Kelleher Claims Hat-Trick As Leinster Cruise Past Edinburgh

Cian Kelleher claimed a second-half hat-trick in Leinster’s crushing 50-10 Guinness PRO14 victory over Edinburgh at the RDS.

It was a sixth straight bonus point triumph for the Conference A leaders, who are one away from equalling the Championship record of seven (last achieved by Glasgow Warriors in 2019).

Helping the hosts into a 26-3 lead, Dave Kearney, Luke McGrath (2) and Peter Dooley all dotted down during a fruitful 27-minute spell before half-time.

Edinburgh replacement Nic Groom tagged a final-quarter try onto Nathan Chamberlain’s earlier penalty, as their bench made a decent impact.

Yet, player-of-the-match Dan Leavy and eager winger Kelleher pushed Leinster’s try tally out to eight in the end. Ciaran Frawley also fired over five conversions.

In a physical opening, it took turnover ball for Leinster to break the deadlock in the 12th minute. An overthrown Edinburgh lineout, coupled with a Leavy turnover, led to Jimmy O’Brien side-footing through for Kearney to score in the left corner.

Frawley flashed the difficult conversion wide but was back on target after Kearney had turned provider. Breaking down the left, he fed a return pass back inside for McGrath to finish off for a 12-0 lead.

A well-struck 31st-minute penalty from Chamberlain rewarded the visitors’ reinforced defence, which was highlighted by James Johnstone and Luke Crosbie’s ball-dislodging double hit on Devin Toner.

However, as the interval approached, Leavy was held up by Pierre Schoeman before prop Dooley burrowed over from James Tracy’s quick tap.

Frawley converted and also added the extras to McGrath’s 39th-minute effort, the nippy scrum half evading Jack Blain’s clutches after being released by Frawley’s clever footwork and inviting offload.

Barely two minutes into the second half, a Scott Penny-led breakaway paved the way for Leinster’s fifth try. The pick-and-drives paid off when Leavy crashed over to celebrate his first start since March 2019.

Frawley tagged on his fourth conversion and Edinburgh’s night worsened with Eroni Sau sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on. Harry Byrne’s deft chip to the right corner was matched by an equally classy finish from a sliding Kelleher.

The fleet-footed winger was over again in the 53rd minute, profiting from two lovely floated passes from Byrne and O’Brien, out to the right, to make it 45-10.

A purple patch from Edinburgh, sparked by a Chamberlain break, ended with Groom grounding from a quick tap with 13 minutes remaining.

Leinster had the final say, though, as slick hands from David Hawkshaw and O’Brien put Penny through, and the flanker offloaded out of a tackle for Kelleher to complete a 25-minute hat-trick.

Speaking to Leinster Rugby TV afterwards, Leavy said: “Very happy. We had a convincing win there over Edinburgh, who have had one of the best defences in the league thus far. So, delighted with it.

“We got one or two breakaway tries in the first half that kind of eased the pressure a little bit, and kind of let us get into our shape a bit easier.

“But credit to Edinburgh, they’re a good side. They made an absolute nuisance of themselves around our maul and at the breakdown. So you can see where that strength lies.

“We stuck in there, we got our discipline a little bit better in the second half and we were able to get some scores on the board.

“Part of that (drive to be relentless) is due to the competition (for places). We’re pretty stacked, there’s a lot of really good players competing for the same position, so if you do get an opportunity to play you’ve got to take it because you’ll get swapped out the next week otherwise.

“There’s a lot of people putting their hand up at the moment, we’ve so many away in Irish camp as well. We’re in a pretty good spot.”

On his own recent return in the blue jersey, he added: “On my first game I thought I felt really good. On my second game, looking back, I wasn’t there. And then the progression week-on-week.

“I felt good today, I felt kind of like my old self, but again, next week if I’m playing, I might look back and question a few things I did. But we’re getting there, it feels better week-on-week.”