EDINBURGH hope they will get some fresh blood for the second part of their South African tour after their youngsters came up short in Bloemfontein, losing 33-13 to the Cheetahs.
They started poorly, mistakes letting their opponents into the game to build a 14-0 half-time lead, but had clawed their way back to stand just one point behind going into the final quarter.
The big difference was that while the Cheetahs' replacements changed the game, allowing them to switch to a mauling, set-piece dominating style, the Edinburgh replacements could not cope.
"The game was there for the taking for both sides," reflected Fraser McKenzie, the captain afterwards. "The difference was the slight inaccuracies from us that were punished. The scrum was one of them but there were a few others – defensive errors, alignment mistakes, a combinations of things that add up. The Cheetahs were clinical and took their chances."
The scrum was a major problem area – one of the South African tries was an old-fashioned pushover from five metres out. As the older heads got tired in the heat and altitude, the young blood was given a lesson in the physical demands of top-flight rugby in South Africa.
"We don't want to use altitude as an excuse, we were out early, trained hard for it and knew what to expect," McKenzie countered. "The conditions were different but no different to what we expected. We enjoyed playing in these conditions – we would rather that than play in the snow back home. We enjoyed it but there was a lot to learn from this."
Sam Hidalgo-Clyne collected all the Scots' points with a try, conversion and two penalties while the home side claimed five tries, three in the final quarter. Edinburgh expect better things in Port Elizabeth when they take on the Southern Kings on Friday.
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