EDINBURGH signed off what has been a hectic end to the season with defeat at the hands of Leinster at BT Murrayfield to shatter the capital side's slim hopes of achieving European Cup qualification.

The Murrayfield team needed a win against the Irish club to force a play-off against Gloucester, as well as requiring Guinness Pro12 results elsewhere to work in their favour. The complex arithmetic to discover if Edinburgh would advance, however, proved unnecessary and in the event the players were perhaps relieved to draw the curtain down on their season.

Alan Solomons, the Edinburgh coach, admitted as much when he said: "The guys need a good break. We'll get the programmes planned , we'll do all the profiling and all the medical programmes."

Solomons is also aware that Edinburgh, criticised for fielding so many foreigners, must have more home grown talent in their ranks.

"We need to build a sustainable club through our indigenous youngsters and through our Scotland-qualified players." he added. "It's well documented that we've had four break through this season - Sammy [Hidalgo-Clyne], Hamish [Watson], Ben [Toolis] and Rory [Sutherland].

"I'm positive about Jamie Ritchie, Damien Hoyland, Chris Dean and Magnus Bradbury coming through this year. I hope Jamie Fondella gets hooked up with the sevens squad. So if we can get four through this year and four through next year that's a positive. and we've got Blair Kinghorn joining us."

Saturday was the final Edinburgh game for the Scotland wing Tim Visser who is joining Harlequins next season. The Dutchman was able to mark the occasion with a try, a rare event these days for the winger, who in his heyday at Edinburgh was a prolific scorer.

"It would have been fantastic to leave here with a win, which is what we deserved. The way we played today was something I've not seen all season. " said Visser, who admitted he is looking forward to joining Harlequins.

"The brand of rugby they play at Quins is phenomenal. It's similar to some of the stuff you saw here today but playing that style of rugby week in week out is exhilarating."

Visser along with Hidalgo-Clyne provided the Edinburgh backline with plenty to get forward but elsewhere behind the scrum the Murrayfield men were outclassed by Leinster and notably by the Dubliners' stand-off, Ian Madigan, who aside from kicking five goals, orchestrated most of his side's moves, and deservedly collected the man-of-the-match award.

Edinburgh, however, were more competitive in the frontal battle where Toolis, Cornell Du Preez, and Hamish Watson posted impressive performances. But what is clear is the need for Edinburgh to improve the quality of their backs but with money scarce that may be a pipe dream.

It was Leinster who broke the early 3-3 stalemate with a converted try from Noel Reid, the centre taking a delicately delivered reverse pass from Sean O'Brien. Edinburgh replied positively with a converted touchdown from their flanker Hamish Watson to level the scores at 10-10 only for replacement Jack Conan to romp in under the posts after clever play by Madigan and Dave Kearney for a 17-10 interval lead.

Then after Edinburgh had narrowed the gap with a penalty goal from Hidalgo-Clyne, Leinster stretched their lead with a try in the corner from winger Zane Kirchner made by Madigan's long pass.

Edinburgh then upped their game with a try in the corner by Visser, who had roamed to the opposite touchline in search of his score. Hidalgo-Clyne converted and added another penalty goal to give Edinburgh a 23-22 lead.

With the game preciously poised Leinster won a ball against the head, triggering a series of attacks that ended with flanker Jordi Murphy crashing over and Madigan converting.

Any hopes Edinburgh had of rescuing the game were then dashed as replacement scrum half Luke McGrath dashed in for his side's fifth try converted yet again by Madigan to seal an impressive win.