Leinster resume normal service with late bonus point win against Edinburgh

Leinster 26 Edinburgh 7

Max Deegan is congratulated by team-mate Scott Penny (right) after he scored their side's fourth try against Edinburgh at the RDS Arena in Dublin. Photo: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

February 11 2022 10:22 PM

Leinster resumed normal service with a home win against Edinburgh, bouncing back from defeat to Cardiff in their last outing.

They left it late to secure the bonus point but did enough to jump ahead of the Scottish side in the URC standings.

By and large, the opening exchanges failed to exhilarate barring one break from Dave Kearney where he linked well with scrum-half Nick McCarthy but the ball would be spilled later in the move by Leinster captain Ross Molony.

Scott Penny made the breakthrough at the end of the first quarter, barrelling over from close range under a collection of bodies – made easier by Edinburgh being reduced to 14 after Connor Boyle was binned for a challenge on Ciarán Frawley.

A second arrived soon after when McCarthy sniped home from close range, a first try since returning from Munster in the summer.

The visitors came with something more in the second half, dominating the early phases but without troubling the scoreboard.

A couple of strong defensive stands from the home team forced them into errors. Then, a late flurry of scores livened matters.

First, Vakh Abdaladze and Max Deegan struck for the hosts before Edinburgh got a consolation through Emiliano Boffelli.

Leinster – J Osborne (R Russell 73); T O’Brien, R O’Loughlin, C Frawley (H Byrne 20), D Kearney; R Byrne, N McCarthy (L McGrath 55); E Byrne (P Dooley 55), J Tracy (S Cronin 55), M Ala’alatoa (V Abdaladze 55); R Molony (capt), J Murphy (D Toner 57); M Moloney (A Soroka 73), S Penny, M Deegan.

Edinburgh – H Immelman; R Moyano, M Currie, J Lang (C Hutchison 61), E Boffelli; C Savala (J van der Walt 71), H Pyrgos (capt) (C Shiel 57); B Venter (S Grahamslaw 62), A McBurney (D Cherry 53), L-R Atalifo (J Armstrong 53); M Sykes, G Young (P Phillips 63); B Muncaster, C Boyle (K van Niekerk 71), M Kunavula.

Ref – A Jones (WRU)