European Cup Pool Two/Edinburgh - 25 Leinster - 24: This defeat will smart for some time. Leinster were undone by their own hand, indiscipline ultimately costing them a victory their second-half performance probably warranted. They may focus on Joël Jutge's interpretation of the breakdown - they won't find any solace even if some of his decisions were incorrect - but to do so would ignore the primary cause of their failure.
Leinster's failure to adapt to the officiating style of the French referee provided right-wing Chris Paterson the opportunities to kick Edinburgh to victory, and the Scottish international didn't require a second invitation, posting five penalties and converting a try by centre Rob Dewey. Most of those chances were facile as Leinster infringed calamitously, usually in the shadow of their own posts.
What will grate even more is that on each occasion that Leinster hauled themselves back from the jaws of defeat, they carelessly handed back the momentum with an unforced error. It was a litany that would prove fatal.
The coup de grace was delivered by replacement outhalf Duncan Hodge in the third minute of injury time, his coolly taken drop goal sounding the death knell for Leinster.
Just three minutes earlier, Leinster seemed to have snatched the victory in claiming their third try through Girvan Dempsey, his second of the game. It was a homily to great back play once again but having nudged in front 24-22 with the game entering injury time, the Irish province desperately needed to control the football.
Malcolm O'Kelly won the restart but in trying to offload on his way down he caught Shane Horgan unawares and the right wing knocked on.
Where control and precision were required to run down the clock, Leinster committed their umpteenth basic error of the afternoon. They mixed the sublime with the rank and in the end it cost them dearly.
Having given Edinburgh the field position they needed, Leinster simply couldn't get the ball back as the Scottish side worked their way through the phases, creeping ever closer to the posts. They showed commendable control and patience and having engineered the field position, they supplied Hodge and he delivered the knockout blow.
To their credit, Leinster didn't buckle. Indeed they could have snatched the game in the dying throes. But having eked out an overlap in the Edinburgh 22, they chose a couple of rash options, essaying the cut-out pass instead of drawing the defender.
The home side scrambled frantically and survived just as the move petered out, tantalisingly close to the Edinburgh line.
It was a template for much of the match. Time and again Leinster made the initial line-break, usually through the excellent triumvirate of Felipe Contepomi, Gordon D'Arcy and Brian O'Driscoll but the ruthlessness and precision that had been apparent in the win over Gloucester were marked absent.
It came down to poor decision-making, usually involving what should have been the final transfer leading to a try.
The back line once again demonstrated their pedigree - and their three-try haul illustrated that. One can only speculate on what they might have achieved with more composure and patience.
It should be noted that one of those tries, replacement Luke Fitzgerald's, should not have been awarded as it followed a Shane Horgan pass that drifted blatantly forward but was missed by the officials.
Edinburgh lived off their visitors' largesse, creating very little - Leinster's defence was pretty good for most of the game - except in dealing with a typically muscular effort from Dewey.
Even this was preceded by a couple of fundamental mistakes, a forward pass by Contepomi to D'Arcy and then hooker Brian Blaney being called for a crooked throw close to his own line.
That really did encapsulate Leinster's afternoon: producing some scintillating rugby but undermining it with the most elementary errors.
It was Leinster's inability to control the match, to take the sting out of the game, especially in the closing minutes, and introduce the mundane and solid as opposed to the high risk that denied them a victory their second 40 minutes merited.
Edinburgh led at the interval 12-10, their opponent's indiscipline allowing Paterson to kick four penalties.
Leinster's response was a trademark try, a quick tap from Cillian Willis, culminating in Brian O'Driscoll's brilliant one-handed offload, which allowed Dempsey to score in the corner - the move measuring some 70 metres from start to finish.
Contepomi tagged on a penalty and conversion and could have put Jamie Heaslip in at the corner in first-half injury time but the number eight, who had a fine game, lost control as he took contact going over the line.
Leinster had spurned an easy three points in favour of chasing seven, taking a quick tap penalty, and that would prove costly.
Fitzgerald's try nudged Leinster in front, Dewey's score allowing the home side a 19-17 advantage that Paterson stretched on 78 minutes with his fifth penalty.
Leinster showed their class by conjuring another superbly worked try, Dempsey - on his 50th appearance in the European Cup - choosing a good line to crash over.
Contepomi's conversion pushed Leinster back in front 24-22 but then just as the Irish side appeared to have rescued the day, they reached for the self-destruct button. This will hurt and the measure of this team will be how they respond.
It would be wrong to castigate them for their enterprise and flair but they just need to throttle back occasionally and perform the basics essential to any victory.
The road to the play-offs has just got a little steeper.
SCORING: 3 mins: Paterson pen, 3-0; 4: Contepomi pen, 3-3; 12: Dempsey try, Contepomi con, 3-10; 18: Paterson pen, 6-10; 23: Paterson pen, 9-10; 40(+5): Paterson pen, 12-10 (half-time 12-10); 47: Fitzgerald try, Contepomi con, 12-17; 69: Dewey try, Paterson con, 19-17; 78: Paterson pen, 22-17; 80: Dempsey try, Contepomi con, 22-24; 83: Hodge drop-goal, 25-24.
EDINBURGH: H Southwell; C Paterson (capt), M Di Rollo, R Dewey, S Webster; P Godman, M Blair; A Jacobsen, D Hall, A Dickson; M Mustchin, S Murray; A Strokosch, R Rennie, D Callam. Replacements: C Smith for Dickinson (54 mins); D Hodge for Godman (56 mins); A MacDonald for Rennie (68 mins).
LEINSTER: G Dempsey; S Horgan, B O'Driscoll (capt), G D'Arcy, D Hickie; F Contepomi, C Willis; R McCormack, B Blaney, W Green; T Hogan, M O'Kelly; S Keogh, K Gleeson, J Heaslip. Replacements: O Finegan for Hogan (half-time); H Vermaas for Keogh (44-49 mins); L Fitzgerald for Hickie (44 mins); C Jowitt for Keogh (75 mins). Sinbinned: Blaney
Referee: J Jutge (France).
Pool Two
P W D L F A B Pts
Agen 2 2 0 0 51 43 1 9
Leinster 2 1 0 1 61 45 2 6
Edinburgh 2 1 0 1 42 43 1 5
Gloucester 2 0 0 2 46 69 1 1
WEEKEND RESULTS
Gloucester 26 SU Agen 32; Edinburgh 25 Leinster 24.
PREVIOUS RESULTS
Agen 19 Edinburgh 17, Leinster 37 Gloucester 20 .
REMAINING FIXTURES
Dec 9th: Gloucester v Edinburgh; Leinster v SU Agen. Dec 16th: SU Agen v Leinster. Dec 17th: Edinburgh v Gloucester. Jan 12th-14th: Leinster v Edinburgh; SU Agen v Gloucester. Jan 19th-21st: Edinburgh v SU Agen; Gloucester v Leinster.
