Ben Vellacott admitted Edinburgh played into the hands of the Lions as the South African side ran riot in a devastating first half in Johannesburg on Saturday.  

The Lions scored seven tries in the opening 40 minutes to lead 48-0 at the break, a record for the league, surpassing the 46-point margin Cardiff amassed against Connacht back in 2008.  

Co-captain Vellacott said he was “pretty devastated” post-match and admitted Edinburgh went away from what they had spoken about in the build-up.  

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He said: “We played into their hands in that first half, gave them everything that we’d spoken about [not doing] during the week and they punished us.” 

The scrum-half echoed the views of coach Sean Everitt that Edinburgh failed to “respect the ball” during the abject first-half display.  

He explained: “We lost the ball in contact, we made it hard for ourselves, we kind of got lost at times. We didn't go to our kicking game enough, which has been a real strength for us for the last few seasons.  

“We played into their hands. If you don't respect the ball in rugby against a team like the Lions, they're going to punish you, which they ultimately did.” 

Edinburgh co-captain Ben VellacottEdinburgh co-captain Ben Vellacott (Image: SNS) He gave an insight into the message from Everitt at the break as the visitors attempted to salvage some respectability from a dreadful first half.  

“Just to respect the ball a little bit,” Vellacott said.  

“We were very loose with the ball in hand in that first half, which gave them a lot of transitions.  

“We just talked about tying it up, using our kicking game to get the ball back and that kind of worked for us and once we got the ball into their half we came away with points.” 

The lack of respect for possession is a worrying trend for Edinburgh, with Vellacott admitting it was costly in the Pretoria defeat too.  

“I think this week and last week, we knew it was going to be tough but at the same time, we knew that if we put in a good performance, we'd come away with the win.

“The big thing for us in both games [in South Africa] is we haven't respected the ball as much as we should have. We played into the Lions' hands in terms of letting them play that free-flowing rugby and like I said before, they punished us.” 

Edinburgh showed great fight in their first two matches of the season, taking Leinster close at Hive Stadium before a late collapse in Pretoria saw them let slip a golden opportunity to beat the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld.  

Edwill van der Merwe scored two of the Lions eight triesEdwill van der Merwe scored two of the Lions eight tries (Image: Shutterstock) “We've got a short turnaround and then it's Stormers next week back at home.  

“We have got to pick ourselves up pretty sharpish and I think the beauty about rugby is that you go again next week.” 

The Edinburgh co-captain will play an integral role in picking up the squad ahead of the Stormers visit next weekend.  

He’s confident Edinburgh will be able to put things right before facing the 2022 champions, who could have Springbok stars Manie Libbok, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Evan Roos, Ben-Jason Dixon, Salmaan Moerat and Frans Malherbe among their ranks on Saturday.  

Springbok fly-half Manie Libbok could feature at Hive StadiumSpringbok fly-half Manie Libbok could feature at Hive Stadium (Image: SNS) He added: "It's in our hands. That's the big thing for us. We respect the ball, we look after it. 

“They don't get the transitions, they don't score. So it's as simple as that. 

“We've got to look after the ball better. We've got to respect the ball. And like I said, we pick ourselves up pretty sharpish. 

“We're professional rugby players. We'll turn up to work on Monday and we'll go again.”