Kings players wait for one of Edinburgh's seven conversions.

Kings players wait for one of Edinburgh's seven conversions.

EDINBURGH SCRUM-HALF SAM Hidalgo-Clyne crushed three large helpings of salt into the wounds of the Southern Kings as they underlined a 0 -10 record to take into 2018.

The Scotland international scored his hat-trick in the space of just seven minutes in the bonus point victory, a feat that must surely trouble at least Celtic Rugby records, and converted them for good measure to turn a 16 – 27 cruise into a 21 – 48 thrashing.

Tries from Fraser McKenze, Villame Mata, Grant Gilchrist, Dougie Fife had secured the bonus point for Edinburgh by the hour mark before Hidaldo-Clyne went wild.

Sam Hidalgo-Clyne grabs only the 2nd @PRO14Official hat-trick scored by a replacement... the other was also an @EdinburghRugby player - Tim Visser in 2010 v @ospreys. — Stuart Farmer (@Stu_Farmer) December 1, 2017 Source: Stuart Farmer /Twitter

The victory moved the Scottish side to within four points of Ulster (before they kicked off away to Dragons) in the Pro14 Conference B.

The Southern Kings prop up that conference having earned just four points all season. They’ll be thankful that their first block of Pro14 matches is now at an end after 10 straight defeats.

Hopefully, we’ll see something promising from them when they travel to Edinburgh in January after a five-week rest.

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