Edinburgh 36-35 Harlequins: Duncan Hodge hails 'unreal' victory

By Andy BurkeBBC Scotland at Murrayfield
Edinburgh celebrate Tom Brown's match-winning try at Murrayfield
Edinburgh celebrate Tom Brown's match-winning try at Murrayfield

Head coach Duncan Hodge was relieved to see Edinburgh come through to win an incredible European Champions Cup encounter against Harlequins.

Tom Brown's try - the 11th of the match - late on saw Edinburgh claim a 36-35 victory. at Murrayfield.

Hodge was thrilled with the way his side responded after Charlie Walker dived over as Harlequins took the lead after just two minutes.

"To come back and play the way we did for half an hour was unreal," he said.

"It's so good in a lot of ways. There was a big crowd here today as well so hopefully they've not just been entertained but seen what these boys are about."

After running in five tries through Allan Dell, Blair Kinghorn, Nasi Manu, Hamish Watson and Damien Hoyland, Edinburgh surrendered their 31-14 half-time advantage to trail 35-31 going into the last 10 minutes.

Hodge admits the wheels came off for his side after the break, but says his team showed character to come again and edge out last season's beaten finalists.

'I'm not entirely sure how we did it'

"The second-half we were all over the place for half an hour - sin bins, discipline, penalties, we were getting sucked into drives, everything," Hodge told BBC Scotland.

"It was a huge penalty count against us and it was probably fair enough. We just lost our shape, we lost our discipline, we lost composure, we were making some bad errors, but when it was needed we somehow responded and got over the line.

"To come back, score another good try and keep them out was just unbelievable. I'm not entirely sure how we did it.

"Fair play to the players, they were magnificent and they should be proud of today, but we know there are still a lot of things to fix."

The former Scotland fly-half hopes the win over Quins can help his side find the consistency to go on a winning run.

"They [Harlequins] are a very good team. There's potentially three or four British Lions in that team.

"I said before the game, 'It's not just about Harlequins, we need to impose ourselves and affect the game in a positive way'. I think we did that.

"After that first two minutes they way we responded said a lot. It was very good."

"That's us three [wins] from three the last few weeks. The big thing now is we certainly don't get carried away. I never will and I don't think the players will either."