Leinster holds on against late Edinburgh charge
REPORT: Leinster held on to secure an entertaining 36-27 United Rugby Championship victory over Edinburgh at the RDS Arena on Saturday.
Running out five-try winners at home for the second week running, Leo Cullen’s young side led 21-6 at half-time thanks to converted scores from Lee Barron, Max Deegan and Ciaran Frawley.
Edinburgh lock Glen Young’s yellow card saw their first-half deficit increase from four points to 15, despite Ben Healy responding with his second penalty.
The wind-backed Scots rallied with replacements James Lang, Connor Boyle and Boan Venter all crossing, but Leinster made sure to stay out of reach.
Third-quarter tries from Tommy O’Brien and James Culhane, coupled with replacement Sam Prendergast’s 70th-minute penalty, ensured it was another maximum haul for the hosts.
Former Munster flyhalf Healy gave the fast-starting Scots a 17th-minute lead following a Hamish Watson steal, but they began the second quarter by conceding a soft try.
Tom Dodd spoiled a close-in Leinster line-out, but hooker Barron swooped on the breaking ball to touch down under Charlie Shiel’s tackle. Harry Byrne converted from the right for a 7-3 lead.
Edinburgh’s discipline let them down with repeated penalties, and with Young binned for offside, Deegan duly crashed over from close range.
Shiel 🤝 Lang
The link up for @edinburghRugby 🤩#BKTURC #URC | #LEIvEDI pic.twitter.com/qtc0LUZjsi
— BKT United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) November 4, 2023
Although Healy rewarded Edinburgh’s strong scrum with a penalty, his opposite number Byrne floated a pinpoint pass, over Duhan van der Merwe, to send Frawley over just before the interval.
Having blown a maul opportunity early in the second period, Edinburgh came under further pressure from the strong-running Jamie Osborne and O’Brien.
A deserved score followed for O’Brien, who evaded Matt Currie’s tackle after Charlie Ngatai and Byrne had neatly worked Barron into space. Byrne added the extras for a 28-6 advantage.
Edinburgh replied with a peach of a try, Lang going over from a Shiel pass. Blair Kinghorn’s excellent counter-attacking run did a lot of the damage, but a moment like that was too rare from Sean Everitt’s side.
Healy converted but was guilty of missing touch from penalties, and Leinster were too good when the try-line was in sight. Young number eight Culhane powered through a line-out drive to open his account for the province.
Edinburgh’s pack gave them a sniff with 14 minutes remaining, a well-executed maul putting Boyle over and Healy converted. Venter also scored following a Shiel snipe, but Prendergast’s well-struck penalty had Leinster too far in front.
The scorers
For Leinster
Tries: Barron, Deegan, Frawley, O’Brien, Culhane
Cons: Byrne 4
Pen: Prendergast
For Edinburgh
Tries: Lang, Boyle, Venter
Cons: Healy 3
Pens: Healy 2
Yellow card: Glen Young (Edinburgh, 30 – cynical foul)
Teams
Leinster: 15 Ciarán Frawley, 14 Tommy O’Brien, 13 Jamie Osborne, 12 Charlie Ngatai, 11 Jordan Larmour, 10 Harry Byrne, 9 Cormac Foley, 8 Max Deegan, 7 Scott Penny (captain), 6 James Culhane, 5 Jason Jenkins, 4 Ross Molony, 3 Michael Ala’alatoa, 2 Lee Barron, 1 Jack Boyle.
Replacements: 16 Dylan Donnellan, 17 Paddy McCarthy, 18 Rory McGuire, 19 Brian Deeny, 20 Rhys Ruddock, 21 Ben Murphy, 22 Sam Prendergast, 23 Rob Russell.
Edinburgh: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Wes Goosen, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Matt Currie, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Ben Healy, 9 Charlie Shiel, 8 Luke Crosbie, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Tom Dodd, 5 Grant Gilchrist (captain), 4 Glen Young, 3 WP Nel, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Pierre Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Javan Sebastian, 19 Marshall Sykes, 20 Connor Boyle, 21 Hector Patterson, 22 James Lang, 23 Chris Dean.
Referee: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Keane Davison (Ireland) and Jonathan Erskine (Ireland)
TMO: Sean Brickell (Wales)
