Stand-ins make case to Schmidt

Leinster’s second-string put in a first-class performance at the RDS last night as they scored eight tries on the way to an impressive annihilation of a sorry Edinburgh side.

“We scored some super tries and it’s fantastic for the players that were out there,” said Leinster coach Joe Schmidt. “That performance will mean some Panadols for the coaches because some guys put in really big performances out there and it’s going to be tough to make some decisions for Ulster next week and obviously Clermont the week after that.”

The Scots had started like a team still surfing the wave of their impressive Heineken Cup quarter-final victory over Toulouse, but that positive start would be long forgotten by the final whistle.

In the early minutes they pinned Leinster back inside their own 22 with a series of surging drives that were accelerated by quick recycling of the ball.

Leinster soaked it up impressively though, and then scored the first try of the match.

It came courtesy of good fortune and bad defending. Fergus McFadden’s attempted penalty clipped of the left post and down into the try-zone where it should have been collected by Edinburgh winger Lee Jones.

He fatally allowed the ball to bounce three times, and his indecision was punished by Shane Jennings, who arrived like a train on Jones’ blind-side to reach in and touch the ball down for the try.

Edinburgh weren’t buckled by that early sucker-punch though, and went straight back down the field to score a try of their own.

Once again they drove Leinster back by building phase after phase of clean ruck ball and snappy passing moves, which resulted in an opening for outside centre Nick De Luca to score.

Greig Laidlow kicked the conversion, but Edinburgh’s lead didn’t last long. McFadden was having a nightmare with the boot, but he was impressive whenever he got on the ball in the loose and scored a cracking try after 15 minutes when he surged away from the flat-footed Edinburgh defence. Winger Dave Kearney claiming the plaudits for the initial break, pushing Tim Visser away with a strong arm before flipping a perfectly timed pass to the charging McFadden.

That knocked some of the stuffing out of Edinburgh but they were still very much in the contest until a minute before half-time when Sean Cronin scored Leinster’s third try of the match.

This time it was the Scots who were pushed back by a series of patient drives, and when the ball was eventually flipped from the base of a ruck to Cronin, the burly hooker charged through a gap to send Leinster in 18-7 ahead.

Edinburgh needed to start the second half strongly if they wanted to claw their way back into this, but instead it was Leinster who put their best foot forward and put the game out of the visitors’ reach.

Out-half Ian Madigan proved his kicking game is improving all the time by picking out Fionn Carr with a perfectly timed cross-field punt, and the winger also did well to keep his eye on it, claim it cleanly under pressure, and touch it down.

Edinburgh gave themselves some hope with a couple of Laidlaw penalties, but Leinster simply put their foot on the gas and zoomed out of sight for good by scoring three fine tries in the space of 10 minutes through Isa Nacewa and subs Leo Auva’a and Brendan Macken.

There was one last flourish from Leinster that drew the biggest cheer of the night as Devin Toner pumped his long legs to drive another gaping hole in the bedraggled Edinburgh defence and score a splendid eighth try.

The final whistle sounded as soon as Ian Madigan kicked the conversion.

It must have been music to Edinburgh ears.

Scorers for Leinster: Tries: S Jennings, F McFadden, S Cronin, F Carr, I Nacewa, L Auva’a, B Macken, D Toner. Pens: I Nacewa, F McFadden. Cons: I Nacewa (2), I Madigan (2).

Scorers for Edinburgh: Try: N De Luca. Pens: G Laidlaw (2). Con: G Laidlaw.

LEINSTER: I Nacewa; D Kearney, F McFadden, G D’Arcy, F Carr; I Madigan, I Boss; H van der Merwe, S Cronin, N White; D Browne, D Toner; R Ruddock, S Jennings, J Heaslip.

Replacements: K McLaughlin for D Browne (60), R Strauss for S Cronin, J Mcgrath for H van der Merwe, L Auva’a for J Heaslip, N Reid for I Nacewa (all 68), B Macken for F McFadden (70), M Moore for N white (72), E Reddan for G D’Arcy (74).

EDINBURGH: T Brown; L Jones, N De Luca, M Scott, T Visser; G Laidlaw, C Leck; K Traynor, R Ford, G Cross; E Lozada, S Cox; S McInally, R Grant, N Talei.

Replacements: A Kelly, R Hislop, J Gilding, G Gilchrist, D Denton, R Rennie, P Godman, J Thompson. Replacements: G Gilchrist for S Cox (ht), J Thompson for T Browne (49), A Kelly for K Traynor (64), J Gilding for G Cross (65), D Denton for R Grant (67), R Hislop for R Ford (67), R Rennie for N Talei (68)

Referee: P Fitzgibbon (IRFU).