[Update May 7, 2014 - Edinburgh come to the RDS this weekend and our latest trip into the HoR archives remembers a very unlucky Friday the 13th for them back in 2012. At the time both teams had Heineken Cup semifinals on the horizon, in Bordeaux and Dublin respectively.]
The scoreline pretty much says it all, doesn't it? Grand, no need for me to write anything, so!
Well, since I'm here at my laptop anyway, might as well scribble something...
First up, fair play to Michael Bradley for selecting so many of his key players when anyone would have forgiven him for packing them away in their boxes before their next, slightly more important visit to Dublin in a couple of weeks.
However, those very key players themselves can also be forgiven for, shall we say, not exactly putting 100% of an effort in the tackling department, especially in the final quarter.
Case in point...if these two teams contest the Heineken Cup final as they may well do, should Devin Toner be charging towards the tryline at Tim Visser at any stage, I'd fully expect the soon-to-be-naturalised Scotsman to do everything to stop the giant lock. Yet with the match and indeed Edinburgh's entire Pro12 campaign well out of their reach, Visser was actually a bit fortunate not to get himself crunched against the post as he bounced off the tackle allowing Toner to avail of his long reach to plant the ball down.
Fortune played an even bigger part in Leinster's first try, with McFadden's first of his five missed place kicks coming off the post and surely poor Lee Jones will be blaming the date that was in it for the bounce of the ball which twice deceived him before falling perfectly for Shane Jennings to secure the easiest 5-pointer you'll get in this league these days.
Now of course all this talk of missed kicks, fortunate bounces and disinterested tacklers may seem a tad harsh on my beloved Leinster, since they did serve up their visitors a “fifty-burger” which was of course the ideal way to round off yet another more-than-satisfactory campaign for their season ticket holders. But in this game context is everything and I felt the scoreline needed some.
And if the first and last Leinster tries were a tad lucky, the six in between certainly weren't. Say what you want about Fergus' kicking from the tee on the night – it's anything but the primary reason you pick him and once he gets an impressive try himself plus has a hand in a couple more I won't have a word said against him.
Then we have the scintillating lines run by Sean Cronin and Isa Nacewa for their scores. They both made it look incredibly easy but the ability to arrive at such pace at precisely the right moment is one that can only be forged by much, much practise and it really is a wonder to behold.
It was like Leinster were trying to provide examples of every type of try to be used in a training video...the maul that powered into the Edinburgh 22 and over the line for Leo Auva'a to touch down for his 5th try of the campaign was the perfect 8-man effort off a lineout.
Not to be outdone of course was Ian Madigan, who played his part in arguably the two most aesthetically-pleasing tries. First a deft chip from an improbable angle falls perfectly for Fionn Carr, then a mesmerising spin in his own 22 creates the space for first Noel Reid to break downfield before offloading to Brendan Macken who had the wheels to finish. Great to see the two young lads involved in a score for the senior team...especially Reid, who had such a poor outing for the A team the previous weekend.
One other sub-plot in the contest I was following was the performance of the two locks, who must surely be competing with each other for a spot on the bench in Bordeaux. Well the match started with Toner having a good carry on his first possession and then Damien Browne knocking on with his, and when you factor in the try Toner gets right at the end you have to say he won on points and must be in the driving seat. All that of course can change at Ravenhill next week where the home side will no doubt provide a lot more competition despite their equal need for cotton wool to Edinburgh's.
So with two rounds left to play, Leinster have 1st place on the Pro12 in the bag and thus can use their remaining two matches as training exercises. Not a bad return from a side that lost two of its first three matches, not to mention the fact they used their “elite XV” sparingly in the process!
All we can say now as Leinster fans is that we hope Joe Schmidt is able to use the extra time to full advantage before what lies ahead in Bordeaux. To be honest, I can't think of a coach in the modern game more able for that challenge. JLP
Also this weekend…
