team worked hard to get back to put Stormers under pressure and make mistakes.” 

Scotland Rugby News: Evan Roos scored two tries for StormersEvan Roos scored two tries for Stormers (Image: Getty Images)

But the negatives for the former Sharks coach will far outweigh the plus points as he prepares Edinburgh for a trip to Durban and a meeting with his former team next Saturday.   

Everitt added: “We conceded four set-piece tries today and that is disappointing because that's bread and butter stuff. We made it too easy for them”. 

Fly-half Manie Libbok was outstanding for the hosts, pulling the strings and linking superbly with fellow Springbok Damian Willemse to cause chaos out wide.  

Everitt admitted his side, particularly without most of their Scotland internationals, needed to be at their best to end Stormers’ unbeaten home record this campaign. They fell well short of that.  

“Stormers have been winners and runners-up in the URC, and we’re not using that as an excuse for not performing better, but any team that plays the Stormers at the DHL Stadium has to be at the top of their game and we certainly weren’t that today.” 

The head coach admitted a thumping defeat was not the way Edinburgh wanted to mark WP Nel’s 200th game for the club.  

“I’m so proud of that guy,” Everitt said.  

“It’s a pity we couldn’t do better for him today. He’s got a huge amount of respect around Edinburgh, both in the team and in the city from the supporters. He’s been a big part of the club and just a great person to have.” 

 

 

Edinburgh must bounce back in Durban next weekend if they are to keep their URC play-off ambitions alive.  

Aside from beating his former side, Everitt knows that is now a vital match.  

He added: We’ve got six games left and every result counts. 

“A bonus point today would have been vital considering how tight the log is, so it’s for us to get to Durban and get as many points as we can out of that game. 

“It’s about how quickly we regroup and plot the way forward for Durban where the conditions are going to be a lot different and really tough, a lot more difficult than here.  

“That’s going to be really important for this group, because we have the ability to finish in the top four, the top eight.”