Leinster off to winning start

Leinster 23-8 Edinburgh:  Leinster got their Magners League campaign off to a near flawless start at the refurbished RDS, crossing…

Leinster 23-8 Edinburgh: Leinster got their Magners League campaign off to a near flawless start at the refurbished RDS, crossing for three tries in a convincing defeat of Edinburgh.

Tries from backs Luke Fitzgerald, Gary Brown and Jonathan Sexton steered the hosts to their 21st straight home win in all competitions.

A sizeable crowd of 9,632 turned up to see a Leinster line-up which included new Argentinian signing Juan Francisco Gomez make a clear statement for the season ahead.

Former England coach Andy Robinson, in Dublin as a World Cup analyst for Setanta Sports, was a notable spectator at the game and is in contention to be named the new Edinburgh coach.

READ MORE

After missing an early penalty, outhalf Sexton opened his account for the season on 10 minutes after Leinster were held up inches from the Glasgow line.

This was followed nine minutes later by Fitzgerald's first try of the season as the Blackrock teenager came off his wing at pace before out-stripping two would-be tacklers.

Sexton missed the conversion and Phil Godman reduced arrears with an Edinburgh penalty to leave it 8-3 to Leinster at the interval.

Sexton rediscovered his range five minutes into the second half with his second penalty and the result was secured soon after thanks to a fine individual try from speedster Brown. The 27-year-old winger brilliantly out-sprinted two men before gathering his own grubber kick to touch down near the corner flag.

Leinster's third try arrived with 10 minutes remaining when Sexton, displaying his improved physicality built up over the summer months, bumped off Ben Cairns before crossing under the posts. The former Ireland under-21 international duly added the conversion for a 13-point personal haul.

While chasing a bonus point fourth try in injury-time, Leinster were exposed by a rash pass from prop Stan Wright.

His attempted pass was seized upon by Edinburgh winger Andrew Turnbull who sped clear of hooker Brian Blaney for a consolation score for the Scots, who have now only won once in their last nine league games.