Edinburgh power pleases head coach Alan Solomons
Last updated on .From the section Rugby Union
Alan Solomons heaped praise upon his international front-row after Edinburgh's hugely dominant scrummaging performance against Grenoble.
Edinburgh won the European tie 28-10 with relative ease thanks to the efforts of Scotland triumvirate Al Dickinson, Ross Ford and Willem Nel.
"I thought they were outstanding," said the head coach.
"There's no doubt they made a massive difference - no matter who Grenoble put on they were under siege in the scrum."
After three successive Pro12 losses stalled a promising opening to the season, the South African admitted a return to winning ways was significant - even though Matt Scott's slack play allowed Grenoble to sneak a try on the counter-attack.
"It was about getting the performance right but it was important to get the win," he said.
"Although we gifted them their seven points, let's be perfectly honest, it was still convincing."
Solomons was impressed by debutant flanker John Hardie, the New Zealand native inserted into Scotland's Rugby World Cup squad this summer.
In a turbulent week that saw fellow back-row Dave Denton transferred to Bath, Hardie was a constant presence in the loose.
The openside did however spill an inside ball from a set-piece move that might have saw him score.
"I thought he played really, really well," said Solomons, who added the squad were "very understanding" of Denton's move.
"You can see he's an experienced player, his attention to detail is good, it's just a pity that one breakout play from the line-out he just missed that ball. He was certainly in a hole."
Hardie himself joked that his error was "terrible", but feels he has integrated well into the squad, adding that Edinburgh are not as forward-oriented as their victory suggested.
"I know a lot of the boys from Scotland, and from back home in New Zealand - it's not home anymore, Scotland's the home," said Hardie.
"We've got options to play different sorts of rugby in different areas of the park if it's on, or if it's dry ball.
"We're not one-dimensional; we've got a bit up our sleeve."
