Edinburgh Rugby 40 Leinster 34: An immense fightback by Leinster after trailing 27-6 at half-time produced four tries but in the end it was not enough to prevent Edinburgh from winning at Murrayfield last night.
But Leinster, who have now slipped behind Edinburgh, at least had the satisfaction of gaining two bonus points, but they will rue allowing an Edinburgh side bolstered by four Scotland squad members to score four first half tries.
Edinburgh landed a penalty from outhalf Anders Monro and a try by full back Derrick Lee in the opening minutes.
However, having stemmed the early leakage of points, Leinster hit back with a penalty by Argentinian Filipe Contepomi. It was temporary respite, however, for the Irishmen as Edinburgh launched an attack that involved just about every player in the side and ended with Lee taking a return pass from Craig Joiner for his second try.
The conversion by Monro and a second penalty by Contepomi made the score 15-6 but Edinburgh quickly increased their lead with a third try by centre Matt Dey, who danced through the Leinster defence after Edinburgh had stretched their markers with side to side handling.
With half time approaching Leinster at last showed their attacking ability and a try seemed certain when full back James Norton fastened on to a kick ahead by outhalf Matthew Leek only for referee Nigel Ballard to rule the full back offside.
At the other end there was no doubt about Hugo Southwell's try, the full back hitting the line at pace before crashing through a couple of tackles for his side's fourth try, Monro's conversion giving Edinburgh a 27-6 half-time advantage.
Leinster looking much more determined in the second half and ate into the Edinburgh lead after just eight minutes with a try by flanker Niall Ronan with Contepomi adding the conversion.
Monro added a penalty before centre Christian Warner, gathering the ball from replacement Brian O'Riordan's kick ahead grabbed a great try, Contepomi's conversion reducing Edinburgh's lead to 10 points.
Could Leinster bridge the gap? The answer came minutes later as Norton sidestepped through the Edinburgh defence for a great solo try, converted by Contepomi, but an equally fine effort by Scotland lock Nathan Hines and the conversion by Monro restored the 10 points lead.
Then in the second minute of injury time Leinster struck again with a try by skipper Des Dillon and the conversion by Contepomi only for Edinburgh to have the final say with a Southwell penalty.
EDINBURGH: D Lee; H Southwell, M Di Rollo, M Dey, C Joiner; A Monro, M Blair; C Smith, D Hall, J Brannigan, N Hines (captain), A Kellock, A Strokosch, S Cross, A Dall. Replacements: C Harrison for Cross (47), R Lawson for Blair (70), T McGee for Smith (71), A Kelly for Hall (72 mins), C Sharman for Lee (78), M Clapperton for Monro (81).
LEINSTER: J Norton; J McWeeney, C Warner, F Contepomi, B Burke; M Leek, B O'Meara; P Coyle, G Hickie, S Brophy, C Potts, B Gissing, D Dillon (capt), N Ronan, V Costello. Replacements: J Moran for Coyle (23 mins), B O'Riordan for O'Meara (53), B O'Riordan for O'Meara (53), B Blaney for Hickie (57), G Brown for Leek (64).
Referee: N Ballard (Wales)
