Edinburgh battled bravely throughout the second half and have survived wave-after-wave of Leinster attack, but the scoreboard did not end productively in a rainswept Dublin.

Chris Paterson scored a penalty to reduce the deficit in Edinburgh's final Pool Two Heineken Cup match, but the men in Black and Red were still left chasing a nine-point margin after Felipe Contepomi scored four first half penalties.

An avoidable penalty conceded on the 13-minute mark handed Leinster a prime chance to open the scoring and Felipe Contepomi's effort sailed through the posts. The Argentine playmaker scored his second penalty minutes later to double the hosts lead. John Houston was yellow-carded on 23 minutes to heighten Edinburgh's woes after he was penalised for holding an opponent off-the-ball and Contepomi struck his third penalty from close range.

In a disjointed start, Edinburgh's ill discipline translated into 11 penalties conceded inside the opening 25 minutes with Leinster's superior game management and decision making coming to the fore.

Late team news, Simon Webster has been a late withdrawal from the starting line-up through injury, so Jim Thompson replaces him on the left wing and Ben Cairns is named amongst the replacements.

Edinburgh: Paterson; A. Turnbull, De Luca, Houston, Thompson, D. Blair, Laidlaw; Traynor, Kelly, G. Cross, C. Hamilton, Gissing, Newlands, S. Cross, Hogg (captain). Replacements: Lawrie, Kerr, Reid, MacDonald, Meyer, Cairns, Easson.