Edinburgh are left dazed by Irish reel
EDINBURGH will be completely sick of Irish opposition after a third successive defeat to the Celtic provinces in as many weekends.
But Duncan Hodge’s side can take some consolation from an excellent period of play before halftime that went unrewarded, while Leinster ran in three tries in nine second-half minutes to claim a bonus-point win.
A brilliant offload from George Turner sent Duncan Weir in for a try nine minutes from time, but by then it was far too little, much too late.
Edinburgh had impressed in the early stages, with captain Neil Cochrane leading the way in a strong defensive effort that halted the progress of Josh van der Flier, who later went off injured.
But they were stunned in the 10th minute when Leinster took the lead. From an Edinburgh scrum around halfway, a powerful push from the home pack put the visitors on the back foot.
From the next ruck, the ball squirted out the side to Dan Leavy, who had come on as a replacement for the injured Dominic Ryan.
Leavy looked set to go all the way but he passed to Jack McGrath, who was held up by the Scots defence.
However, the ball was recycled quickly and Irish international Joey Carbery’s looped pass skipped three men in the line and eventually found Barry Daly, who scored in the corner.
Carbery’s conversion slipped past the post and Leinster led 5-0 — but it was the visitors who impressed most.
On several occasions, they rolled through 20-plus phases only to come away from the half without the try their pressure deserved.
Credit, though, to Leinster’s own defensive effort that they remained intact as they looked ragged at times.
Edinburgh had an opportunity to tie the score in the 21st minute, but Magnus Bradbury’s pass was deemed forward as Phil Burleigh galloped down the right wing.
Minutes later, they fell further behind when Carberry kicked a penalty to give Leinster an 8-0 lead.
There was some reward for the visitors when Weir kicked a 35thminute penalty after Leinster’s Zane Kirchner was penalised for failing to roll away from the tackle area.
Missed chances against Munster and Ulster were significant in their last two games, but Edinburgh would not have had a better chance to cross for a try as the one that was spurned just before half-time.
After their maul was halted, a long pass form Chris Dean looked to have sent Tom Brown over.
But the winger knocked on with the try-line gaping and the Scots went in at the break trailing 8-3.
Brown appeared to pick up an injury during that effort and was replaced by Blair Kinghorn at halftime, while Derrick Appiah came on in place of Jack Cosgrove.
However, even with those changes, there was no reversal in Edinburgh’s fortunes.
And after seven minutes of the second half, the home side struck with their second try of the night.
An impressive rolling maul with James Tracy at the tail looked to be heading for the try-line only to fall short.
But after a handful of phases, Edinburgh were unable to stop Ross Byrne and Carbery linking and the starting No 10 stretched to score.
Carbery was again off target with the conversion before Leinster’s injury jinx struck once more in the 52d minute when Zane Kirchner was forced off, which left scrumhalf Luke McGrath on the wing for the rest of the game.
Immediately, McGrath was in the thick of the action on the right and he linked with Jamison GibsonPark, who sent Carbery in for his second try.
And there was no let-up with a 20-3 lead either. A wonderful flat pass from Gibson-Park sent Daly in for his second try, which sealed the bonus point for the home side.
Edinburgh were now reeling and it was no surprise when Leinster increased their lead.
The impressive Leavy scored their fifth try with 13 minutes remaining.
Bryan Byrne then added a sixth, but in the end it was easier than it should have been for Leo Cullen’s team.
The winning margin was huge and Edinburgh were left reeling.