Jaminet shines as Toulon overcome Edinburgh in Challenge Cup opener

Melvyn Jaminet led a French side to a 27‑17 victory over Edinburgh in the opening match of the European Challenge Cup, delivering a personal haul of 22 points. The full‑back crossed the line twice and added two penalties, one of which he struck from well inside his own half to give Toulon an early 6‑0 lead.

Edinburgh created several chances in the first half but could not breach the French defence. Scotland fly‑half James Grayson reduced the deficit to three points with a penalty before the break.

The second half began with a turnover in the French 22, and Jaminet sprinted onto a loose ball, chipped forward and collected to score his first try. Edinburgh answered quickly when a well‑executed lineout saw Tom Currie deliver to Ewan Ashman, who raced down the touchline to level the scores at 10‑10.

A powerful maul brought Toulon close to the Edinburgh line, and scrum‑half Ben White slipped a delayed pass to Seta Tuicuvu, who dived over for the third try of the match. Down 20‑10, Edinburgh appeared to be on the back foot, but a tackle on Matt Currie forced Toulon fly‑half Matteo Garcia to lose the ball. Replacement Geordie Gwynn pounced on the loose ball and sprinted to the try line, narrowing the gap.

Toulon responded with another rolling maul that set up Jeremy Sinzelle, who fed Jaminet for his second try, effectively sealing the win. Jaminet also converted three tries and added two more penalties, rounding off a superb individual performance.

Edinburgh’s line‑up featured Piers O’Conor, Malelili Satala, Matt Currie, Mosese Tuipulotu, Darcy Graham, James Grayson and Hector Patterson among the forwards, with Pierre Schoeman, Ewan Ashman, Ollie Blyth‑Lafferty, Callum Hunter‑Hill, Glen Young, Tom Currie, Freddy Douglas and Magnus Bradbury in the backs. Their replacements were Jerry Blyth‑Lafferty, Jamie Stewart, Paul Hill, Grant Gilchrist, Euan McVie, Conor McAlpine, Geordie Gwynn and Rory McHaffie.

Toulon fielded Melvyn Jaminet, Seta Tuicuvu, Antoine Frisch, Jeremy Sinzelle, Apete Narogo, Mateo Garcia and Ben White, backed by Jean‑Baptiste Gros, Gianmarco Lucchesi, Beka Gigashvili, Swan Rebbadj, Corentin Mezou, Zach Mercer, Estaban Abadie and Patrick Tuifua. Their bench included Teddy Baubigny, Samuel Jean‑Christophe, Owen Sorhaindo, Luciano Asevedo, Lewis Ludlam, Joe Quere Karaba, Baptiste Serin and Luka Keletaona.

The match was refereed by Ben Breakspear.