Edinburgh give Leinster Champions Cup scare as wild Dublin contest goes off script
No Easter miracle for Edinburgh who go down 49-31 at the Aviva Stadium
Edinburgh’s Champions Cup campaign was predictably ended by Leinster in Dublin but the contest was far from what most fans and pundits expected going in.
The first eight minutes certainly followed the script written before a ball was kicked, with Tommy O'Brien running in two tries in the corner off fairly straightforward attacking moves. What followed was 40 minutes of insanity from Leinster which Edinburgh took full advantage of.
It all started with one loose pass from Tadgh Furlong which Charlie Shiel was quickest to, picking up the loose ball and running in Edinburgh's first score. Anyone watching who thought that would be the last mistake the hosts made before moving back up the gears and running away with the game would be sorely mistaken.
Two moments of brilliance from Thomson
Ross Thomson built on his side's first score with the best try of the day from the 12 that were eventually scored, as the fly-half ran in a brilliant individual score while slipping tackles from Ireland stars Jamison Gibson-Park and Hugo Keenan along the way. He then nailed an already difficult conversion made that bit harder by the ball slipping from the tee with five seconds remaining on the shot clock.
Leinster responded with another score, this time from Jimmy O'Brien on their other wing but Edinburgh closed the gap once again immediately after as another slack pass from the home side gave Thomson an easy intercept and score.
Patient build-up play from the next Leinster attack put Keenan in to seemingly give them breathing space at half time but before the break they once again shot themselves in the foot with yet another interception. Matt Currie was the man to go over for the visitors this time and that meant just two points separated the sides as they went up the tunnel with the score at 28-26.
It was game on at the Aviva Stadium and Edinburgh, who were clearly in with a shot if Leinster continued to make mistakes, were given a massive reprieve early in the second half when Josh van der Flier's try was ruled out following a TMO review. It showed that the flanker had dropped the ball over the line and the visitors were given the scrum instead.
Another simple mistake as Furlong knocked on during a Leinster attack saw Edinburgh get up the pitch before Darcy Graham got the ball in space, kicked and gathered the ball to put the visitors ahead for the first time in the match. Unfortunately for Edinburgh a far more familiar Leinster performance took over for the final 30 minutes as the mistakes dried up and tries started to flow again.
Leinster resume normal service in second half
It was van der Flier followed by replacement prop Tom Clarkson who gave them the breathing space on the scoreboard before the blow came that killed off any hope of an upset. Leinster put the ball through the hands to Rieko Ioane and, as the All Black ran in, Graham opted not to try and make the tackle as the last man and instead look for the interception allowing the centre to throw the dummy and stroll in.
There were positives for Edinburgh from that phase with Freddy Douglas once again impressing off the bench but it wasn't enough once the Irish juggernauts got themselves back off the ropes. Leinster now move on to face Sale Sharks in the quarter finals.
As for Edinburgh, they have a week off to take stock of how the rest of their season needs to look. They next face Zebre at home in the URC on Friday, April 17.
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