Jonathan Sexton and Brendan Macken guide Leinster to RaboDirect PRO12 victory over Edinburgh

Leinster had got off to a flying start but Edinburgh refused to let their hosts have things their own way as they went toe-to-toe with them.

However the magical Jonathan Sexton led the way for Leinster to leapfrog the visitors in the standings.

Sexton weighed in with 12 points, including a try, two conversions and a penalty, while Brendan Macken crossed for two tries.

Edinburgh captain Greig Laidlaw kept his side in the contest with 11 points, while Willem Nel scored a late try.

However their cause was not helped by the departure of John Yapp and Sean Cox for 10 minutes in the second half - leaving them with 13 men.

Regrouped

Leinster were quickly out the blocks, with Sexton the orchestrator for the Heineken Cup champions.

The Ireland fly-half crossed for the opening try of the match after just nine minutes, before tagging on the extras and then a penalty as Leinster hammered away at the line.

Edinburgh, though, regrouped well and slowly began to work their way back into the match.

Skipper Laidlaw led the way with two successful penalties to cut the deficit to 10-6 - however their defence had to be alert as the hosts finished the half well.

Leinster started the second half in positive fashion as they set up camp in the Edinburgh half - and the pressure told as first Yapp and then Cox was sin-binned for deliberately killing the ball at the breakdown.

But although the Edinburgh pack was decimated, the Scots defended resolutely to keep the initial attacks at bay - although the Leinster forwards were perhaps guilty of suffering from white-line fever.

And it was the backs who finally broke the Edinburgh resistance - with Macken running in unopposed after Fionn Carr's scything break.

Edinburgh, though, hit back with another Laidlaw three-pointer but it was a brief respite as Macken was on hand to score his second try of the match. Sexton converted.

Nel burrowed over from close range and Laidlaw converted to cut the deficit to 22-16 with nine minutes left.

Buoyed by this success, Edinburgh finally started to put Leinster under pressure however they were left frustrated.