HEINEKEN CUP QUARTER-FINALS: Leinster 17 Leicester 10: AS SCOTT Hamilton sat on the turf after the whistle had gone, the wonder was that 29 players didn't join him.
Leinster scarcely had the energy for a lap of honour though neither had they the inclination, as this group of players have higher targets than quarter-final wins, even ones as epic as this.
That said, few wins give a team more satisfaction than those over Leicester because, invariably, it’s earned the hard way. The ferocity they brought to the collisions from the start of the second half was the clearest of signals that, having butchered one or two chances, Leinster were in for a long day at the office.
Undoubtedly the better, more positive team won. Indeed, it’s hard to think of any area in the contest where Leinster weren’t the superior force. They held their own in the scrum, dissected the Leicester lineout clinically, defended magnificently through waves of hard straight running and also contested the ball in the tackle and counter-rucked to telling and decisive effect.
Their own recycling and movement of the ball was quicker, Eoin Reddan more than justifying his selection by injecting tempo with his pace to the breakdown, footwork and snappy passing. By contrast, Ben Youngs was again inhibited by the occasion, and likewise Jonathan Sexton again comfortably outplayed Toby Floods.
Their lines of running, footwork and offloading was altogether more varied, while Isa Nacewa’s brilliant counter-attacking was, predictably, of a different stratosphere to the strictly meat-and-two veg of Scott Hamilton. Had they taken their chances, Leinster could have been out of sight by the half-time or hour mark.
Only in midfield were Leicester arguably the equals, Anthony Allen getting through a huge amount of work while the ultra physical Manu Tuilagi constantly asked questions of Brian O’Driscoll and co with his dynamic running, as did his big brother, Alesana. The irony is that the greatest Leicester man of them all, Martin Johnson, prefers the inferior Bath pair of Shontayne Hape and Matt Banahan. Go figure.
And yet, it has to be said that the dice rolled for Leinster too. Whereas Flood missed an eminently kickable three-pointer from almost the same spot as he did for England three Saturdays previously, one of Sexton’s four handsomely struck penalties went over via both uprights, and the game flipped on two critical moments in the 43rd and 49th minutes.
Heaven knows how the ebb and flow of psychic energy might have altered had Seán O’Brien – perhaps the high point of another monumental 80 minutes of perpetual motion and muscle by the Tullow man – not forced Alesana Tuilagi’s thigh to brush the touch-in-goal whitewash after he had bumped Brian O’Driscoll.
Six minutes later, Isa Nacewa – in undoubtedly the high point of another, simply stunning individual performance – bamboozled and speed-bumped Hamilton to reach out for the line one-handed. Inches indeed, and to compound Leicester’s woes, the counter off one of Youngs’ over-cooked kicks, originated in a pass from Nacewa to Shane Horgan which began in Leinster’s half and finished in Leicester’s.
Leicester’s bottomless well of resilience and belief kept them in the game, and then brought them back into the game, when others would have given up the ghost.
Richard Cockeril complained long and loudly about Nigel Owens’ interpretations at the breakdown, and Owens certainly allowed more of a contest than most, but Leinster’s clear edge here was also down to the greater dynamism of their running game as against Leicester’s diet of crash-bang-wallop running. Leicester, as is their wont, flirted with a yellow card as they thrice killed ruck ball close to their own line.
It asked less questions of the Leinster defence, even if they had to put their bodies on the line in holding up ball-carriers for the cavalry to arrive. Leinster, as they knew they had to and you knew they would, brought their Test-match intensity.
The lines in the sand were, fittingly, drawn in the frontrow, where Mike Ross and Richardt Strauss set the tone with a couple of monster early hits, and Cian Healy’s ballast in carrying and tackling was its usual self, even if he did butcher a huge third minute try-scoring overlap after Nacewa’s brilliant counter and McLaughlin’s support run. With the Leicester frontrow comparatively anonymous until the late try by sub Rob Hawkins, it was as if Leinster had an extra backrow.
With Test-match intensity came Test-match preparation. This victory began last Monday, or more likely last January, for the analysis on their quarter-final opponents, especially the Leicester lineout, was spot on. Hats off to Leo Cullen, perhaps with a hint of insider knowledge, and Jonno Gibbes. Leicester lost six on their own throw and few of those they won came easily.
Leinster’s competitiveness on the George Chuter throw was unrelenting, the lifters continually getting McLaughlin and Cullen into the air in the right areas. Cullen was also immense in defence, while McLaughlin had a big game, augmenting his lineout work with effective tackling and support play, even if a couple of his steals were illegal. Compounding the injuries to George Skivington and Geoff Parling, Louis Deacon’s Achilles problem recurred, leaving a huge gulf in experience between the sides.
But Leicester approached this game in too much of an away-day, containment mode for their own good. Only when Martin Castrogiovanni and, belatedly, Thomas Waldrom were introduced and the game was practically up did they swing from the hip; their rangy Tongan lock Steve Mafi causing mayhem as an auxiliary right winger. To be hammering away for an equalising seven-pointer through 17 phases was testimony to them but, ultimately, both teams got what they deserved.
Scoring sequence: 4 mins Sexton pen 3-0; 6 mins Flood pen 3-3; 15 mins Sexton pen 6-3; 37 mins Sexton pen 9-3; (half-time 9-3); 49 mins Nacewa try 14-3; 75 mins Sexton pen 17-3; 77 mins Hawkins try, Flood con 17-10.
LEINSTER:I Nacewa; S Horgan, B O'Driscoll, G D'Arcy, L Fitzgerald; J Sexton, E Reddan; C Healy, R Strauss, M Ross, L Cullen [capt], N Hines, K McLaughlin, S O'Brien, J Heaslip. Replacements: I Boss for Reddan (59 mins), D Ryan for McLaughlin (68 mins), F McFadden for Horgan (75 mins), H Van Der Merwe for Healy (78 mins). Not used: J Harris-Wright, S Wright, D Toner, I Madigan.
LEICESTER TIGERS: S Hamilton; H Agulla, M Tuilagi, A Allen, A Tuilagi; T Flood, B Youngs; B Stankovich, G Chuter, D Cole, L Deacon, S Mafi, T Croft, C Newby [capt], J Crane. Replacements: E Slater for Deacon (29 mins), M Castrogiovanni for Cole (52 mins), T Waldrom for Crane (62-75 mins) and for Croft (75 mins), R Hawkins for Chuter (75 mins). Not used: J White, J Grindal, J Staunton, M Smith.
Referee:Nigel Owens (Wales).
