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79m TRY LEINSTER!!! The late magic I prayed for comes good. Reckon I should pray for a Lotto win next time! Lineout taken, Gopperth to Luke, Luke to McGrath who glides in under posts. Gopps add the 2 and it's all over here.
78m No surprise Ryan gets Man of the Match. Meanwhile it seems both Glasgow and Ospreys have won but without try bonus and they will be disappointed with that.
75m Consolation try for Edinburgh in the corner...flanker Leonardi dots down after some neat pop passes down our wing. COnversion missed. Leinster 26-8. I said 14-point win, didn't I?
73m Embra lock Ben Toolis is down for a spell after a nasty fall from a lineout jump...McLaughlin slapped his arm in mid air as he is wont to do...pen to E, they now have poss in our 22
72m Bit of back and forth. We've reached that stage where some fans start to leave and I pray for one piece of late Leinster magic to sicken them! ;-)
68m Leinster want more tries and are putting it out wide only from Luke Fitz to knockon...unlucky though I have a feeling scoring isn't done
66m A bout of Handbags Deluxe on the floor between Richardt Strauss and E prop John Andress comes to nothing. JA had RS on deck for what seemed like a full minute after the play moved on. Nothing comes of it and Strauss is replaced by Brian Byrne, also Bent returns to the pitch for a limoping Furlong.
64m Try is good, Gopperth adds the 2, Leinster now lead 26-3. Meanwhile I see Ospreys are 23-6 up on Connacht and Glasgow are only 11-9 up on Treviso
63m BONUS POINT TRY LEINSTER? Had an air of inevitability about it after that goalline stand. Ben Marshall took the pop pass from Denton after a lineout move to dive over. - TMO having several looks....was pass forward?
62m Some great carries from Reid & FItzgerald get us back into E 22 but they clear. Isaac Boss is on for Luke McGrath
60m Superb goalline stand from Leinster D holds them out and we clear
58m More pressure from E leads to another pen, this one right in front and again they opt for lineout
56m Pen to Embra shortly after restart sees them have a lineout of their own deep in L22 but it's held up
52m TRY LEINSTER A well organised maul from the lineout sees Dom Ryan fall over the line for his second of the night and Leinster's third. Gopperth hooks over the extras and it's 19-3
51m Leinster trying to crank things up a notch - a chip into the corner from Reid doesn't fall for Fanning but E under more pressure in their 22 as Leinster pinch their lineout and win a penalty and this time the kick for the corner is easier and good
47m One area Leinster have done well is under the high ball - Luke takes one and with a couple of jinks makes 10 yards, L win a penalty but Gopperth fluffs his kick to the corner and it goes dead - scrum back to Embra.
46m Leinster offence cant get going, forward pass from Crosbie stops another attack. Ed Byrne on for Michael Bent.
45m Overthrown E lineout goes to Ryan who can't hold it and E get to clear again
43m Scrappy start to the half, Noel Reid take an opportunity to dink it into E22 and they have a lineout
....and, we're back.
HALFTIME - I'm enjoying this liveblogging lark so far...would be easier if I hadnt left my mouse in the media room but there you go!
Leinster are in control but losing Te'o meant we needed an adjustment period offensively - thankfully it didn't cost us down the other end and hopefully with a bit of organisation at HT they can come out strongly and have a real go at the bonus point we badly need.
Time for me to have these fun-size Twixes which seem to have fallen into my bag from my 5-year-old's swag from earlier.
39m After a scrappy lineout Luke Fitzgerald ends the first half with his side up by 12 points to 3.
37m E clear but only at expense of L lineout in 22....Leinster cant make the most of phases and Crosbie spills it then E clear.
36m Sublime passage of play ends in a Gopperth kick forward hitting touch perfectly in E22
34m Leinster always look more like scoring when they have it but that hasn't been much in past while. Lineout to Embra at midfield
32m shocking miss from Heathcoate and Douglas is replaced by Marshall
31m Leinster D holding steady but the pressure leads to yet another kickable pen as Kne Douglas is down injured
29m Edinburgh it seems are going to try to exploit Leinster's two young centres so it's to be up the middle for the rest of the evening. Big test for Reid & Crosbie
27m It hasnt been the best outing so far for young Luke McGrath - he had a double-pump earlier and knocks on a take from the base
25m Something of a purple patch possession-wise for the visitors but Leinster defence relatively steady and we force a choke tackle in midfield
23m Lineout goes to the back, after a couple of phases Leinster almost steal but Nigel pings for not rolling away. Heathcoate kicks an easy pen. Leinster 12-3 Embra
22m Leinster scrum pinged for not driving straight, penalty to Embra. Te'o withdrawal bit of a shock it has to be said. He seemed comfortable enough at his position, hope he's ok, Meanwhile Embra prop Dell is off as his side kick pen to the corner
21m Unfortunately for Crosbie his first involvement is a knockon of a routine take, scrum to Embra at midfield
19m Seemingly Te'o was holding his arm after the tackle and Crosbie has replaced him
18m Was just thinking I hadnt seen Te'o tackle yet then he puts his man back 5 yards after a hit. Scrum at midfield to Leinster
14m EMbra regain possession after restart and win a kickable pen but Heathcoate puts it wide
13m Gopps kick is good, 12-0 to Leinster. Superb team effort so far.
12m TRY LEINSTER! A superb line from Noel Reid gets us into their 22 where we decline THREE penalty advantages and eventyally the Embra defence buckles under the pressure for Jack Conan to crash over. This could be a long night for the visitors.
9m Edinburgh hold their scrum but after a few phases concede a pen and Leinster clear
6m The fans in The Laighin Pit dont like a call bringing a Gopperth clearnace back into his own 22 - it results in some pressure on our line but we get it away at least as far to just inside 22 where we are to have first scrum
4m TRY LEINSTER the lineout is good, the maul gets to the tryline before Dom Ryan stretches over - though he had loads more room than he did here against Wasps! Gopperth doesnt get the extra 2, Leinster lead 5-0
3m Are these Leinster offloads I see before me? Great ball usage earns a pen in 22, Leinster kick for corner
First involvement from Te'o is a decent clearout after Reid brings into the tackle
Leinster to kickoff courtesy of Jimmy Gopperth, playing into the North Stand end
7:32pm no late changes to either team...we seem to be ready to go! Also keeping tabs on Ospreys v Connacht and Glasgow v Treviso
7pm - Greetings and Happy Halloween from high up in the Grandstand RDS - we're going to try something new to HarpinOnRugby, namely a "Liveblog" of the latest Leinster outing.
Don't worry - we will still be posting our match writeup on Monday but we thought we'd try sharing some thoughts with you as the match is in progress. We're kind of treading new ground here so hopefully you'll go easy on us!
The match kicks off ot 7:35pm and of course all eyes will be on Ben Te'o who lines out in the famous 13 jumper for Leinster.
Meanwhile on the Edinburgh side, with Leinster's injury list pales in comparison to that of Alan Solomon's squad, so much so that the TV director can almost treat their starting lineup the same way as one would do the Gibraltar football team, giving the full-time professions of all the players!
OK maybe that's not strictly true...but their starting lock tonight Jack Turley is a furniture removal man for his "day job".
