| The Irish side qualified for the Heineken Cup quarter-finals as top seeds, but with most of their star players absent, they were never in the hunt against the Scottish strugglers.
Both sides started off edgily with mistakes coming from either side Leinster’s full-back Felipe Contepomi was tackled by Scott MacLeod whilst trying to run the ball out of danger and was subsequently penalised for holding on. Charlie Hore took the simple pot at goal and the Borders took the lead.
The Scots' lead lasted only a matter of seconds, however, before David Holwell stroked a confident equaliser following obstruction at the restart.
It was the same story midway through the half when Hore regained the lead for Borders - only to see his the scores levelled again through Holwell.
Borders replied in positive fashion, with wing Simon Danielli embarking on a 30-metre gallop before being blocked by Contepomi. The first try finally came in stoppage time before the break.
Chris Cusiter made the initla break before John Dalziel connected with flanker Andy Miller who crashed down over the line. Hore converted from a tricky angle.
Borders kept up the momentum and should have scored again after more great work by Cusiter - but this time captain Paul Thomson lost the ball as he dived over.
Hore added his third penalty to ease the frustrations and to increase the gap to 10 points - and then scored another three points from close in.
Holwell clawed back a penalty at the other end, but two minutes later Hore darted in for the second Borders try and added the touchline conversion to effectively seal Leinster's fate.
They kept their hopes alive touchdown by replacement Brian O'Riordan, converted by Holwell, only for Ally Warnock to increase the Borders lead again with a snap drop-goal.
|
