Leinster battle to go through

Leinster went through to the Heineken Cup quater-finals after making hard work of a 12-3 victory at home to Edinburgh on Sunday.

The hosts spurned several scoring opportunities during a match that is unlikely to be remembered for its beauty.

Leinster needed four tries to guarantee top spot in their group and automatic qualification to the quarter-finals.

But, despite laying siege to the visitors line in the latter stages, they were unable penetrate a resolute Edinburgh defence.

The Leinster men will not mind however, after Wasps' last gasp defeat at Castres ensured the Irish side's passage into the knockout stages of the competition.

Edinburgh started strongly, almost shoving the hosts off their own scrum in the second minute and stealing the first two Leinster lineouts.

But it was the home side that put the first points on the board on 13 minutes, Felipe Contepomi slotting one from 35 metres to give his side a 3-0 lead.

Three minutes later and the Argentinian centre made it 6-0 with another 35 metre effort in front of the posts.

Blistering

Leinster began to put together some more resolute attacking play, Rob Kearney carving up the Edinburgh defence with a blistering run from deep inside his own half.

Great hands from Kearney, Jamie Heaslip and Luke Fitzgerald saw the home side go close on the left but the move petered out with a knock on.

Moments later, and with men over wide on Leinster's right, Brian O'Driscoll looked certain to score before he dropped the ball.

His blushes were saved however, when the referee brought them back to the middle for an infringement at the start of the move.

Edinburgh found themselves down to 14 men when centre John Houston was sin-binned after he brought down support runner Contepomi almost under the posts.

And Contepomi struck the resulting penalty to open up a 9-0 lead with 22 minutes gone.

The visitors clawed three back just before the half hour mark, Chris Paterson stepping up to slot one home when Leinster were penalised on the ground.

But Contepomi restored the advantage to 12-3 five minutes before the break when the Scots were found guilty for hands in the ruck..

Furious

Leinster went close to that elusive score four minutes into the second half, a downfield hack from Shane Horgan bouncing favourably just inches short of the Edinburgh line.

But fabulous defending under pressure saw Nick De Luca swipe the ball from the feet of the chasing Horgan to deny him what would have been a certain score.

The hosts, beginning to find some consistency in their game, kept up the pressure and moments later were knocking on Edinburgh's door again after Heaslip tore open the Scots' defence.

But, after shifting the ball out wide and clear space to the line, the final pass to Fitzgerald was adjudged forward and Edinburgh escaped.

On 52 minutes O'Driscoll went close in the middle before being brought down and three minutes later Paterson put in a monster tackle to deny Kearney out wide.

With the rain now pouring down, Edinburgh were weathering two storms as Leinster, camped deep inside the visitors half, piled on the pressure.

But, despite battering the visiting defence with repeated attacks, a furious rearguard action saw the Edinburgh line hold strong and they were unable to break through.

Leinster missed another scoring opportunity with nine minutes to go when Stan Wright dropped the ball as he tried to dive across the Edinburgh line.

And on 73 minutes O'Driscoll spurned a chance sending a kick through for Fitgerald too close to Paterson who touched down to make the ball safe.

Seven minutes later the referee called time on a scrappy affair and left the Irishmen to celebrate - thanks largely to the news from France.