Lansdowne's desire, focus and superior physical strength up front effectively decided Saturday's Kitty O'Shea Leinster Championship semi-final at Oak Park. There was much to admire in the manner in which Lansdowne applied themselves to their task; there was less satisfaction in the fumbling, fragmented, errorstrewn rugby that precluded a more emphatic victory.
The visitors had identified that Carlow's main attribute was the power of their scrum, which had produced a glut of tries, and they had assumed that to dominate this facet of play would demoralise their opponents. This they achieved to stunning effect, with Leinster interprovincial Angus McKeen, in particular, relishing the contest.
Unfortunately, the forwards tended to overplay the ball, which encouraged handling errors and, when they did look to stretch Carlow away from the main theatre of war, pedestrian distribution and shoddy kicking undermined the effort.
The inside trio of Richard Governey, David O'Mahony, the centre, and Rory Kearns will not fondly recall the afternoon, particularly Governey, who appeared completely out of sorts. An exception, but sadly an under-utilised one, was right wing Marcus Dillon, who roasted his man on the two occasions he received the ball, and generally looked very sharp.
In contrast, Carlow belied their Division Four status to produce some fine, fluent rugby, but they lacked the potency to capitalise on their creativity. New Zealand number eight Andrew Melville and scrum-half Lenny Peavoy, both of whom have been called to Leinster training squads recently, were especially prominent.
Coach Jim Lowry was not surprised by the outcome: "The match went fairly well the way that I expected. We had a problem in the lineout and, denied possession, we were reduced to tackling practice for long periods of the game.
"They targeted our scrum and won that battle. Basically they were bigger and stronger, but I was delighted at the way we never gave up and the fact that we always tried to play rugby. You could see that Lansdowne wanted to win this, something that was not always evident in some of the teams that we came across."
The opening 20 minutes were noticeable for minor skirmishes, frequent turnovers and a couple of fine runs from Melville, until Lansdowne's excellent scrum-half, David O'Mahony, grabbed a try after a backrow move 10 metres from the Carlow line.
Governey converted, but failed to do so on 37 minutes when hooker Cormac Egan dived over in the corner. He was later to leave with a fractured cheekbone. He joins captain Kurt McQuilkin on the sidelines.
Two penalties from out-half Donogh O'Brien, either side of half-time, offered hope that was cruelly dashed when Lansdowne fullback Brian Quinn snaffled a fortuitous try, which Governey failed to convert. Prop Warren O'Kelly's five-metre surge from a well-worked lineout move 13 minutes from time, converted by Kearns, ensured a comfortable denouement.
The final is due for decision next Sunday, but Lansdowne team manager Mick Dawson claimed that they "definitely won't play then".
Scoring sequence: 22 mins: O'Mahony (scrum-half) try, Governey conversion 0-7; 37: Egan try 0-12; 44: O'Brien penalty 3-12. 56: O'Brien penalty 6-12; 60: Quinn try 6-17; 67: O'Kelly try, Kearns conversion 6-24.
Carlow: B Gordon; J Waddock, J Shirley, T Ashmore, R Larkin; D O'Brien, L Peavoy (capt); P Brennan, J Hannon, L Hannon; A Dooley, L O'Byrne; N Campion, A Melville, M Fenlon. Replacement: T Atkins for J Hannon (77 mins).
Lansdowne: B Quinn; M Dillon, R Kearns, David O'Mahony, S Cooney; R Governey, David O'Mahony; W O'Kelly, C Egan, A McKeen; S O'Connor, P O'Connor; S Rooney (capt), C McEntee, P Mandell. Replacements: B Glennon for O'Mahony (centre) (62 mins); B McCoy for Egan (65 mins).
Referee: N Butler (Leinster)
