Leinster kill some pain at the Brewery

Bridgend... 18 Leinster..

Bridgend ... 18 Leinster ... 39: Leinster skipper Reggie Corrigan struggled to hide his frustration as the province's reign as Celtic League champions ended at the Brewery Field on Saturday.

Having racked up 50 points against Swansea in a Heineken Cup match just a few miles down the M4 seven days earlier, Leinster comfortably swept aside the Ravens to round off their Pool B Celtic League campaign.

However, Corrigan was left to reflect on the four defeats suffered during Ireland's World Cup qualifying matches which effectively ended Leinster's hopes of reaching the knockout stages.

"I would say that frustration is the overwhelming emotion at the moment," said Corrigan. "As the current Celtic League champions we wanted to defend the title but circumstances have played a big part in our failure to do that.

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"A lot of young guys came into the team when the international players were on World Cup duty and they tried their best but it's very difficult to blood them at this level. But we can't do too much about it now and we have to look forward to the rest of the Heineken Cup campaign."

Given that neither side was able to qualify for the quarter-finals it was a surprisingly keen contest.

At least it was for 60 minutes until Leinster took advantage of the sin-binning of Bridgend flanker Richard Bryan - one of four in the match - to score 21 points in seven minutes.

Bridgend had led 15-10 at the interval, centre and captain Dafydd James finishing two well-executed moves for a brace of tries that proved a point to the Welsh selectors just four days after they controversially omitted the Lion from the squad for next month's Tests against Romania, Fiji, Canada and New Zealand.

A conversion and penalty from outhalf Craig Warlow completed the home side's account, with Leinster replying through a Shane Horgan try - the centre taking advantage of some hesitancy in the home defence to cross unopposed from 40 metres out - and a conversion and penalty from Brian O'Meara.

Referee Andy Ireland showed the first two yellow cards to Bridgend lock Mike Powell and Leinster centre Brian O'Driscoll on the half hour after a protracted brawl involving a dozen players.

Warlow's second penalty just after the interval was cancelled out by O'Meara and despite a concerted spell of pressure Leinster struggled to break down the home side until Bryan's departure for deliberately killing the ball.

Some slick three-quarter handling saw Denis Hickie cross wide out for O'Meara to convert and at 20-18 Leinster led for the first time. Three minutes later Bridgend's seven-man scrum disintegrated inside their own 22 and Malcolm O'Kelly forced the ball over the line, with O'Meara again converting.

Completing the purple patch Horgan and O'Driscoll split the Bridgend defence allowing the Lion to sprint clear to the posts for another converted try.

Corrigan became the final recipient of a yellow card two minutes from time for another technical offence but Leinster still had the last word with Hickie claiming his second try in stoppage time.

BRIDGEND: M James; R Mustoe, D James (capt), J Funnell, P Jones; C Warlow, H Harries; P Booth, B Phillips, C Horsman, M Powell, A Moore, R Bryan, S van Rensburg, J Ringer. Replacements: D Jones for Moore (17 mins); J Thiel for Horsman; N Budgett for Powell (both 59 mins) C Loader for Booth (65 mins); M Molitika for Ringer (70 mins). Tries - D James (2); Con - C Warlow; Pens - Warlow (2).

LEINSTER: G Dempsey; D Hickie, B O'Driscoll, S Horgan, G D'Arcy; B O'Meara, B O'Riordan; R Corrigan (capt), S Byrne, E Byrne, A Kearney, M O'Kelly, A McCullen, V Costello, K Gleeson. Replacements: D Dillon for Costello (47 mins); B Gissing for Kearney (49 mins); M Leek for O'Riordan (51 mins); N Treston for Gleeson (54 mins); P Smyth for Byrne (57 mins); A Magro for D'Arcy, B Willis for O'Meara (both 72)

Referee: A Ireland (Scottish RU)

Northampton moved up to third in the English Premiership table thanks to a gritty 14-12 win over London Irish at the Madejski Stadium.

London Irish paid the price for careless errors early on with Northampton's Paul Grayson notching up three easy penalties within the first eight minutes.

Exiles' Barry Everitt put the home side back into the game with two penalties and added a further two later on but it was Northampton who had the upper hand. Everitt missed a drop goal while referee Steve Leyson denied him another score.