Late tries from Jordi Murphy and Luke McGrath saw Leinster end a mixed GUINNESS PRO12 campaign in style and put an end to Edinburgh’s European hopes with a thrilling 36-23 bonus-point triumph at BT Murrayfield. The hosts realistically needed a victory to secure seventh and a European play-off spot but the margin of defeat, coupled with victory for Scarlets over Benetton Treviso and Connacht’s four-point loss to Ospreys saw them finish in eighth. With the game level at 3-3 after 15 minutes, Leinster seized the initiative as a sublime pass from Sean O’Brien set up Noel Reid to score, only for Hamish Watson to reply for the hosts shortly after. Jack Conan and Zane Kirchner then touched down either side of the interval as Matt O’Connor’s side moved into a 22-13 lead, only for Tim Visser’s try on his final GUINNESS PRO12 appearance for Edinburgh to peg Leinster back once more. Showing remarkable composure, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne then edged Edinburgh into a narrow lead but Murphy and McGrath crossed over inside the last ten minutes to ensure Leinster gained some consolation for missing out on the semi-finals. After a breathless opening, Murphy was penalised for not rolling away and Hidalgo-Clyne slotted the resulting penalty to give Edinburgh a 3-0 lead after eight minutes. A bruising opening period saw Leinster forwards Mike McCarthy and Tom Denton both forced off for Head Injury Assessments, the latter having earlier replaced the former. Ian Madigan then kicked a scrum penalty to the corner, with the Leinster fly-half settling for a drop goal to level the game on 15 minutes as referee Nigel Owens played advantage. Leinster had their first try moments later as O’Brien drew the defence to produce a deft flick back to Reid, who carved his way through at express pace to touch down and Madigan converted to make it 10-3. Dougie Fife was then pushed into touch just short of the line but Edinburgh soon went one better, stealing the resulting lineout to feed Watson, who barrelled his way over as Hidalgo-Clyne levelled the game just inside the half hour. But Leinster remained dangerous with ball in hand and another reverse pass in midfield put Dave Kearney clear, finding Conan to score under the posts, with Madigan again on target. Both sides continued to attack from deep but a knock on from Leinster put an end to the first-half proceedings with the score at 17-10. Shortly after the restart, Edinburgh won a scrum penalty in the Leinster 22 that Hidalgo-Clyne landed to make it a four-point game. Leinster’s off-loading game continued to pose the hosts problems and Madigan took advantage of quick ball to fire a long pass out to an unmarked Kirchner to dot down in the 52nd minute. The Irish side could not kill off Edinburgh’s spirit though as fly-half Tom Heathcote’s half-break set up Visser, who shrugged off two tacklers to touch down and Hidalgo-Clyne made it 22-20. A further scrum infringement from the visitors then allowed the impressive scrum half to put Edinburgh into a one-point lead on 66 minutes. A scything break from Madigan then took Leinster up to the Edinburgh line and the visitors recycled the ball to set up Murphy to barge over from close range and secure the extra point – Madigan converting to make it 29-23. Jimmy Gopperth – on to make his final Leinster appearance in the GUINNESS PRO12 – then kicked a penalty to the corner and scrum-half McGrath grounded the ball against the post following the subsequent lineout. Visser then went in search a fairytale ending to his Edinburgh career but the Scotland international was tackled into touch as the clock ticked into the red. Follow us on Facebook, join the conversation on Twitter, sign up to our YouTube channel for extensive match highlights and sign up for our newsletter for regular updates on the GUINNESS PRO12
