United Rugby Championship: Leinster 36 Edinburgh 27
Leinster will be satisfied with the result, a bonus point victory, but not aspects of the performance that were substandard, particularly the set-piece, where they coughed up five scrum penalties and close to half a dozen turnovers at the lineout.
Ordinarily, those sorts of statistics would scupper a team’s chances, but Leo Cullen’s side managed to produce periodically in rugby terms to notch five tries. It kept Edinburgh at arm’s length for long enough and despite a fraught end game, Leinster still had enough in hand not to lose the match.
There were some excellent individual performances, Tommy O’Brien continued his rich vein of form, Jamie Osborne and Charlie Ngatai performed well individually while Harry Byrne had some lovely moments that were a better representation of his talent. Cormac Foley was excellent.
Up front hooker Lee Barron, Jason Jenkins and James Culhane were prominent and effective on both sides of the ball while few worked harder than Scott Penny. And yet there were too many errors, basic mistakes coupled with a lack of composure that might have caused more debilitating problems on another day.
Leinster spent the first six minutes largely without the ball, conceding several penalties for a variety of offences, and thereby allowing Edinburgh access to possession and territory. The home side had reason to be grateful to Jason Jenkins in particular, three thumping tackles in the early stages stopping the visitors’ momentum.
Edinburgh elected to kick a penalty to the corner but came away with nothing when prop Pierre Schoeman was bundled into touch. Leinster’s set-piece issues came predominantly during the opening 40-minutes as they conceded four penalties at the scrum and three turnovers at the lineout, yet despite a rickety platform still managed to score three tries.
Former Munster outhalf Ben Healy gave Edinburgh a deserved lead with a well-struck penalty on 17 minutes but the home side’s riposte was quick, if a little fortuitous. Jenkins was beaten to the touch at a lineout, but hooker Lee Barron reacted sharply to grab the loose ball and drive over the line for a try, his second in three appearances this season.
Harry Byrne kicked a superb conversion, but Leinster’s control of the game remained fitful at best, periodically undermined by some sloppy basics. One aspect was a failure to appreciate where the space was on the pitch. Passes were often unsympathetic and telegraphed. Instead of committing defenders Leinster were guilty of just shipping the ball.
A superb break by Byrne went a long way to making amends. His efforts were carried on by Foley and Ngatai, giving the home side the field position that eventually led to a try for Max Deegan after several penalties and a yellow card for Edinburgh secondrow Glen Young.
Byrne converted but the outhalf would enjoy an even more pivotal influence on the stroke of half-time. Hamish Watson conceded a penalty at a ruck, Byrne kicked to the corner, but it was his gorgeous, floated pass to Frawley that provided the definitive breach, enabling the fullback to touch down under the posts.
Healy had earlier kicked a second penalty, but Leinster headed for the dressing room 21-6 ahead. There was still a carelessness to aspects of Leinster’s play, handling and decision-making but to their credit they also produced some great passages of rugby.
The bonus point try materialised on 51 minutes and it was fitting that it was scored by the superb O’Brien with Barron providing a well-timed scoring pass.
Blair Kinghorn’s excellent outside break took him past Harry Byrne in a counterattack that culminated in a try for replacement James Lang but Leinster were able to keep a decent buffer thanks to Number eight James Culhane’s first try for his province.
Both benches arrived mobhanded, and that glut of changes saw the game lose a little bit of its cohesion. Leinster’s scrum issues continued with two thirds of a new frontrow as they conceded yet another penalty on 67 minutes.
Healy kicked to the corner and Edinburgh mauled their way over with Connor Boyle touching down. Healy’s conversion allowed the visitors to cut the deficit to 33-20.
Replacement outhalf Sam Prendergast kicked a penalty but once again Leinster’s fallibility in the set piece resurfaced. Another lineout turnover pre-empted a try for replacement prop Boan Venter, his side’s third of the match. Healy tagged on the conversion to provide his side with a sighting of potential bonus points - both losing and attacking - albeit they didn’t come to fruition.
Scoring sequence: 17 mins: Healy penalty, 0-3; 21: Barron try, Byrne conversion, 7-3; 31: Deegan try, Byrne conversion, 3-14; 36: Healy penalty 6-14; 39: Frawley try, Byrne conversion, 21-6. Half-time: 21-6. 51: O’Brien try, Byrne conversion, 28-6; 54: Lang try, Healy conversion, 28-13; 58: Culhane try, 33-13; 67: Boyle try, Healy conversion, 33-20; 70: Prendergast penalty, 36-20; 73: Venter try, Healy conversion 36-27.
Leinster: C Frawley; T O’Brien, J Osborne, C Ngatai, J Larmour; H Byrne, C Foley; J Boyle, L Barron, M Ala’alatoa; R Molony, J Jenkins; M Deegan, S Penny (capt), J Culhane.
Replacements: R Ruddock for Deegan, B Murphy for Foley, S Prendergast for Byrne, R Russell for Ngatai (all 55 mins) P McCarthy for Boyle (59), R McGuire for Ala’alatoa (both 59), B Deeny for Jenkins (61), D Donnellan for Barron (66).
Edinburgh: B Kinghorn; W Goosen, M Bennett, M Currie, D van der Merwe; B Healy, C Shiel; P Schoeman, D Cherry, WP Nel; G Young, G Gilchrist (capt); T Dodd, H Watson, L Crosbie.
Replacements: M Sykes for Watson, C Boyle for Crosbie (both half-time), J Lang for Bennett (50 mins), E Ashman for Cherry (55) B Venter for Schoeman, J Sebastian for Nel (all 55), C Dean for Currie (71 mins).
Yellow card: Glen Young (29 mins)
Referee: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
