Edinburgh 36-15 Black Lion: Three things we learned

Hints of Healy getting back to form

It's a sign of Ben Healy's diminished status in the Scottish game that his omission from Gregor Townsend's Six Nations squad came as a surprise to precisely no one.

Not so long ago, when he was convinced to abandon his ambitions of representing Ireland to throw his lot in with Scotland, Healy was viewed as Finn Russell's chief understudy.

Some patchy form at the tail end of last season and the beginning of this campaign, along with the emergence of Tom Jordan and now Fergus Burke in the Scotland set-up, means Healy's road back towards earning more Test caps is a long one.

First things first. He must establish himself as Edinburgh's leading 10 ahead of Ross Thompson.

He showed some encouraging stuff against Black Lion. Yes the opposition was limited, but they were helped to look that way by some lovely distribution and excellent kicking from Healy.

Now he needs to build on that and show similar control against the better sides Edinburgh will face between now and the end of the season.

Tackle technique hurts Edinburgh

The one black mark on Healy's report card was a high shot in the second half which saw him sent to the sin bin. On first viewing, he looked fortunate that it wasn't red.

Magnus Bradbury had already been sent off for a similar high tackle, his shoulder making contact with the head of Bachuki Tchumbadze.

Sean Everitt bemoaned Bradbury's red – "it really put us in a sticky position" – and conceded that Healy was "probably a bit fortunate" not to see red also. His yellow was damaging enough given it reduced Edinburgh to 13 men and allowed Black Lion the space to score two late tries.

The Edinburgh boys can expect some work on their tackle technique in training this week.

Watson still a hero of the Hive

Hamish Watson has found himself essentially a bit-part player in recent times. His presence in an Edinburgh matchday squad is no longer guaranteed and his minutes on the pitch tend to come off the bench.

That was the case once again as he came on in the second half against the Georgian side. The ovation he received from the crowd at Hive Stadium told you he is still one of the fans' favourites in the capital.

Clearly the flanker is not the force of nature he once was. The barnstorming runs of bouncing off three/four/five defenders are rarely seen these days.

However, the experience of a man who was once a Six Nations player of the year and a Test Lion should not be discounted. Edinburgh would do well to make use of him before he departs at the end of the season, which seems likely.