Leinster's title hopes slip away

Celtic League/ Edinburgh 41 Leinster 33: Declan Kidney admitted defeat on Saturday night had virtually wiped out Leinster's chances of regaining the Celtic League title, but the spirit the side showed in running the hosts close in an amazing try-fest should lift hopes of success in the new Celtic Cup competition.

With Simon Taylor back in harness after almost a year out injured, alongside former All Blacks skipper Todd Blackadder in the home back row, Edinburgh always looked the more polished of the sides at a freezing Murrayfield. But after streaking into substantial leads in both halves with a total of seven tries, they were forced to hang on for a mere eight-point victory.

"We stuck in there and there was good spirit, but we need to look at our defence," Kidney, the Leinster coach, said.

"We went for long periods without the ball and Edinburgh capitalised on that and I felt we dug a hole for ourselves which we couldn't manage to get out of. But the team worked hard to close the gap and make it difficult in the end for Edinburgh. The loss of our main lineout jumper (Ciarán Potts) 20 minutes into the game was a blow, but ultimately this was a big lesson.

"In terms of the league I felt we had to win our last five games to have a chance, and now we only have four left and are 15 points behind the Ospreys, so it's out of our hands now, but the target now is to do well against the Ospreys next week and keep our place in the top four in the league, which would give us a home draw in the cup."

Kidney admitted the experience in the Edinburgh ranks, pinpointing Taylor and Blackadder, was a key element in the difference between the sides.

"We were missing a lot of players, but that's not important to me because we are one squad and one team and we try to play the same way, to the same standards, every time we go out there. But it comes down to experience sometimes. Todd and Simon had a big effect in the way they played and also had a calming effect on the boys around them."

The game was a helter-skelter affair with incredible second and fourth quarters. After a quiet opening period, Edinburgh scored four tries before half-time, from Alasdair Dickinson, Simon Taylor, Derrick Lee and Phil Godman. But Leinster overcame the loss of Potts, David Quinlan, the centre, and tighthead prop Ricky Nebbett, the latter temporarily, in the first half-hour to score through Kieran Lewis and Guy Easterby and trail 24-14 at the break.

With David Holwell directing the fightback, Leinster hit early in the second half with a fine try by centre Christian Warner, made by Holwell's delicate kick.

But a slack pass by substitute David McAllister then let Marcus Di Rollo intercept and run the length of the field to score for the hosts. Edinburgh reacted to this and scored again through Simon Webster and Dickinson, which exposed poor defence, and though Warner and Holwell scored again for Leinster it was not enough to repair the damage.

SCORERS - Edinburgh - Tries: Dickinson 2, Taylor, Lee, Godman, Di Rollo, Webster; Cons: Laney 3. Leinster - Tries: Lewis, Easterby, Warner 2, Holwell; Cons: Holwell 4.

EDINBURGH: D Lee; M Pyke, M Di Rollo, B Laney, S Webster; P Godman, M Blair; A Dickinson, D Hall, C Smith, N Hines, A Kellock, T Blackadder (capt), S Taylor, S Cross. Replacements: C Joiner for Lee (40 mins), D Callam for Taylor (62), F Pringle for Blackadder, P Wharakura for Dickinson (both 67), R Dewey for Di Rollo (73).

LEINSTER: D Hewitt; J McWeeney, C Warner, D Quinlan, K Lewis; D Holwell, G Easterby; J Lyne, D Blaney, R Nebbett, V Costello, B Gissing, C Potts, E Miller, S Jennings (capt). Replacements: D Dillon for Potts (28 mins), P Coyle for Nebbet (30-40), D McAllister for Quinlan (33), G Hickie for Blaney (57), J Norton for Hewitt (62), A McCullen for Costello, B O'Riordan for Easterby (both 71).

Referee: S Dickinson (Australia).