Reigning Celtic League champions Leinster are in grave danger of making an early exit from this season's competition. The Dublin-based provincial outfit became a first tournament scalp for Scotland's newly-formed Borders side last night, crashing to an unexpected 23-18 defeat.
With just two group games remaining, Leinster are two points off the quarter-final pace, lying sixth in Pool B. The top four teams from each group progress to November's knockout stages. Once again, they sorely missed the likes of Brian O'Driscoll and Denis Hickie - both on Ireland World Cup duty this weekend - as Borders goalkicker Kevin Utterson took centre stage.
Utterson finished with 18 points, including a try, while back-row forward Semo Sititi also touched down to give Borders victory despite having two players - Matt Taylor and Paul Thomson - sin-binned late in the game.
Munster lost their 100% record in Pool A, going down to a Neil Doak-inspired Ulster in Belfast.
Filed by Sinéad Kissane
