Chris Paterson scored two penalties and a conversion, Phil Godman contributed and Edinburgh were even awarded a second half penalty try, but the home side were still powerless to prevent Leinster from running away with a 27-16 win at Murrayfield.

In front of a bumper crowd of 5, 376, Edinburgh took the lead through a penalty from Godman but Leinster exploited some generous defending from the home side to run in four first half tries through Rocky Elsom, Brian O'Driscoll, Shane Horgan and Felipe Contepomi.

Rocked and visibly rattled by the series of breakaway tries, Edinburgh responded with a spirited second half showing, but it was not enough to overhaul Leinster's lead.

Leinster's streetwise antics around the breakdown ensured that Edinburgh rarely produced any quick ball and a series of handling errors prevented the home team from generating any genuine momentum.

Edinburgh: Chris Paterson, Mark Robertson (John Houston), Hugo Southwell (David Blair), Nick De Luca, Simon Webster, Phil Godman, Mike Blair (captain); Allan Jacobsen, Ross Ford, Geoff Cross, Jim Hamilton (Ben Gissing), Matt Mustchin, Scott Newlands (Craig Hamilton), Alan MacDonald, Allister Hogg.

Leinster: Girvan Dempsey, Shane Horgan, Luke Fitzgerald, Brian O’Driscoll, Rob Kearney, Felipe Contepomi, Chris Whitaker; Stan Wright, Bernard Jackman, CJ van der Linde, Leo Cullen CAPTAIN, Devin Toner, Rocky Elsom, Shane Jennings, Jamie Heaslip

Replacements: John Fogarty, Cian Healy, Trevor Hogan, Stephen Keogh, Chris Keane, Jonathan Sexton, Gary Brown.