If Leinster entertain serious European Cup pretensions then last night's defeat must be a watershed. Once again they snatched defeat from potential victory, a litany of unforced errors, poor decision making and a failure to be precise under pressure undermining some fine play.
Leinster appeared sluggish, the home side denying them the quick ruck ball they craved. It was impossible to fault Leinster's work ethic but they undermined the perspiration with a dozen unforced errors in the opening 40 minutes.
Eddie Hekenui took a little time to settle at outhalf, the rapport with his centres patchy for most of the opening 40 minutes. In mitigation the New Zealander received too much static ball and was rarely over endowed with options. His success rate with the placed ball of two from six attempts worried coach Matt Williams.
"You can't win matches unless you have an 80 per cent kicking average in a game. We didn't meet those standards. I thought we played very well for the most part. There were errors but also a lot of very positive rugby. We have had only two sessions with this team but with a clear run on injuries I think we can move forward quickly."
Approaching the half hour, Edinburgh led 6-3 with two penalties from outhalf Gordon Ross to one from Hekenui when the home side's classy Scottish international full back Chris Paterson produced a fine individual moment. As the home side swept into the Leinster 22, Denis Hickie overran the defensive alignment allowing Paterson to glide outside Hekenui and inside Girvan Dempsey for a try.
Ross converted and added a drop goal to leave Reivers 16-3 ahead. A second Hekenui penalty sparked Leinster's best passage of the match: Dempsey made a fine break but it was Hickie who salvaged the half. Wonderful footwork and balance took him past three tacklers, but it was his second involvement, an inside-and-out break and pass that allowed Dempsey to break a tackle and run the last 20 metres for a try.
Hekenui missed the conversion and Leinster's facility to self destruct surfaced when they conceded a very soft try to Edinburgh number eight Simon Taylor, a straightforward back row move down the blindside yielding a score from an 18 metre scrum. Duncan Hodge added a penalty.
Again Hickie galvanised Leinster, a 70-metre run forcing Edinburgh to concede a penalty in their own 22. From the resulting lineout O'Kelly was driven over. Just three points adrift, Leinster's porous defence was punished eventually by Reivers centre Kevin Utterson who crossed for a try. Leinster's fate was sealed.
Scoring sequence: 5 mins: Ross penalty, 3-0; 16: Hekenui penalty, 3-3; 22: Ross penalty, 6-3; 24: Paterson try, Ross conversion, 13-3; 38: Ross drop goal, 16-3; 45: Dempsey try, 16-11. Half-time: 16-11. 51: S Taylor try, 21-11; 57: O'Kelly try, 21-16; 65: Hodge penalty, 24-16; 70: Putt try, 24-21; 76: Utterson try, 29-21.
EDINBURGH REIVERS: C Paterson; K Milligan, C Joiner, K Utterson, C Murray; G Ross, G Burns; A Jacobsen, S Scott, B Stewart; N Hines, R Metcalfe; D McKinnon (capt), S Taylor, M Taylor. Replacements: G Dall for M Taylor (25 mins); A Lucking for McKinnon (46 mins); D Hodge for Ross (57 mins); C Smith for Stewart (65 mins); G Shiel for Joiner (71 mins); Stewart for Jacobsen (74 mins); I Fairley for Utterson (80 mins).
LEINSTER: G Dempsey; D Hickie, B O'Driscoll, S Horgan, G D'Arcy; E Hekenui, K Putt; R Corrigan, S Byrne, E Byrne; M O'Kelly, L Cullen; E Miller, V Costello, L Toland (capt). Replacements: P Smyth for S Byrne (56 mins); R Casey for Cullen (62 mins); G Halpin for E Byrne (63 mins); T Brennan for Miller (77 mins); M McHugh for Hekenui (78 mins); P McKenna for Hickie (79 mins).
Referee: D Gillet (France).
Sin Binned: C Murray (Edinburgh) 57-67 mins; E Miller (Leinster) 64-74 mins.
