Misery for Edinburgh as classy Leinster dole out a 50-10 pummelling

Edinburgh haven’t won in Dublin since 2005, and there was no sign of that statistic changing as Leinster beat Richard Cockerill’s side by 40 points at the RDS.

Leinster's Liam Turner is first to the ball against Edinburgh in Dublin. Picture: Laszlo Geczo/INPHO/Shutterstock

In a 50-10 rout, the home side scored two tries in as many minutes before half time to secure the bonus point, while another three in the 14 minutes after the break piled on the misery on Edinburgh, who saw Nic Groom score a late consolation try.

Cian Kelleher scored a hat-trick of tries for Leinster, who picked up their sixth straight bonus point win to start the season.

With the wind blowing from all directions at the RDS it was no shock to see both sides trying to feel their way into the action.

Leinster's Luke McGrath charges past Ally Miller of Edinburgh during last night's big win for the home side. Picture: Laszlo Geczo/INPHO/Shutterstock

After some early Leinster territorial pressure, a no arms tackle on Ally Miller allowed Edinburgh to clear their lines, while a couple of Henry Pyrgos box-kicks forced an error at the other end.

But crucially Edinburgh were not able to retain possession from their attacking lineout, and 30 seconds after threatening the Leinster line, Edinburgh were desperately defending their own following a lethal counter attack. However, Dave Kearney got over for the try and a 5-0 Leinster lead in the 13th minute.

With a lead to defend, Leinster easily soaked up Edinburgh’s forays, and seven minutes after the first try, their second arrived. A handful of powerful carries saw Leinster gain yardage, and after Eroni Sau stepped in to make a key tackle, Leinster attacked the space on the wing and Kearney sent Luke McGrath over for a run-in try. After missing the first conversion, Ciaran Frawley slotted the second for a 12-0 lead.

The loss of centre Mark Bennett was another setback for Edinburgh, but some poor handling and unforced errors from the home side invited the Scottish side back into the tie. And nine minutes from the interval a strong carry from Magnus Bradbury forced a penalty at the breakdown, and Nathan Chamberlain kicked the points from the tee.

On his 50th Edinburgh appearance Pierre Schoeman saved Edinburgh when he held up Dan Leavy, but it was a brief ease as Peter Dooley scored following the scrum. Frawley added the extras for a 19-3 lead after 38 minutes.

And straight away Leinster struck again as McGrath’s second try gave them the bonus point and a 26-3 interval advantage.

The turnaround for the second half didn’t bring any reduction in Leinster’s hunger and three minutes after the break Dan Leavy – making his first start in 18 months following a brutal knee injury – drove over for their fifth try.

A shambolic lineout denied Edinburgh a shot at the Leinster try line in the 46th minute, and they didn’t help their cause by kicking straight into touch moments later. In the next play Sau was sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on and it didn’t take Leinster long to score again through Cian Kelleher.

Kelleher’s second try followed six minutes later as Leinster took advantage of Edinburgh’s numerical disadvantage out wide, and although Edinburgh experienced some moments in attack it always seemed to end with an error.

Twelve minutes from the end Nic Groom managed to breach the Leinster line following his quick-tap penalty – Schoeman had come close moments earlier – and Chamberlin’s conversion made it 45-10, but Kelleher ran in his third try six minutes from time.

Leinster: J O’Brien, C Kelleher, L Turner, C Frawley, D Kearney, H Byrne, L McGrath; P Dooley, J Tracey, M Bent, D Toner, S Fardy, D Leavy, S Penny, R Ruddock.

Replacements: D Sheehan (for Tracey 51), M Milne (for Dooley 51), C Parker (for Bent 51), J Murphy (for Ruddock 51), D Hawkshaw (for Byrne 56), H O'Sullivan (for McGrath 58), R Baird (for Leavy 58), R Molony (for Toner 69).

Yellow cards: none

Scorers – Try: Kearney (12), McGrath (20, 40), Dooley (38), Leavy (43), Kelleher (48, 54, 74). Con: Frawley (5).

Edinburgh: J Blain; E Sau, M Bennett, C Dean, J Farndale; N Chamberlain, H Pyrgos (c); P Schoeman, D Cherry, L-R Atalifo; A Ferreira, A Davidson; M Bradbury, L Crosbie, A Miller.

Replacements: J Johnstone (for Bennett 23), N Groom (for Pyrgos 48), D Gamble (for Atalifo 52), M Willemse (for Cherry 57), J Hodgson (for Ferreira 57), R Darge (for Davidson 63),S Grahamslaw (for Schoeman 69), C Shiel (for Farndale 70).

Yellow cards: E Sau 48

Scorers – Try: Groom (68). Con: Chamberlain (1). Pen: Chamberlain (32).