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Visser landed two tries for Edinburgh in an incredible match at Murrayfield

Edinburgh staged a thrilling comeback to edge out Racing Metro 92 in an incredible Heineken Cup tie.

The Scots were 17-3 in front after just eight minutes following touchdowns from Tim Visser and Greig Laidlaw.

But the star-studded French side replied with tries from Julien Saubade, Juan Imhoff, Jonathan Wisniewski and Henry Chavancy before half time.

Chavancy scored again but Netani Talei, Tom Brown, Roddy Grant and Visser all powered over for Edinburgh.

Prior to kick-off, Edinburgh's main worry was the size of the visiting pack but the forwards rarely got a look in during a first half that produced six tries.

Five more tries followed after the interval, with the home side, who won at London Irish last weekend, running in the final four on an evening of high drama.

POOL 2 TABLE Played Won Points Edinburgh 2 2 9 Cardiff Blues 2 2 8 Racing Metro 92 2 0 3 London Irish 2 0 2 Full Heineken Cup tables

A mere 38 seconds had elapsed when Visser blazed his way through for the first score.

Wisniewski reduced the deficit with a penalty but Laidlaw split the posts to immediately restore the home side's seven-point lead.

The Edinburgh skipper was then in the right place as a kick on from the blocked-off Visser fell perfectly for him to pop over a simple try.

Racing did not waste any time feeling sorry for themselves and the visitors set about exploiting a very narrow Edinburgh side with some lightning quick breaks.

The French team showed great speed at the breakdown, neat hands and devastating pace out wide as Saubade, Imhoff and Wisniewski ran in three fantastic scores.

Edinburgh's set-piece play crumbled completely and Laidlaw was guilty of missing a straightforward tackle as Chavancy whizzed past the scrum-half en route to scoring.

Wisniewski was unerring with his kicking on each occasion.

Visser was dangerous every time he got the ball in hand and Edinburgh piled on the pressure in the minutes leading up to the interval but a Laidlaw penalty was all they had to show for their efforts.

Wisniewski was gifted a routine penalty in the early minutes of the second half before Chavancy bagged his second try.

Laidlaw added two penalties and six conversions to his early try

A loose Edinburgh pass presented the French with the opportunity and a fortunate bounce did the rest, with Wisniewski converting again before adding another penalty to put the visitors 24 points clear.

From a Visser break, home prop Allan Jacobsen was presented with an unlikely chance to race for the line from 25 yards and Talei was on had to finish off the move from a Stuart McInally pass.

Another Wisniewski penalty was followed by a mazy run from Laidlaw to set up replacement full-back Brown to nip in at the corner for what looked like being a bonus-point consolation.

Hopes of amazing comeback were bolstered when Jone Qovu Nailiko was shown a yellow card for an off-the-ball incident, reducing a tiring Racing to 14 men.

Suddenly there was only six points between the teams when the ball was quickly recycled from a storming James King break and flanker Grant appeared on the right wing to race in under the posts.

With the Murrayfield crowd roaring themselves hoarse, Visser bulldozed through a tackle to land his second try and Laidlaw held his nerve to knock over the decisive conversion to edge Edinburgh in front by one point.

A stunned Racing still had time to snatch victory in the final seconds but a close-range drop-goal attempt from Juan Martin Hernandez drifted wide to spark scenes of wild celebration from Edinburgh, who top Pool Two from Cardiff Blues, who beat London Irish 24-18.

Edinburgh: Thompson, Jones, De Luca, Scott, Visser, Leonard, Laidlaw, Jacobsen, Ford, Cross, Lozada, Gilchrist, Talei, Grant, McInally. Replacements: T. Brown for Thompson (48), King for Scott (21), M. Blair for Leonard (40), Lawrie for Ford (60), S. Turnbull for Gilchrist (60). Not Used: Traynor, Gilding, Rennie.

Racing Metro 92: Wisniewski, Saubade, Chavancy, Bousses, Jose Imhoff, Hernandez, Loree, Tuugahala, Noirot, Coetzee, Ghezal, Nallet, Leo'o, Le Roux, Chabal. Replacements: Vakatawa for Jose Imhoff (53), Ben Arous for Tuugahala (55), Bianchin for Noirot (75), Orlandi for Coetzee (66), Vaquiin for Leo'o (60), Battut for Le Roux (68), Nailiko for Chabal (64). Not Used: Descons.

Att: 5,067

Ref: John Lacey (Ireland).