Leinster 22 Edinburgh 16EYE-CATCHING ON occasions but not always engaging, Leinster's fitful performance in the RDS may have delivered a win but also some words of caution from coach Joe Schmidt. To say Schmidt was concerned might be overloading the sentiments after a victory that never seemed in doubt. But nor did it always look convincing against a side that had not won in Dublin for seven years.
Brendan Macken put his hand up with two tries when he came on after 26 minutes for the injured Gordon D’Arcy, while the man beside him with all the tee shirts rugby can provide, Brian O’Driscoll, gave a masterclass in defensive honesty and illuminated Ballsbridge with an enlightened attacking move in the second half.
His lateral run across the face of the entire Edinburgh defensive line on 57 minutes all but took half the team out of play before Fionn Carr scampered away from the field and held the pass up perfectly for Macken to accelerate through for his first try.
Flanker Kevin McLaughlin wryly noted afterwards that the changing room mood was closer to a defeat than to a team that had just won by six points. A lost bonus point now could be the difference between home or away advantage in the play-offs — and Leinster do expect to make the play-offs.
“I suppose it’s not overly surprising that we are slightly off things at the moment. It has been no different the last two years really,” said Schmidt. “We have stumbled along a little bit early season with the amount of changes. We have used nearly 40 players already in four games. You are never going to get continuity.”
The assumption that early season rustiness will wear off was met with mild hostility from the coach. “No, I am paranoid, I am nervous,” he said. “There is no certainty that things of their own volition suddenly emerge and you get that great fluidity. We have one training session this week, on Wednesday, to prepare for a Friday game (against Connacht). It is a short turnaround.”
Leinster first put points on the scoreboard following an Edinburgh lineout, where they won possession and prop Cian Healy punched through to make 30 metres. Three recycles later John Cooney slung it back from a ruck near the posts and Jonathan Sexton saw glory from five yards out with the stretched Edinburgh defence at his mercy. He then converted for 7-0.
It wasn’t long before Leinster were back up probing in a whirlwind opening 10 minutes, this time secondrow Tom Denton falling inches short of the try line. But Sexton again stepped up to kick smartly for a 10-0 lead.
It may have looked like an easy victory for Leinster was shaping up but when a chip into Leinster’s score zone in the next Edinburgh attack set Nick De Luca against Sexton, the big centre was a finger tip away from successfully fetching the high ball. Still the referee called back a penalty and Greig Laidlaw nailed three points.
After that Leinster lost the edge and a lot of sideways running without punch allowed Edinburgh keep their interest in the match. When Shane Jennings offended on the floor Laidlaw grabbed three more points for 10-6.
Macken delivered his two scores in the second half, the second coming off replacement Jordi Murphy’s pass out of a tackle and it put Leinster where they expected to be. But the end was nervy and the Scots bounced back from two sin-binnings of John Yapp and Seán Cox to grab a late try from South African prop Willem Nel.
SCORING SEQUENCE: 8 mins: J Sexton try, con 7-0; 13: Sexton pen 10-0; 22: G Laidlaw pen 10-3; 30: Laidlaw pen 10-6. Half-time. 57: B Macken try 15-6; 60: Laidlaw pen 15-9; 66: B Macken try, con Sexton 22-9; 71: W Nel try, Laidlaw con 22-16.
LEINSTER: I Nacewa; A Conway, B O'Driscoll, G D'Arcy, F Carr; J Sexton, E Reddan; C Healy, S Cronin, M Ross, L Cullen (capt), T Denton, K McLaughlin, S Jennings, J Heaslip. Replacements: B Macken for D'Arcy (26 mins); G Murphy for Jennings (48 mins); H van der Merwe for Healy (52 mins); J Hagan for Ross, D Toner for Cullen (60 mins); I Madigan for Sexton (69 mins).
EDINBURGH: G Tonks: L Jones, M De Luca, M Scott, T Brown; G Leidlaw (capt), R Rees; J yapp, R Ford, G Cross, G Gilchrist, S Cox, S McInally, R Grant, N Talei. Replacements: W Nel for Cross (36 mins); D Basilaia for Talei (64 mins); A Titterrell for R Ford (74 mins).
Referee: N Hennessy (WRU).
