Leinster 22-16 Edinburgh: Capital side show more steel in Dublin

There was certainly much to admire in the way Edinburgh refused to accept what seemed like their inevitable fate, three times recovering after a try from stand-off Jonathan Sexton and two more touchdowns by replacement centre Brendan Macken to come within one  miraculous play of a win.

“They’ve got more steel than they had last year, certainly in this competition. Even though they had the ability last year, they’re starting to grow into that ability. They’re a very tough team to break down,” commented Schmidt on Edinburgh.

Michael Bradley’s men could have fallen away for Leinster to nab the four-try bonus-point. Instead, they were skilful, muscular, resourceful and committed until the final whistle.

“It is indicative of their steel this year as compared to last year (in the PRO12). But it is not overly surprising that we are just a few paces off things at the  moment,” added Schmidt.

Leinster’s Sexton, the late hero against Benetton Treviso, slipped through for an eighth-minute try, the conversion and then a penalty from the left side.

But Edinburgh, winless in Dublin for seven years, came to the fore in the second quarter with No 10 Greig Laidlaw rewarding them with a brace of penalties. Lee Jones was thwarted by Isa Nacewa in a one-on-one out wide and the hosts scrambled well in defence to bring down Nick De Luca and fellow Scotland international Ross Ford. That left Leinster hanging on to a 10-6 lead at the break.

In the second half, the hosts needed a spark of inspiration and it came from replacement centre Macken who launched a superb counter attack from deep. Backs and forwards combined brilliantly – Cian Healy, in particular, put in some powerful carries – to keep the move going and Edinburgh prop John Yapp’s efforts in slowing up a close-in ruck resulting in him being yellow-carded.

As Leinster pressed again, the Scots had lock Sean Cox sin-binned for killing the ball. The under-strength Edinburgh scrum managed to stave off a pushover score though and lock Tom Denton was also tackled into touch.

The numerical advantage eventually paid off for Leinster in the 57th minute as they flooded forward in support of the fast-breaking Fionn Carr, who passed for Macken to finish off in the right corner.

Sexton was unable to convert and Edinburgh responded with another Laidlaw penalty on the hour mark to stay in the hunt.

However, a bout of hard running and crisp passing helped Leinster take a sizeable leap towards victory. Man-of-the-match Macken snuck through for his second try, profiting from Jordi Murphy’s pass out of a tackle.

But Edinburgh were far from finished, their forwards carrying with purpose in the shadow of the posts and a lovely pop pass from Richie Rees put replacement WP Nel over in the 71st minute. Laidlaw converted to give the Scots a losing bonus point and there were no further scores despite plenty of action in both 22s.

“They were able to put pressure on us right until the end. It was a little bit nerve-wracking,” said Schmidt. “We got the win, a pretty untidy one, but we knew that, after the last result here against Edinburgh, that they would come here with a lot more resolve.

“As I said before the game, they’re a team that has certainly stepped up from last season and we always know that we’re vulnerable at this time of year.”

The win put Leinster in fourth place and Edinburgh are tucked in at sixth, four points behind early pace-setters, Scarlets.

Scorers: Leinster – Tries: J Sexton, Macken (2). Cons: J Sexton (2). Pen: J Sexton. Edinburgh: Try – Nel. Con: Laidlaw. Pens: Laidlaw (3).

Leinster: I Nacewa; A Conway, B O’Driscoll, G D’Arcy (B Macken 27), F Carr; J Sexton (I Madigan 68), J Cooney; C Healy (H ven der Merwe 52), S Cronin, M Ross (J Hagan 60), L Cullen (capt, D Toner 60), T Denton, K McLaughlin, J Heaslip, S Jennings (J Murphy 48).

Edinburgh: G Tonks; L Jones, N De Luca, M Scott, T Brown; G Laidlaw (capt), R Rees; J Yapp, R Ford (A Titterrell 74), G Cross (W Nel 37), G Gilchrist, S Cox, S McInally, N Talei, R Grant.