Seriously depleted Leinster fall well short

RUGBY/Celtic League: As happened to Ulster on Friday night, Leinster Lite didn't have the fire-power to withstand the absence of 13 players at an exceedingly low-key Donnybrook yesterday, suffering only their second defeat at the venue in 15 games dating back to March 2004.

Edinburgh, though also hit hard, still played with far greater cohesion and control in most departments to remain something of a bogey side for Michael Cheika's team, this being their fourth win in five Celtic League clashes.

Although Ben Gissing plundered plenty of hard yards, Keith Gleeson was very much on top of his game and Robert Kearney was full of lively intent at fullback, a makeshift Leinster were more willing than able. For all Brian O'Meara's versatility, it was too big an ask of him to control matters from an ill-fitting outhalf role on the occasion of his 100th cap for Leinster.

This fixture has averaged nearly 65 points per game, Edinburgh winning three of the four previous meetings, but there were too many disruptions to ensure that kind of free-scoring fluidity, and a referee, Neil Ballard, who did not ensure players stayed on their feet at the breakdown.

Leinster, missing eight injured players and five on international duty, showed nine changes in personnel, and Edinburgh, similarly disrupted, had eight changes.

As Ulster discovered on Friday night in such circumstances, confidence can easily wane if things start to drift away from you, and things started ominously for Leinster. With Edinburgh known for playing a relatively unstructured, touchline-to-touchline game, the more Leinster established some control over proceedings, especially at set-piece time, the better.

However, though Kearney manufactured a good touch kick early on, he had no option because of the unsteady scrum initially, and Edinburgh, quickly settling into their customary rhythm, were a while about giving it back.

It required a try-saving tackle from behind by Gary Brown to deny Hugo Southwell a try, but soon another multi-phase, wing-to-wing attack had Peter Jorgensen stumbling through Brendan Burke's missed tackle to score.

Brian O'Meara and Phil Godman missed kickable penalties and Gleeson and Brian O'Riordan nabbed Jamie Blackwood to force turnovers either side of Reggie Corrigan stealing an overthrow.

Patient phase building, with Ben Gissing, Gleeson and Cameron Jowitt prominent, led to a brace of penalties by O'Meara; though the reward might have been greater had Kearney not hit the corner flag after brilliantly beating three men on the outside.

Nonetheless, after a Godman penalty, a chargedown try by Gleeson, converted by O'Meara, and stiff resistance to ponderous pack pressure by Edinburgh - Simon Crawford denying Dave Callam short of the line - Leinster reached the break leading 13-10. That was undone though when, 11 minutes after the resumption, lock Fergus Pringle picked up at the base of a ruck and ploughed through O'Meara's tackle to score, Godman converting.

Gissing, Gleeson and co pushed Edinburgh back in one corner, but the passing was a tad too laboured across to Burke, who was collared by Pyke. By contrast, quicker right-to-left passing created an overlap for Simon Webster to power through Kearney's covering tackle to make it 22-13.

Amazingly, O'Riordan had been sacrificed at this juncture whereas O'Meara remained, and his confidence was further dented with another straightish penalty miss.

When Gissing was binned on the hour at the behest of one of the Irish touch judges, for apparently punching in a ruck, Leinster's goose was at maximum temperature.

They survived that spell, but no sooner was Gissing back to help gather up a head of steam again than a crucial turnover off a ruck, the ball squirting between Guy Easterby's legs, eventually led to Alasdair Strokosch reaching out for the line and the bonus point, which took the Gunners to second in the table.

SCORING SEQUENCE: 12 mins: Jorgensen try, Godman con 0-7; 24: O'Meara pen 3-7; 28: O'Meara pen 6-7; 35: Godman pen 6-10; 40: Gleeson try, O'Meara con 13-10 (half-time 13-10); 51: Pringle try, Godman con 13-17; 55: Webster try 13-22; 82: Strokosch try 13-27.

LEINSTER: R Kearney; G Brown, K Lewis, J Hepworth, B Burke; B O'Meara, B O'Riordan; R Corrigan, B Blaney, W Green; B Gissing, B Williams; C Jowitt, K Gleeson (capt), S Crawford. Replacements: R McCormack for Corrigan (half-time); S Grissing for Brown (43 mins); G Easterby for O'Riordan (52 mins); E Hickey for O'Meara (67 mins). Not used: J Wickham, K McLaughlin, N Ronan. Sinbinned: Gissing (60 mins).

EDINBURGH: H Southwell; M Pyke, P Jorgensen, M Dey, S Webster; P Godman, J Blackwood; A Jacobsen, A Kelly, C Smith; A Kellock (capt), F Pringle; M Mustchin, S Cross, D Callam. Replacements: D Hewett for Smith (50 mins), A Strokosch for Pringle (72 mins), R Rennie for Cross (76 mins), N de Luca for Jorgensen (79 mins). Not used: S Lawrie, A Monro, D Hodge, N de Luca.

Referee: N Ballard (Wales).