RUGBY/Celtic League/Edinburgh 20 Leinster 14: Leinster opened their Magners League campaign with a solid performance at Murrayfield last night but despite impressive showings from many of their second-string players, they were unable to prevent Edinburgh from recording their first home win this season.
The displays of several reserve players indicates a strength in depth in Leinster that surely bodes well for later in the season.
There were encouraging debut performances too from the likes of scrum-half Chris Whitaker and fellow-Australian Owen Finnegan. But despite competing on near equal terms with the Edinburgh pack, Leinster lacked the fire-power behind the scrum to really threaten the home line.
A dour match only came to life in the final quarter. Leinster made a great start to their points quest as Felipe Contepomi kicked a penalty with barely 10 seconds of the game gone after Edinburgh were caught offside from Ally Hogg's knock-on.
A blistering multi-phase handling reply by Edinburgh ended with skipper Chris Paterson levelling matters with a similar effort but Contepomi then nudged the visitors ahead in the kicking contest with his second goal, this time from wide out.
Edinburgh again looked dangerous as they used their pacy backs to attack near the touchline but rising star Ross Rennie knocked-on just a metre out from the Leinster line.
Leinster, replacing Kieran Lewis with Christian Warner after 24 minutes, had to defend tenaciously against continuous pressure before Paterson kicked Edinburgh's second penalty.
A yellow card shown to prop Roan McCormack for illegally preventing an Edinburgh tap penalty reduced Leinster to 14 men.
But full-back Rob Kearney went close to getting the game's opening try before Contepomi's third penalty earned Leinster a 9-6 interval lead. However, three minutes into the second half, Contepomi missed a comparatively simple goal kick.
At the other end, Edinburgh opted to run the ball from an easy penalty chance. Four phases of play resulted before Hogg plunged over for the game's opening try, Paterson converting to establish a 13-9 advantage.
Edinburgh then added another try following a burst through midfield by Hogg who found replacement outside half Duncan Hodge in support. The veteran eluded the Leinster cover and Paterson again added the conversion to extend the home side's lead.
But Leinster hit back after Edinburgh were reduced to 14 men when Hogg was sin-binned. From the ensuing penalty, Leinster set up a maul off which prop McCormack exploded to score his side's only try.
EDINBURGH: H Southwell; C Paterson, M Di Rollo, R Dewey, S Webster; P Godman, M Blair; A Jacobsen, D Hall, C Smith, M Mustchin, S Murray, A Strokosch, R Rennie, A Hogg. Replacements: A Kelly for Hall (76 mins), A Dickinson for Smith (52 mins), F Pringle for Mustchin (52 mins), G Laidlaw for Blair (68), D Hodge for Godman (60), B Cairns for Webster (52).
LEINSTER: R Kearney; G Brown, K Lewis, M Berne, L Fitzgerald; F Contepomi, C Whitaker; R McCormack, H Vermaas, W Green, T Hogan, O Finegan, S Keogh, N Ronan, J Heaslip. Replacements: B Jackman for Vermaas (60 mins), A Byrnes for Hogan (40 mins), C Warner for Lewis (24 mins).
Referee N Owen (Wales)
