MAGNERS LEAGUE: Leinster 23 Cardiff Blues 8:STEPHEN KEOGH'S injury-time try put a gloss on a performance that for most of the Halloween evening had a distinctly matt veneer. Leinster produced periodic snippets of wonderful sleight of hand and great lines of running but only once did it result in a try as usually the move foundered when a player was isolated.
It’s possible to quibble about a lack of patience and precision but that would be a little harsh as there is mitigation in the number of turnovers that the home side forfeited. Welsh official James Jones decided from the outset that he would focus on players not releasing in the tackle and he policed this aspect of the game with scrupulous consistency.
Unfortunately he didn’t apply that zealousness to the breakdown. Cardiff were pretty much given carte blanche not to roll away, nor get off the ground before the tackler contested for possession. The visitors poured through rucks from all angles, the notion of “going through the gate”, a quaint irrelevance on the night.
The Welsh side managed to steal a few yards in terms of their three-quarter line defence, thereby condensing the space. That streetwise approach, facilitated by sloppy officiating, could have edged Cardiff even closer to a monumental upset if Ben Blair had managed a better strike-rate than two from five attempts.
In fairness to Dai Young’s side they travelled without 10 first-choice players and found themselves 10 points down in as many minutes. They could have buckled, possibly might have if the home side had ratcheted up the pressure a notch or two on the scoreboard, but showed impressive resolve to dig in and defend. Cardiff didn’t offer too much in the way of attacking cohesion, outhalf Sam Norton Knight and fullback Blair, content to hoof the ball high. Their conservatism was understandable with a patchwork side.
Leinster’s attitude or application was good for the most part. Individuals were a tad impulsive at times, losing support but the main gripe would be that they didn’t mete out a more ruthless deterrent when Cardiff spoiled at rucks.
Coach Michael Cheika encapsulated the issue perfectly when he pointed out: “They (Cardiff) were all over the ball all night.
“They did not get up off the floor and they played on the edge of the rules and got away with a lot: well done to them. They stopped us all the time. I’d have to look at it again and I was trying to work out how players were allowed to be where they were. There are two ways you can go. You can complain about it or you can just get on there and clear guys out, go past.
“If someone is on the wrong side get stuck in and let him know about it. We didn’t do that well enough; we didn’t send that message to the opposition to say, ‘get away from our halfback’. They were able to take hold of that. I wouldn’t be speaking out of school in saying that. We spoke about it at half-time because it had crept in at the back half of the first half and we didn’t address it.
“There were some poor parts to our game particularly around the ruck and the ball placement. We made a lot of good breaks but we weren’t able to secure the next phase well enough. We had poor discipline in our half on several occasions. We were lucky (Ben) Blair wasn’t a bit more accurate otherwise we could have been under more pressure.”
Leinster’s openside Seán O’Brien offered a snapshot of his team’s evening. He bounced tacklers, ran some great lines, made a couple of significant breaks but also conceded several penalties, missed a couple of tackles and spilled ball. He was far from alone in the latter respect.
There were a number of standout displays from the home side, Luke Fitzgerald an effervescent presence on the wing first and then when paired with captain Brian O’Driscoll (excellent again) in the centre, following Gordon D’Arcy’s departure with a calf injury: he will have a scan on the damage today. Shane Horgan is playing as well as he has ever done in his career, brilliant once again.
Jonathan Sexton knocked over his first four place-kicks and provided slide-rule precision with his grubber kick for Horgan’s exquisite try on 10 minutes. The move began just outside the Leinster 22 with Eoin Reddan’s clever appreciation of the short-side that two passes later sent Fitzgerald racing clear up the touchline.
O’Brien and D’Arcy helped carry the ball into the Cardiff 22 and from a ruck, Sexton spotted the hard-rushing visiting defensive line, changed his angle to make a half break and then slid the ball across: Horgan was top of the queue of potential Leinster recipients. Sexton took a bang to the head and that could explain two missed place-kicks subsequently but he had an excellent game.
Up front the pack contributed en masse, shredding the Cardiff lineout, bossing the scrums and with the exception of the ruck it was a decent night’s work. Kevin McLaughlin was conspicuous in defence, while Malcolm O’Kelly also had a fine 48 minutes.
As the provinces take a back-seat to the national side, Cheika admitted he’s largely satisfied with the first segment of the season. “Statistically it is our best ever start since I have been here. We have won six and lost three (matches). The big dent in there is losing the London Irish match at home. It is said that you can’t win anything now but you can leave yourself with a big chase to come.
“In the league we have had a hard start, played more away games. We have ourselves up near the top after missing Lions players at that start of the season and having to make that rotation. It hasn’t been bad and we still have a good part of our own destiny to manage.
“As coaches we will do a few things differently in the next segment to make sure that our performance is humming along all the way to the end of the December/January window because it is very important.”
Scoring sequence:6 mins: Sexton penalty, 3-0; 10: Horgan try, Sexton conversion, 10-0; 26: Sexton penalty, 13-0; 29: Blair penalty, 13-3; 36: Blair penalty, 13-6. Half-time: 13-6. 53: Sexton penalty, 16-6; 81: Stephen Keogh try, Sexton conversion, 23-6.
LEINSTER:I Nacewa; S Horgan, B O'Driscoll, G D'Arcy, L Fitzgerald; J Sexton, E Reddan; C Healy, J Fogarty, CJ van der Linde; L Cullen (capt), M O'Kelly; K McLaughlin, S O'Brien, J Heaslip. Replacements: G Dempsey for D'Arcy (38 mins); M Ross for van der Linde (h-time); N Hines for M O'Kelly (48 mins); Stephen Keogh for O'Brien (70 mins); B Jackman for Fogarty (71 mins); van der Linde for Healy (75 mins); S Berne for O'Driscoll (81 mins). Sin Bin: J Heaslip (34 mins)
CARDIFF BLUES:B Blair; R Mustoe, G Thomas, G Evans, C Czekaj; S Norton Knight, R Rees; D Morris, R Williams, T Filise; D Jones, P Tito (capt); S Morgan, B White, X Rush. Replacements: J Down for Jones (56 mins); G Powell for Morris (64 mins); D James for Czekaj (70 mins); J Navidi for Morgan (70 mins); D Allinson for Rees (77 mins); C Sweeney for Norton Knight (77 mins); R James for Williams (77 mins). Sin Bin: G Powell (77 mins)
Referee:James Jones (Wales).
