URC: Edinburgh 5 Connacht 26Connacht delivered an essential away win in Edinburgh to break into the top eight of the URC, ensuring them a place in the knockout rounds.In a huge fillip for Stuart Lancaster’s side, who knew anything but a win would not be enough, the westerners were dominant for much of the 80 minutes, using their setpieces to great impact.Captain Cian Prendergast epitomised their work ethic and ambition, recognised with the man-of-the-match award for his effort.“We worked so hard today, the group deserved it,” he said. “I don’t even think we were at tour best tonight, but you can’t fault us for our endeavour, effort and our defence.“We spent way too much time defending, so for us it’s about accuracy at the breakdown and clarity. We have a brilliant group of players and confidence in our group is building.”While Lancaster conceded it wasn’t their “greatest game by a long way”, he said he was happy with how his side stuck it out, particularly in the second half.“I think the foundations from last season were strong, but we moved the dial in terms of mindset in defence and attack, and it has paid off. The backrow was awesome,” the head coach said of the win.Bundee Aki in action for Connacht. Photograph: Craig Watson/Inpho A win was always going to seal it for Connacht, but Edinburgh looked capable of spoiling the party. Despite coming into the game with three wins on the bounce, the Scottish side had no hope of making the top eight.The home side laid down a marker in the early exchanged but it wasn’t to last long, Prendergast delivering a try-saving tackle on Harry Paterson to deny them a first strike. Connacht them came with their own effort, a breakaway try from Josh Ioane to open the scoring after 24 minutes.Connacht now had momentum on their side, but Edinburgh were spurred on by a big carry from Ross Thompson, forcing their way into the visitors’ 22. A scrum penalty offered the hosts their chance but a superb defensive effort from Connacht, replacement Sean Naughton playing a major role, kept Edinburgh at bay.From there, Connacht seized control. Shamus Hurley-Langton came close to claiming their second try of the night but was denied. But it wasn’t long before his time came, Eoin de Buitléar with the feed to send the number eight over on 36 minutes with Sam Gilbert adding the extras for 12-0.Ioane was instrumental in attack as they opted to keep the ball in hand. When Darcy Graham was pinged for not releasing in the tackle, the Connacht outhalf kicked for touch, out and from the resulting maul, the home side conceded another penalty. Connacht went for a tap-and-go and Finlay Bealham ended up inches short, as was Joe Joyce on a second attempt at the line, before Sean Jansen laid it off to Hurley-Langton for his second try. Gilbert again converted to give Connacht a 19-0 lead at the break.Connacht’s Shamus Hurley-Langton scores a try. Photograph: Craig Watson/Inpho With Glasgow 21-12 clear of Ulster at the break in Belfast, Connacht’s place in the knockout stages was cementing, but they were taking nothing for granted. Ben Murphy scuppered a likely Edinburgh try as the hosts piled on the pressure after the break, while Jansen and Billy Bohan also played their part in denying Edinburgh chances.The Scots began to dominate possession, but were unable to make headway against a well-organised Connacht defence, and when replacement scrumhalf Matthew Devine was quick to react to an Edinburgh knock-on, kicking ahead and winning the race to the try line for the bonus-point try, the result seemed beyond doubt.But Edinburgh found their consolation try on 72 minutes when Ewan Ashman got over, but by then, Connacht were well on their way to a URC quarter-final and a spot in next season’s Champions Cup.SCORING SEQUENCE – 24 MINS: Ioane try 0-5; 36: Hurley-Langton try, Gilbert con 0-12; 40+3: Hurley-Langton try, Gilbert con 0-19; Half-time 0-19; 60: Devine try, Gilbert con 0-26; 72: Ashman try 5-26EDINBURGH: H Paterson; D Graham, P O’Conor, F Thomson, D van der Merwe; R Thompson, H Patterson; P Schoeman, E Ashman, O Blyth-Lafferty; M Sykes, G Young; T Dodd, F Douglas, M Bradbury. Replacements: P Hill for Blyth-Lafferty, B Venter for Schoeman, T Currie for Dodd (all 54), C Hunter-Hill for Young (57), C Shiel for Patterson (64), E McVie for Douglas (67), J Blyth-Lafferty for Ashman, J Brown for Paterson (both 74).CONNACHT: S Gilbert; S Jennings, H West, B Aki, S Bolton; J Ioane, B Murphy; B Bohan, E De Buitléar, F Bealham; J Joyce, J Murphy; C Prendergast, S Hurley-Langton, S Jansen. Replacements: S Naughton for West (26 mins), P Dooley for Bohan, S Illo for Bealham (both 50), D O’Connor for Murphy (54), P Boyle for Jansen (55), M Devine for Murphy (59), J Carty for Bolton (64), M Yarr for de Buitléar (68).Referee: A Barrett-Theron (SA).