Edinburgh……… 31pts
Tries: Schoeman 11, Van der Merwe 32, 65, Cherry 42, Scott 80
Conversions: Thompson 12, 43, Healy 80
Leinster………….33pts
Tries: O’Brien 16, Tector 27, Larmour 46, Gibson-Park 53, Cronin 57
Conversions: Prendergast 28, 47, 54, 58
EDINBURGH’S opening-night stumble at the hands of a Leinster side missing 12 Ireland internationals was compounded by a fresh injury blow for Argentine full-back Emiliano Boffelli.
The Pumas star was named on the bench but was forced to withdraw after a recurrence of a back issue which restricted him to just five starts last season.
Boffelli, 29, played 40 minutes of a pre-season warm-up against Gloucester, but will now be sent for further specialist assessment.
Edinburgh head coach Sean Everitt said. “We just hope it’s not too serious and he gets over this issue he’s been struggling with for some time now. It hasn’t only been the last 12 months, it’s been probably over the last 24 months. He’ll be seeing the experts next week. He’s definitely a no for South Africa.”
Everitt, who has targeted a top-four finish after failing to make the playoffs last season, maintained Edinburgh could still be optimistic as they flew out to the Republic on Saturday for two tough games at altitude against Bulls in Pretoria on Saturday and Lions in Johannesburg a week later.
Leinster director of rugby Leo Cullen, meanwhile, was relieved to emerge with a five-point haul from a tricky opening assignment negotiated without most of his leading lights.
Three academy players – hooker Gus McCarthy, lock Conor O’Tighearnaigh and centre Charlie Tector – made their first senior starts, while at the other end of the scale, veteran prop Cian Healy came off the bench to equal Devin Toner’s record of 280 games for Leinster.
Impressive centre Tec-tor scored the second of Leinster’s five tries with a confident finish, while Ireland scrum-half Jamison Gibson marked his return from injury with an equally clinical try,
“Round one away last year (a 43-25 defeat by Glasgow at Scotstoun) is still so strong in my memory so we’re delighted to get five points here,” said Cullen. “But from a performance point of view, we’ll have to get a hell of a lot better. We were a bit off in terms of the physical confrontation, particularly the first 20 minutes, but there was much better intent in our actions in the second half.”
Three tries in an 11-minute spell – from Jordan Larmour, Gibson-Park and Jack Conan – saw Leinster take command from 19-12 down to move 33-19 up heading into the final quarter.
A second try from Scotland wing Duhan van der Merwe and a last-minute score from Matt Scott at least earned Edinburgh two losing bonus points.
TEAMS
EDINBURGH: Goosen 7; Graham 5, Tuipulotu 5, Currie 7 (Scott 28, 6), Van der Merwe 7; Thompson 6 (Healy 55, 4), Price 5 (Vellacott 65, 6); Schoeman 6 (Venter 55, 5), Cherry 6 (Ashman 50, 6), Hill 6 (Rae 50, 5), Sykes 6, Gilchrist 6 (Hodgson 67, 5), Ritchie 6 (Bradbury 58, 5), Watson 7, Muncaster 5
LEINSTER: Osborne 6; O’Brien 6 (Russell 17, 6), Ringrose 6, Tector 7, Larmour 7;
Prendergast 7 (R Byrne 59, 5), Gibson-Park 8; Milne 6 (Healy 47, 6) McCarthy 6 (McKee 50, 6), Clarkson 6 (Slimani 50, 5), O’Tighearnaigh 6 (Deeny 50, 6), Ryan 7, Deegan 8, Penny 6 (Culhane 71, Penny 73), Conan 7
REFEREE: Andrea Piardi (Ita) ATTENDANCE: 7,774
Star player Jamison Gibson-Park -Leinster
