Following a 28-20 victory for Leinster over Edinburgh, here are our five takeaways from the United Rugby Championship encounter at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.
The top line
Leinster made it 11 successive victories as they overcame the loss of their Six Nations stars to move themselves up to second position in the table.
While it was not necessarily a callow team – there was plenty of experience even if they were second or third choice in most positions – Edinburgh would have sensed an opportunity to boost their ailing campaign.
And at 15-7 ahead, it looked like they were on course for their fourth URC victory of the season. Tries from Duhan van der Merwe and Malelili Satala, allied by five points from the boot of Ross Thompson, gave them an eight-point buffer, but Leinster responded after the break.
Max Deegan had touched down in the opening period and he was joined on the scoresheet by his back-row partner Scott Penny, who went over three times in the second half. Luke McGrath dictated proceedings from the base while the Leinster forwards stepped up the physicality, allowing them to suffocate the Scots.
Edinburgh had the final say through Charlie Shiel but the conversion was missed, denying them a losing bonus-point and rather summing up their disappointing campaign so far.
The Duhan van der Merwe conundrum
Considering his size, athleticism and Test try-scoring record, it is quite the decline the South African-born wing has had. Unlike Freddy Douglas, who may still get selected next weekend for Scotland despite featuring for Edinburgh on Saturday, you feel Van der Merwe’s appearance on Saturday is an indication of where he stands in the international pecking order.
The 30-year-old had a poor British and Irish Lions series and his form has not exactly been stellar since the start of the 2025/26 season, leading to a gradual drift down the list of Scottish wings. Edinburgh’s clash with Leinster at least provided an opportunity to show Gregor Townsend that he can still be of value in the Six Nations, but he wasn’t entirely convincing.
There was some good, including a 50-metre try (albeit the hard work had been done by his team-mates) and a lovely off-load following a powerful run which almost resulted in a brilliant score, but his weaknesses have been exposed over the past year or so.
Since the change in the ‘escort’ law, Van der Merwe has been targeted under the high ball and he hasn’t dealt with it particularly well. When you add in his defensive fallibility, you can understand why Townsend has made the decision to drop him. Of course, there is still a chance that he comes back for the second Six Nations match as he is England’s tormentor-in-chief, but he is currently some way off his best.
A Springbok and an All Black just enough
It is quite something when you are without a plethora of Ireland internationals but can still call on RG Snyman and Rieko Ioane to provide Test quality in a vastly understrength 23-man squad. At 15-7 in arrears, you questioned how much influence they could have on proceedings, but in the second period Snyman, at least, stepped up when they needed his brilliance.
There were a couple of errors when he off-loaded close to the opposition line in the second period, but the Springbok showed his class after that. Penny took the plaudits for his hat-trick but, after enduring an underwhelming first half, the top-class lock’s ability to keep the ball alive was crucial in Leinster’s revival. He is a superb player anyway but especially valuable at times like this when their Ireland stars are away on international duty.
The Dublin-based outfit would also hope they could get the same standard from their All Black, but Ioane, unfortunately, is enduring the same struggles he had at Test level in 2025. Jordie Barrett he is not and Leinster will want a vast improvement from their big-money signing, who has yet to stand out in any game he has played. You expect far more from an 88-cap international.
Freddy Douglas hype train
We were slightly surprised that the young tyro was released to play in this match, but perhaps Scottish boss Townsend wanted to see him in another big game before deciding whether to include him. On the basis of this display, Douglas is going straight into the 23 – or at least the head coach would be mad not to include him.
One of his first actions was to win a penalty turnover at the breakdown, which is already his trademark, before two more Leinster infringements came from his influence. While technically not going down next to his name on the stats sheet, Leinster players felt they had to act because Douglas was about to lock onto the ball.
In fairness, he was quieter in the second period and was penalised on one occasion at the breakdown as the Leinster cleaners got to grips with the 20-year-old, but it should not detract from what was another fine performance.
A devalued competition?
It has never felt quite right that supposedly important fixtures saw second and potentially third-string teams take to the field, potentially having significant ramifications later in the season. Rotation is a part of the Irish giants’ make-up, but that is at their discretion and having so many players unavailable rather undermined the importance of this match.
The URC play the same number of games as the Gallagher PREM and yet the English top-flight have no matches between now and the end of the Six Nations while the URC basically have two – this weekend and another round in February. That is an issue for a competition which wants to be taken more seriously.
Leo Cullen’s side are hit harder than pretty much everyone else but it is not just a Leinster issue; virtually every Welsh, Irish, Scottish and Italian team were without their key players due to the upcoming international tournament.
Edinburgh were more fortunate than most as Townsend sent the likes of Van der Merwe, Douglas and Magnus Bradbury back. As a result, they will view this as a missed opportunity, but they were still without the likes of Ewan Ashman, Pierre Schoeman and Darcy Graham. Ultimately, the game went to the form book, irrespective of the changes, but the whole situation is not particularly ideal.