Edinburgh rally but visitors Leinster make maximum start

Leinster eventually pulled away from stubborn Edinburgh in the second half to kick off their United Rugby Championship season with a bonus-point 33-31 victory at Hive Stadium.

In a match featuring 10 tries, scores from Jordan Larmour, Jamison Gibson-Park and Jack Conan in the space of 10 minutes in the third quarter proved crucial, taking the visitors from 19-12 behind to 33-19 in front, and they did just enough to close out the win.

FULL MATCH DETAILS

All in all, maximum points on the road to start the season, and particularly with Edinburgh close to full strength, Leo Cullen will go home happy enough

Edinburgh handed competitive debuts to Paul Hill, Ross Thompson and Mosese Tuipulotu, while Scotland wing Darcy Graham was back after eight months out due to injury.

Leinster arrived in the Scottish capital without several of their Ireland internationals, including Caelan Doris, Josh Van Der Flier and Robbie Henshaw, but were still able to send out a strong and experienced side.

After weathering some early pressure from the visitors, Edinburgh thought they had gone ahead in the 10th minute when Matt Currie darted over but it was ruled out for a forward pass by Thompson. The hosts had a penalty advantage to fall back on, however, and following the resulting tap, Pierre Schoeman pushed his way over. Thompson converted.

Leinster hit back in the 16th minute when Tommy O'Brien finished off on the left after the ball was worked clinically through hands. Sam Prendergast was off target with his conversion attempt.

The visitors went ahead 10 minutes later when Charlie Tector seized on a weak box-kick from Ali Price and then skipped past the scrum-half. Prendergast converted.

Edinburgh responded in the 32nd minute as Duhan Van Der Merwe