Leinster Bag Bonus At Murrayfield

Having lost on their last four visits to Murrayfield in all competitions, Leinster were relieved to cut loose by scoring four first half tries on the way to a 27-16 win over Edinburgh on Saturday.

Leinster did the damage in the first half, stringing together four tries in the space of 17 minutes to put their European ‘bogey’ team to the sword.

Man-of-the-match Rocky Elsom, crowning his Heineken Cup debut, Brian O’Driscoll, Felipe Contepomi and Shane Horgan, who took his European try tally to 24, all crossed the whitewash.

It was not all plain sailing for the visitors – Edinburgh made a game of it with a second half penalty try and they had legitimate calls for another one – but Michael Cheika’s side did enough to warrant the five points thanks to their clinical finishing.

Admittedly, this was an Edinburgh team at a low ebb.

Minus a hatful of players due to injury and second-from-bottom in the Magners League, Andy Robinson’s men had plenty of possession in the first half but they were consistently turned over by a fast-rucking Leinster.

Leinster ran amok for a 52-6 win when these sides met in the league at the RDS last month.

But with the province’s poor record at Murrayfield to consider, hearing the theme song from ‘Misson: Impossible’ blasting from the PA system pre-match drew ironic smiles from both sets of supporters.

Edinburgh controlled the early part of the game, going through the phases with team captain Mike Blair linking between backs and forwards.

Nevertheless, they failed to hurt Leinster with their forages forward, save for the 15th minute penalty which Phil Godman kicked to open the scoring.

But Leinster’s European campaign really took off three minutes later, when Girvan Dempsey won turnover ball which Rocky Elsom quickly converted into a try.

The Australian flanker burst forward on a 35-metre charge, fending off two initial tackles and holding off Blair and Godman near the try-line to finish off a fine score.

Contepomi kicked the conversion and Leinster seemed energised as number 8 Jamie Heaslip tore forward on a lengthy solo run.

Edinburgh regrouped to seal off their line but they could nothing to stop O’Driscoll from chalking up try number two.

Contepomi cut through the Scots’ midfield and timing his run to perfection, O’Driscoll gobbled up the Puma’s offload to race in under the posts.

Rested for last week’s game against Connacht, O’Driscoll had few peers at the home of Scottish rugby as he put in a memorable individual display full of sharp tackling, jinking runs and clever passing.

The former Leinster captain scampered away from Blair and into open territory over the halfway line, as Edinburgh’s defence crumbled once again.

Showing great vision, he looped a pass out to his left for Contepomi to collect and canter over for his try, which he failed to convert.

Five minutes before the break and just moments after their last score, Leinster managed to put Shane Horgan over in the right corner to clinch their bonus point.

In a half that saw a lot of aimless punting down-field, Leinster counter-attacked through Heaslip on this occasion.

He made great yardage down the right wing and then put the supporting Dempsey into a gap.

The full-back got his pass away to Horgan before shipping a heavy tackle and the big winger covered the last 25 metres to the line on an angled run.

Contepomi missed the conversion but at 24-3, Leinster were cruising and already on their way to the top of Pool 2.

Chris Paterson, who had missed a 28th minute penalty chance, redeemed himself by bisecting the posts just before the interval to double Edinburgh’s tally.

Stung by Robinson’s half-time words, Blair and company predictably rallied during the early part of the second half.

A gallop forward by Jim Hamilton helped Edinburgh earn their one and only try. He was stopped short of the line by Horgan, but a quick recycle caught the Leinster defence napping and Contepomi, standing way offside, intercepted Blair’s pass and kicked to touch.

He had prevented what looked to be a certain try as the hosts had numbers on the left and referee Rob Debney sin-binned the Leinster number 10 for the offence and awarded Edinburgh a penalty try.

Leinster had enjoyed a good deal of luck in the opening half, particularly when a forward pass from Luke Fitzgerald was not spotted in the lead-up to O’Driscoll’s try.

Paterson converted to reduce the arrears to 24-13. Edinburgh continued to enjoy the lion’s share of possession, although 14-man Leinster defended stoutly and their lineout also improved as the game wore on.

Cheika’s side brought play into the Edinburgh 22 for a good five minutes, coming up to the hour mark. They went away scoreless though, as Rob Kearney missed a penalty shot from the left.

At the other end, Chris Whitaker was fortunate to get away with just the concession of a penalty when he slapped away a pass from Hugo Soutwell which was destined to put Scott Newlands over for a try.

Instead, Paterson stepped up to kick his second successful penalty and Leinster’s lead was down to six points.

Not for long, as Contepomi returned to kick a 70th minute penalty after Edinburgh lock Matt Mustchin had been sin-binned for a foolish trip on Kearney.

Contepomi’s well-struck effort from the right tied up the result and sent Leinster back to Dublin with an enviable five points.

In their video analysis, some aspects of their play will need to be looked at and improved upon but it was a very good start to the tournament.

O’Driscoll and Elsom stood out and very few teams in Europe can score tries the way Leinster do. The pool is still wide open though, and the visit of London Wasps to the RDS next Saturday will tell much.