Leinster Topple League Leaders

The only 100% record left in this season’s Magners League fell at Murrayfield on Saturday night as Edinburgh’s place-kicker extraordinaire, Chris Paterson, missed an injury-time penalty attempt allowing Leinster to edge out the table toppers in a drama-filled finish.

The lead changed hands twice in the last two minutes of normal time and Paterson’s usually reliable right boot failed him in injury-time as Edinburgh’s nine-match winning streak in the league – including three opening wins this season – was ended.

The assured place-kicking of Leinster centre Fergus McFadden saw the visitors lead for most of the second half, the Ireland ‘A’ international landing six penalty goals from seven attempts throughout the match.

But Leinster’s indiscipline up front allowed Edinburgh fight back from 18-13 down. Paterson kept up his remarkable kicking form, bisecting the posts with penalty efforts in the 71st and 79th minutes to nudge the Scots into a 19-18 lead.

The European champions kept their composure, forcing a quick turnover in the Edinburgh 22 which allowed replacement out-half Jonathan Sexton boot what looked to be the match-winning drop goal.

Incredibly, there were two more twists before time was up. Returning Lion Jamie Heaslip needlessly gave away a penalty in midfield, allowing Edinburgh a last-gasp glimmer of hope.

But Paterson, successful with his last 19th kicks at goal in the competition, was left dejected when his injury-time penalty fell wide of the posts and Leinster were left to celebrate their first win in eight league trips to Scotland.

Speaking after that nerve-jangling finish, man-of-the-match McFadden said: “We’re very happy to come out of this game with a win because Edinburgh are a top class team who have been in excellent form.

“We were probably a bit lucky to get out of jail at the end but we’ll take the win. We didn’t play great rugby, so there’ll be no sense of complacency ahead of next weekend’s game against Munster.

“We know that we’ll need to raise our game once more.

“The resilience that we showed was a positive for us and we have now won our last three games, so we’re happy with the result, if not the performance.”

The two-point defeat means Edinburgh’s lead at the top of the table is now down to just a single point.

Leinster, who reintroduced Heaslip, Rob Kearney and Luke Fitzgerald to league action, went ahead in the third minute when McFadden landed his first penalty.

The home side welcomed another 2009 Lion, Mike Blair, back into their starting line-up. The Scotland scrum half captained Edinburgh, with centre Nick De Luca and flanker Alan MacDonald also earning recalls.

Edinburgh quickly levelled through Paterson but the first half was error-strewn and largely forgettable and neither side could gain the upperhand in open play.

Rob Moffat’s league leaders had more of the ball in open play, using Ben Cairns and De Luca to forage through the middle.

Time and again, Leinster’s defence was up to the task with Cian Healy, Heaslip and former Edinburgh lock Nathan Hines putting into some forceful hits.

Big wingers Tim Visser and Mark Robertson looked dangerous when the ball came their way and Leinster had to dig themselves out of trouble on occasion through the kicking of McFadden, out-half Shaun Berne and returning full-back Kearney.

With the sides cancelling each other out, place-kicks became so vital. Phil Godman was off target with one midway through the half, before Paterson kicked Edinburgh in front for the first time on the half-hour mark.

The Scots deserved to be further ahead on the balance of play, and Visser had to bundled into touch as he threatened to break the try deadlock.

Leinster were beginning to get in trouble for misdemeanours at the breakdown and young prop Healy saw yellow, five minutes before the break, for illegally slowing up Edinburgh ball.

As is so often the case, going down to 14 men seemed to have a galvanising effect. McFadden punted an injury-time penalty through the uprights for a 6-6 half-time scoreline and followed up with two excellent penalties in the opening minutes of the second half.

McFadden missed one effort in between, but continued to take on the place-kicking duties despite the presence of Jonathan Sexton on the pitch, the man who kicked Leinster to European glory at this very ground last May.

Edinburgh had looked the more likely to score a try in the opening 40 minutes and just moments after losing lock Scott MacLeod to the sin-bin and going 12-6 down, they struck for the only try of the night.

Allister Hogg carried forward with menace off the back of a scrum and centre Cairns prized his way through a gap in the middle, slashing his way through and beating the cover to score under the posts.

Credit to John Houston who made the initial incision and Craig Hamilton who provided the try-scoring pass.

Play was kept between the 22s for the most part. Paterson, who tagged on the conversion, threatened from deep and Visser was inches away from a try, Sexton doing well to get back and touch down after a well-judged chip and chase by the Dutchman.

The breakdown was the key area, where the match would be won and lost, and Leinster engineered two more kicks, on 62 and 66 minutes, which the in-form McFadden had no trouble in converting.

Flanker Sean O’Brien should be singled out too for nabbing some timely turnovers for Michael Cheika’s men.

The game lulled briefly as a raft of replacements came on, before it built again for a final crescendo. Paterson’s brace of penalties saw Edinburgh close in on their fourth win of the current campaign.

But luck was not on the Scottish star’s side at the death, as Sexton’s smartly-struck drop goal from 35 metres out proved to be the match-winning kick.