Leinster go five points clear atop the PRO12 with laboured victory over Edinburgh

A four-try second half propelled Leinster to a 30-23 Guinness PRO12 bonus point win over Edinburgh at the RDS to extend their lead atop the table to five points.

Leo Cullen's men extended their lead at the top of the table to five points, but a late penalty from Sam Hidalgo-Clyne earned Edinburgh a deserved losing bonus point.

Two Ian Madigan penalties cancelled out Jason Tovey's third-minute opener as Leinster led 6-3 at half-time, a poor return given Edinburgh flanker Jamie Ritchie's 33rd-minute sin-binning.

But tries from Luke McGrath and Josh van der Flier, either side of a Tom Brown effort, catapulted the league leaders clear and Fergus McFadden's double cemented the bonus point with 17 minutes left.

Replacement Mike Allen snatched an intercept effort for the visitors, who ended the game strongly with a try from Sean Kennedy and Hidalgo-Clyne's closing penalty.

A high-tempo start saw Tovey boot Edinburgh in front before he was pinged for not rolling away and Madigan levelled matters. Luke Fitzgerald and Ben Te'o initiated a break down the left wing that was eventually rewarded with three more points.

And Edinburgh's struggles were compounded when they lost teenage forward Ritchie to the sin bin for infringing at the breakdown after multiple team warnings. However the visitors managed to frustrate Leinster - as they had all half - who fell short despite a couple of promising mauls.

The Irish breakthrough finally came in the 43rd minute. Madigan's flat pass back inside released Fitzgerald through the middle and he ran hard up into the 22 before sending the supporting McGrath in under the posts.

However, Madigan's conversion was followed by a quick response from Edinburgh as Tovey's long pass looped over McFadden and allowed Brown to finish smartly in the left corner.

Tovey's conversion attempt fell short and he blundered when missing touch from a penalty. Replacement Kennedy's subsequent pass was intercepted by Reid who offloaded for man-of-the-match Van der Flier to race through for a real sucker-punch score, converted by Madigan.

Leinster soon sucked in enough Edinburgh defenders for Reid and Fitzgerald to pass wide and send winger McFadden over in the right corner.

Allen read a short Madigan pass to claw seven points back, but McFadden brilliantly barged over past Blair Kinghorn and WP Nel for his second try of the night.

Poor defending from the home side however, with Devin Toner particularly guilty, allowed Kennedy clean through from a ruck in the 70th minute, and Edinburgh's high level of endeavour - typified by a terrific Damien Hoyland break - saw them close them gap to seven thanks to Hidalgo-Clyne's close-range strike.