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DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE
Edinburgh: 29 (16) Leinster: 10 (10)
During the recent Led Zeppelin gig, it was no surprise to hear the rock legends revisiting "Stairway to Heaven". The piece has seen more than its fair share of cover versions over the years. The reggae effort by tribute band "Dread Zeppelin" being a highlight; Rolf Harris' attempt less so. Naturally, had the late Jimi Hendrix been around, he would have produced a cover better even than the original, as indeed he did with every other classic that he covered during his tragically short career.
This afternoon, one felt that Leinster were trying to do their own cover version of Munster's trademark 10 man rugby in an effort to keep their Heineken bid on track. Despite having one of the best centre partnerships in European rugby, they persisted in kicking away possession throughout. Sadly for them, their performance was more Harris than Hendrix. In the end, they were going through the motions in the last quarter as they subsided to a 29-10 defeat.
Your correspondent put a tenner on Ireland as the "dark horse" bets for the recent World Cup, only to see them scrape past two national teams so obscure that it is difficult now to remember who they were, before their early exit. The players themselves seemed to believe their own press notices, while their opponents followed the advice of legendary Public Enemy frontman Chuck D (see above) and got stuck in.
Similarly, Edinburgh profited today by recognising that these guys are good, but not quite as good as they think they are. 80 minutes of robustly effective defensive work, together with spells of high octane attacking, and topped off with sound discipline saw the Gunners win by a distance. Mike Blair, who is in a rich vein of form at the moment, was the orchestrator. The scrum half picked up the Man of the Match award and fully justified coach Robinson's decision to give him the captain's armband, despite the welcome return of Messrs Hogg and Cross to the side.
Leinster got off to a terrific start, though. Although Godman managed to rescue a charged down Blair clearance, Edinburgh were pinned in their own 22 in the early stages. Contepomi converted a penalty for offside on three minutes. Even when Edinburgh fought their way out of their half, a loose ball was dispatched brilliantly by Contepomi from half way to touch just a metre short of the Edinburgh line. A Leinster try at this time could have been problematic. But the home side held out.
From the first decent Edinburgh break of the match, good hands from De Luca put Webster away at pace on the right wing. The returning talisman was only nailed by a high tackle in the Leinster 22. Godman slotted the penalty on eight minutes.
Webster looked in great form, and was nearly clean through again on 14 minutes. But Rennie's pass to put him through the midfield gap was adjudged forward. Godman knocked over a second penalty on 16 minutes, a lead the home side were not to relinquish. There was a feeling that Edinburgh had weathered the storm. As the first quarter ended, it was the Gunners who were playing the more incisive football.
Pressure led to more points on 28 minutes, O'Kelly's deliberate knock-on in his 22 giving away another three pointer rather than the try. There was no card, but there were all the signs of a team that had been expecting Edinburgh to capitulate. Indiscipline and basic errors were creeping into the visitors' game as they found out that they were in for a fight.
Things got worse for the Dubliners when Edinburgh scored the first try of the game five minutes later. And it was a beauty. Andy "Turny" Turnbull raced on to the wrong wing on the half way line and sped goalwards. Girvan Dempsey had an extraordinarily poor game in general, but he defended the Turnbull-Webster two-on-one well. It took an exquisitely timed flick from the tiny winger to beat his man and put Webster in space in the 22. "Webbo" cantered over for a fine try in the corner, equally finely converted by Godman for a 16-3 lead with half-time approaching rapidly.
An unnecessary Edinburgh penalty in a lineout allowed Leinster to take play into the home 22, where they camped for the rest of the half. They got nowhere driving through the forwards. But then the ball was eventually spun wide. Turnbull seemed to have cleared the danger well, touching down a useful chip in goal. But the referee awarded a penalty try after a Leinster midfielder had clearly been tackled without the ball in the chase. Not everyone would have agreed that a try would probably have been scored, but the try rewarded concerted pressure. 16-10 at the half and all to play for.
As the second half began, there was an example of the change in mindset that Andy Robinson is generating in this side. As the tactical maestro watched from the Matt Williams Memorial Box, high in the Murrayfield stands, Edinburgh put together a great series of phases, built on quick ball. With the visiting defence looking well organised, Blair dropped a superb goal off the back of a ruck, wide out on the right wing. The points stretched the lead beyond a converted try, putting the pressure on Leinster.
And the pressure began to tell. Although Leinster managed a great breakout that took them to the Edinburgh try line, solid defence saw them come away with nothing. Their own indiscipline giving Godman the penalty to clear the danger. Then a desperate effort to run the ball from their own lines saw Leinster gift Edinburgh their second touchdown. A telegraphed, looping pass from Kearney was eagerly grabbed by full-back Cairns, who nipped over for another converted try. 26-10 with 25 minutes to go.
Although Leinster's pack was dominant in the scrummage, and on top in the lineout, they could not take advantage. Yet they persisted with the kicking game and continued to get no change from Ben Cairns and the Edinburgh back three. Godman stretched the lead with another penalty on 73 minutes. The score saw a number of Leinster supporters head for the exits as Edinburgh's pack closed the match out.
This afternoon's crowd was swelled by a decent travelling support. But the Edinburgh support were there in numbers and in good voice. Most stayed to acclaim Allan "Chunk" Jacobsen, presented with an award after full time for becoming Edinburgh's most capped Heineken player. He was clearly profoundly moved - although he also appeared somewhat nonplussed to receive a very nice bouquet of flowers into the bargain.
MAN OF THE MATCH: MIKE BLAIR. Again, a number of standout Embra performances, but the skipper's award was richly deserved.
SCORERS:
Edinburgh: Godman 2C 4P Blair 1DG, Cairns 1T, Webster 1T
Leinster: Contepomi 1P 1C, Penalty Try
TEAMS:
Edinburgh: Cairns; Turnbull, De Luca, Houston, Webster; Godman, Blair M; Allori, Ford, Jacobsen, Mustchin, Gissing, Cross S, Rennie, Hogg. Replacements: Kelly, Cross G, Hamilton, Reid, Meyer, Blair D, MacRae.
Leinster: Dempsey; Horgan, O'Driscoll (capt), D'Arcy, Kearney; Contepomi, Easterby; Le Roux, Jackman, Wright, Cullen, O'Kelly, Keogh, Jennings, Heaslip. Replacements: Blaney, Healy, Jowitt, Gleeson, Keane, Sexton, Fitzgerald.
Referee: Hayes (WRU)
Martin Bell
