Edinburgh seal Leinster`s fate
Friday 17th April 2009
A 27-16 defeat to Edinburgh at Murrayfield on Friday surely hands the Magners League title from Leinster to Munster.
Former England boss Andy Robinson went into the game still to make up his mind whether to apply for the vacant Scotland job.
The Edinburgh head coach added a sixth straight Magners League home win to his CV, although it was admittedly against a makeshift Leinster side who briefly provided a scare with a second-half fightback.
All three home tries came in the opening half-hour, Allister Hogg, John Houston and Simon Webster touching down.
Chris Paterson was flawless with the boot, kicking 12 points.
John Fogarty scored what proved a consolation touchdown for the visitors, centre Fergus McFadden booting their other points.
The Irish province - who remain second in the table in defence of their title - rested a host of names ahead of their upcoming Heineken Cup semi-final, including Brian O'Driscoll, Rob Kearney, Jamie Heaslip and Felipe Contepomi.
They started well, keeping the ball in hand impressively, but they were unable to pierce the home defence.
And despite enjoying next-to-no possession, Edinburgh scored a try with their first real attack 12 minutes in.
The ball was eventually worked from right to left, and Mike Blair fed Phil Godman, who released Hogg to score.
Leinster regrouped but were being hamstrung by their error count when in possession.
In stark contrast, Edinburgh were making the most of the minimum of ball and duly scored again in the 21st minute thanks to some superb opportunism from Ross Ford.
The hooker pounced on a loose ball, and jinked his way clear down the right before releasing Houston for the try.
Leinster wing Simon Keogh was injured in the build-up and was replaced by Gary Brown.
The visitors were in tatters and a simple Blair dummy set up Webster for try number three under the posts.
Leinster could have got off the mark with a penalty five minutes from half-time but opted for a quick tap which they duly made a hash of.
They unsurprisingly went for goal next time around, O'Driscoll's understudy McFadden on target.
Leinster brought on Ollie Le Roux for tighthead Stephen Knoop at half-time.
They scored the first points of the second period when McFadden kicked an early penalty.
Paterson then needed to make a last-gasp tackle to thwart Sean O'Brien reaching the line.
Knoop returned to the field in place of Ronan McCormack and suddenly the Leinster scrum began to look brittle.
They crumbled in front of their own posts to concede a penalty which Paterson converted in the 51st minute.
McCormack returned to the fray as both sides made two changes before McFadden kicked a monster 40-metre penalty to cut the deficit to 15 points.
That became eight shortly before the hour when hooker Fogarty ghosted in at the breakdown and crashed over. McFadden converted and suddenly it was game on.
A Paterson penalty calmed Edinburgh nerves and the home side stayed on top for the rest of the game, with Hogg denied a bonus-point try by the television match official.
The scorers:
For Edinburgh:
Tries: Hogg, Houston, Webster
Cons: Paterson 3
Pens: Paterson 2
For Leinster:
Try: Fogerty
Con: McFadden
Pens: McFadden 3
Edinburgh: 15 Chris Paterson, 14 John Houston, 13 Ben Cairns, 12 Nick De Luca, 11 Simon Webster, 10 Phil Godman, 9 Mike Blair (capt), 8 Allister Hogg, 7 Alan MacDonald, 6 Scott Newlands, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Craig Hamilton, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Kyle Traynor.
Replacements: 16 Andrew Kelly, 17 Ryan Grant, 18 Scott MacLeod, 19 Matt Mustchin, 20 Greig Laidlaw, 21 David Blair, 22 Andrew Turnbull.
Leinster: 15 Girvan Dempsey, 14 Shane Horgan, 13 Fergus McFadden, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Simon Keogh, 10 Isa Nacewa, 9 Chris Keane, 8 Stephen Keogh, 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 Cameron Jowitt, 5 Trevor Hogan, 4 Leo Cullen, 3 Stephen Knoop, 2 John Fogarty, 1 Ronan McCormack.
Replacements: 16 Brian Blaney, 17 Ollie le Roux, 18 Devin Toner, 19 Kevin McLaughlin, 20 Paul O'Donohoe, 21 Ian McKinley, 22 Gary Brown.
http://www.planetrugby.com/Story/0,1...201785,00.html
