European Cup Pool Two/Leinster - 26 Agen - 10:Intestinal fortitude is rarely proposed as a premium ingredient following a forensic examination of a Leinster victory, but it was sheer guts that got them over the line at Lansdowne Road on Saturday. None personified this more than their captain, Brian O'Driscoll, although he would have preferred to have shown less of his intestines, as a tummy bug he'd fought all week manifested itself 18 minutes into this Heineken European Cup pool encounter.
It wasn't simply about the Leinster and Ireland captain, although his hat-trick of tries will capture most of the headlines. Leinster toughed this match out, surviving on a modicum of possession and undermined by a scrum that was shunted and bullied all over the pitch. The lack of a front-line goal-kicker seemed innocuous in comparison to the other handicaps.
It was an afternoon where attitude and commitment were more important than the traditional virtues that Leinster espouse. Senior players stepped forward and took responsibility. Malcolm O'Kelly was a colossus, brilliant out of touch, wonderfully assured under the restarts and voracious in the loose, the latter a description that would also fit the contributions of Keith Gleeson and Brian Blaney.
Scrum-time aside, the Leinster eight performed capably, scavenging aggressively and forcing countless turnovers by hitting hard in the collision areas.
The decision to apportion the lion's share of the blame for the scrum deficiencies to Cook Island-born Leinster debutant and tighthead prop Stanley Wright is as ludicrous as it is wrong.
Leinster's scrum was in trouble against Ulster (Wright wasn't playing that day), and it suffered an even greater shellacking on Saturday. There'll be no respite at the Stade Armandie in five days' time. Technically and tactically, coach Michael Cheika along with Roly Meates are going to have to discover a panacea.
Reggie Corrigan's introduction helped initially but when Agen were in the mood on one or two occasions in the second half, the Leinster scrum resembled a deflating concertina. Number eight Jamie Heaslip did extremely well to clear ball and go forward from such a compromised position, ably supported by Stephen Keogh.
Shane Horgan and Denis Hickie took turns to compensate for their ailing captain as he caught his breath and fought the waves of nausea, often lining up in the centre alongside Gordon D'Arcy, with O'Driscoll offered the less fraught corridors of the wing. Australian halfback pairing Chris Whitaker and Christian Warner made a decent fist of trying to run the game on meagre rations.
The Irish captain spent two days in bed during the week and the fact he played, let alone scored three tries, speaks volumes for his character.
Yet despite decent individual performances, it was Agen who dominated both in possession and territory. Their chances of maintaining an unbeaten start to the pool were, however, compromised by a truly dreadful halfback partnership.
Stand-in captain and scrumhalf Nicolas Morlaes boasts a maternity hospital-style delivery; laboured, it induced nightmares for his luckless outhalf.
Jerome Miquel was ineffectual and hesitant as he struggled to capitalise on the good work of his pack.
The French side were largely ponderous, seeking out contact rather than gaps, overdosing on physicality.
Number eight Opeti Fonua was a notable exception, carrying ball powerfully and requiring a couple of defenders to wrestle him to the ground. Their scrum was an offensive weapon but the preoccupation with the grunt factor meant Rupeni Caucaunibuca and Pepito Elhorga remained on the periphery of the contest.
Gleeson's big hit on "Caucau" after 41 seconds set the tone for Leinster's defensive display and they received the perfect start when Whitaker sneaked under the tackle of former All Black Kees Meeuws for an opportunist try. It might have come earlier had Keogh not ignored D'Arcy and instead backed himself to make the line. He didn't, but Whitaker redressed what had appeared a lost opportunity.
Girvan Dempsey missed with the conversion, a trend that would continue, until he handed over the kicking duties to D'Arcy, the latter once again producing a superb performance.
On 12 minutes O'Driscoll read Miquel's inside pass intended for hooker Ace Tiatia and from just inside his own 22, the Leinster captain and Caucaunibuca indulged in a footrace that only really began in earnest when they hit the Agen 22.
O'Driscoll had just enough to spare. The pair would collide again and the Fijian exact a modicum of revenge on 33 minutes when he brilliantly batted the ball away as O'Driscoll tried to hand him off with the try line beckoning. It was a great piece of defending.
Miquel kicked a penalty in first-half injury-time, a belated reward for large tranches of pressure.
Agen were the aggressors once again in the third quarter but it was Leinster who capitalised on limited opportunities, D'Arcy kicking two reasonably straight- forward penalties.
On 66 minutes O'Driscoll finished off excellent approach work by Horgan, Warner, Gleeson and Blaney, cleverly pirouetting out of a tackle to plunge over for his side's third try.
Caucaunibuca responded in kind three minutes later, Miquel posting the conversion; it came from a Leinster turnover 30 metres from their goal-line.
Owen Finegan couldn't ground the ball having muscled his way over the Agen line.
As the match entered injury-time and with Meeuws in the sinbin the home side snatched the bonus point they craved.
O'Driscoll once again delivered the coup de grace but should be particularly grateful to a couple of forwards whose dexterity facilitated the score.
Corrigan showed great hands to keep the move going and O'Kelly threw an excellent skip pass on the run to put his skipper over in the corner.
Stade Armandie will resemble a bear pit next Saturday but providing Leinster can survive at scrum time, Agen may find the Irish province have enough quality left in the locker to surprise their French hosts.
SCORING SEQUENCE: 2 mins: Whitaker try, 5-0; 12: O'Driscoll try, 10-0; 40(+5): Miquel pen, 10-3 (half-time: 10-3); 49: D'Arcy pen, 13-3; 63: D'Arcy pen, 16-3; 66: O'Driscoll try, 21-3; 69: Caucaunibuca try, Miquel con, 21-10; 85: O'Driscoll try, 26-10.
LEINSTER: G Dempsey; S Horgan, B O'Driscoll (capt), G D'Arcy, D Hickie; C Warner, C Whitaker; R McCormack, B Blaney, S Wright; T Hogan, M O'Kelly; S Keogh, K Gleeson, J Heaslip. Replacements: R Corrigan for Wright (half-time); G Easterby for Whitaker, C Jowitt for Keogh (both 68 mins); L Fitzgerald for Hickie (70 mins); O Finegan for Jowitt (72 mins); K Lewis for O'Driscoll (86 mins).
AGEN: P Elhorga; M Ahotaeiloa, C Stoltz, S Mirande, R Caucaunibuca; J Miquel, N Morlaes (capt); E Guinazu, A Tiatia, K Meeuws; W Stoltz, S Socol; M Lievremont, L Ostiglia, O Fonua. Replacements: A Badenhorst for Socol (45 mins); F Culine for Ostiglia (50 mins); L Lafforgue for C Stoltz, L Cabarry for Guinazu (both 62 mins); A Galasso for Fonua (81 mins). Sinbin: K Meeuws (78 mins).
Referee: W Barnes (England).
