LEINSTER 33 (Tries: Ryan 2, Conan, Marshall, M McGrath. Cons: Gopperth 4)
EDINBURGH 8 (Try: Leonardi. Pen: Heathcote)
It's the injuries that resonate. Again. Ben Te'o showed a glimpse of that rugby league power before the recently landed Aucklander broke his forearm in an innocuous tackle. Kane Douglas, the more ensconced Wallaby lock, seemed fitter last night and by dint more aggressive until sparking himself and being helped ashore by Dr John Ryan. At least there were no more problems at prop. An initially eager and light-footed Tadhg Furlong got treatment for his ongoing neck problem but was replaced due to "cramp".
Considering Nathan White’s surgery, Marty Moore’s shoulder and Mike Ross’s unclear fitness status, Furlong’s rapid promotion up the tighthead ranks remains a possibility. But it’s one Matt O’Connor believes would be a mistake.
“To ask him to play tighthead against South Africa at the moment is probably a step too far for him,” the Leinster coach said.
“He will fight for you, he will do a good job for you but is he up for that yet? I don’t know.”
Another typical Leinster RDS night then. Five tries.
But Alan Solomons’ Edinburgh were poor. When Te’o was forced off after just 19 minutes Leinster already sat upon a 12-0 lead. That was largely down to shockingly inept defending than any masterful ingenuity from backrowers Dominic Ryan and Jack Conan.
Ryan peeled off a lineout maul after three minutes to find the blindside unmanned. Taking over place-kicking from the absent Ian Madigan, Gopperth scuffed the conversion.
The Kiwi atoned by converting Conan’s try soon after, the number eight busting the attempted tackle of Argentine flanker Tomás Leonardi to streak away.
Conan had an impressive night, clearly belonging in this environment, but fellow St Gerard’s graduate Steve Crosbie might need to finish his rugby education in the academy before another climb at this altitude.
An undoubted talent at outhalf, Crosbie was forced to inside centre after Te’o’s premature exit, where he dropped three balls, two in contact, and got ran over a few times. The 21-year-old battled on in difficult circumstances.
O’Connor could have moved Luke Fitzgerald to outside centre and kept Noel Reid at 12, but he went the other way. Fitzgerald eventually finished the game at centre, where a clever burst and offload created the fifth try for Mick McGrath.
Despite his nightmarish injury run, he remains a world class attacking threat. “Luke looked sharp. He beat blokes for fun out there,” said O’Connor.
Edinburgh should have clawed their way back into this affair as a groggy Douglas struggled to find his feet. Instead, Tom Heathcote botched his second eminently kickable penalty. That left it 12-3 at the turn.
There were individual positives. Richardt Strauss is returning to his high standards again and scrumhalf Luke McGrath is growing in stature, but as a collective Leinster were disjointed.
That brutish victory in Castres keeps the season on track but Leinster do not seem themselves yet this term. O’Connor can rightly point to the disruptive nature of the ever-mounting injuries.
“The performance level is a little bit irrelevant given that there are 20 plus blokes out of the environment,” O’Connor reasoned.
From a generous penalty near Edinburgh’s line, the lineout maul ended for the second time with Ryan flopping over.
The Scots powder-puff defence immediately gifted Ben Marshall the bonus-point try 17 minutes from time.
The rest was window dressing. Bottom line: five points banked. Job done.
Scoring sequence – 3 mins: D Ryan try, 5-0; 13 mins: J Conan try, 10-0; J Gopperth conv; 29 mins: 12-0; T Heathcote pen, 12-3. Half-time – 12-3. 52 mins: D Ryan try, 17-3; J Gopperth conv, 19-3; 63 mins: B Marshall try, 24-3; J Gopperth conv, 26-3; 75 mins: T Leonardi try, 26-8; 79 mins: M McGrath try, 31-8; J Gopperth conv, 33-8.
LEINSTER: Z Kirchner; D Fanning, B Te'o, N Reid, L Fitzgerald; J Gopperth, L McGrath; M Bent, R Strauss, T Furlong, T Denton, K Douglas, K McLaughlin (capt), D Ryan, J Conan. Replacements: S Crosbie for B Te'o (19 mins), B Marshall for K Douglas (32 mins), E Byrne for M Bent (46 mins), I Boss for L McGrath (61 mins), M Bent for T Furlong, B Byrne for R Strauss (both 66 mins), D Leavy for D Ryan, M McGrath for N Reid both (69 mins).
EDINBURGH: N McLenna; D Fife, J Dominguez, A Strauss (capt), T Visser; T Heathcote, S Hidalgo-Clyne; A Dell, J Hilterbrand, W Nel, B Toolis, J Turley, M Bradbury, T Leonardi, D Denton. Replacements: G Tonks for N McLennan (15 mins), R Sutherland for A Dell (22 mins), S Kennedy for S Hidalfo-Clyde (49 mins), J Andress for M Bradbury, J Richie for W Nel, J Cuthbert for A Strauss (all 62 mins), G Turner for D Fife (69 mins).
Referee: N Owens (Wales).
