Mike Blair’s pride as Edinburgh run Saracens close, and words of comfort for Stuart McInally

The Scots led at half-time and will return home with a losing bonus point after matching their illustrious hosts for most of the game but there will be some regrets that they couldn’t repeat their victory on the same weekend last season. That came in the second-tier Challenge Cup but this was a considerable step up in intensity as Saracens returned to the elite competition after a two-year absence for salary cap breaches. Blair felt his team matched the three-time winners physically but admitted there were moments they could have exploited to add to their two tries. One breakaway by Damien Hoyland as the game entered its final quarter should have led to an Edinburgh score but the winger and his team-mate James Lang were both denied. “I’m really proud of the guys’ performance,” said Blair. “I thought physically, both sides of the ball, we were excellent. We put a lot of pressure on a really talented and experienced Saracens team. Yes, we’ll look back at a couple of missed opportunities. I think we can do better but my emotion at the moment is pride at the effort the guys put in. “I thought we got in their faces. Blair Kinghorn in particular really put his body on the line, and then there was our effort and work-rate off the ball.” Luan de Bruin and Wes Goosen went over for the visitors, with Emiliano Boffelli converting both and kicking four penalties. But Elliot Daly, Alex Lewington, Ben Earl and Tom Woolstencroft scored tries for Saracens and Owen Farrell added two conversions and two penalties. Edinburgh struggled with their lineout, particularly in the second half, and Saracens made them pay when replacement Woolstencroft capitalised on Stuart McInally’s overthrow. The Edinburgh hooker was then yellow-carded but Blair sought to put an arm around the experienced front row, who was joined in the sin-bin a few minutes later by team-mate WP Nel. “It’s not just on him,” said Blair. “The yellow card was a team offence. And in the lineout there are loads of different bits that play a part in winning them. Stuart’s an experienced player, he’ll know there are a couple of things he can do better but we win and lose as a team. “With the team we can put out onto the field, we should be challenging sides like Saracens and I’m just frustrated that we didn’t get over that line. We were right in the game until the final whistle, despite having only 13 players and a point at Saracens is not too bad an outcome. We could have done a bit more, not in terms of effort, but by being smarter at times as we handed them some momentum in the second half by not doing a couple of things right. “We know we can play at tempo and pace but we showed a physical element to our game today and I’m hugely proud of our performance and behaviour. Last season sides went through to the next round with a win and a draw so hopefully we can achieve that.” Edinburgh host Castres on Saturday in their second Pool A match in the Champions Cup. The French side will be looking to bounce back after losing their opener 27-12 at home to Exeter Chiefs on Saturday. Saracens’ director of rugby Mark McCall expressed some relief at the final result and described Edinburgh as “fantastic”. “We lacked quite a lot today, rhythm and intensity,” he said. “They were fantastic as they stopped our ball-carries with two-man tackles and I’m very grateful to win the game. The competition is uncompromising and it was a reminder of how tough it is and thankfully we got over the line as it’s never good to lose the first game at home. “The players weren’t pleased with the performance as we lacked intensity, especially in the first half, but we were better on that front in the second.”