Bristol - 12 Leinster - 25 Three out of three in Anglo-Irish head-to-heads. Not a bad old weekend for Irish rugby. There were, as Matt Williams said afterwards, 100 reasons for Leinster to lose this game, but it says everything about their desire that they finished the Heineken European Cup pool stages with the competition's only 100 per cent record.
With it came a number one ranking in the quarter-finals. Academic maybe, but something to be proud of. In the six years of four-team groups, they are only the third team to do it. Granted, it's no guarantee of success, for the last two, Bath last season and Wasps five seasons ago, both lost at home in the quarter-finals. But neither possessed Leinster's cutting edge.
In theory Bristol had even less to play for, given they required a win and nine tries to edge out Biarritz for the last quarter-final spot. Well, they came out with sleeves rolled up, intent on clattering into anything wearing Leinster's more unfamiliar white strip, and in a fierce, full-on contest threw the ball around with abandon, rejecting shots at goal from the off.
That said they were a bit manic, imprecise in seeking openings, spilling the ball regularly under pressure and overstepping the line on occasions in a poorly officiated game - most notably when Scott Morgan was merely spoken to along with Brian O'Driscoll after pinning the Irish centre down and unloading a volley of punches.
Julian White further enhanced his reputation as a serious hombre cum scrum time and Leinster were given one of their sternest battles. The physical collisions all across the pitch made one wince. Leinster had to defend aggressively, tirelessly and cleverly to withstand a furious opening salvo before twice striking stealthily to leave Bristol playing catch-up for the remainder of the afternoon.
Unbeaten in their last six outings at the Memorial Grounds, Bristol did came back within a score at the break and with the outstanding Aidan McCullen unjustly in the sin bin for another eight minutes, the game was still very much on. Not the least of Leinster's many achievements in this six-match winning run in Europe was to keep Bristol scoreless in the second period.
"I'm very, very proud of the way the boys went about it," said Williams, "and Bristol played fantastic rugby. I'm only guessing, but I'd imagine it was a good game to watch." Few visiting teams in Europe could have taken a 12-0 lead in the face of Bristol's witheringly competitive opening salvo. A seasonal high 7,013 crowd was mostly stunned into silence save the sizeable, noisy Leinster contingent.
Denis Hickie's pace, in defensive covering and in attack, was a feature of the game and quick thinking by Brian O'Meara lifted the siege, his long penalty into an un-policed full-back slot giving Hickie something to chase. David Rees conceded the throw, and though O'Meara's try off the winger's quick throw was overruled for being taken at the wrong place, it showed how alert Leinster were.
In any event, McCullen bulldozed over like an American football running back, O'Meara converting. Again deputising for the injured Leo Cullen, the versatile McCullen - surely the find of the season - put in another stormer aside from his two tries. Even his binning was unjust; if anybody was culpable in kicking Bristol ruck ball from an offside position it looked more like O'Kelly.
Leinster's excellent lineout provided the platform for Horgan to make inroads up the middle and in the ensuing phase Reggie Corrigan, who had a big game around the pitch, twice kept Leinster on the front foot, as did Hickie, before O'Driscoll took Alex Brown's tackle to score on the blindside.
Agustin Pichot probed as did Felipe Contepomi, as slippery as an eel, and Bristol's intense pressure was eventually rewarded when Daryl Gibson's skip pass gave Phil Christophers just enough room to squeeze in by the flag. But a clever short lineout exchange between Shane Byrne and Malcolm O'Kelly again put Leinster on the front foot. From pack pressure O'Meara went blind and nothing seemed on when Christian Warner, in the high point of a quietly effective performance, grubbered deftly for the chasing Horgan to gather and score in one movement.
Contepomi, who has a bit of "previous" when spoiling ruck ball on the deck, was binned and O'Meara landed a comforting three-pointer on 64 minutes. Horgan averted the final scare when he came off his wing to prevent Martin Shaw putting Gibson over, and from a Victor Costello steal and a Corrigan rumble, McCullen took O'Meara's blindside pass and Pichot's tackle for the clinching score.
Scoring sequence: 11 mins: McCullen try 0-5, O'Meara con 0-7; 17 mins: O'Driscoll try 0-12; 27 mins: Christophers try 5-12; 33 mins: Horgan try 5-17; 40 (+6mins): Rees try, Contepomi con 12-17; (half-time 12-17); 64 mins: O'Meara pen 12-20; 73 mins: McCullen try 12-25.
BRISTOL: L Best; D Rees, A Higgins, D Gibson, P Christophers; F Contepomi, A Pichot; A Sheridan, P Johnstone, J White, G Archer (capt), A Brown, M Salter, R Beattie, R Oakley. Replacements: M Shaw for Christophers (31 mins), D Crompton for Sheridan (57 mins), S Morgan for Archer, M Lipman for Salter (both 66 mins).
LEINSTER: G Dempsey; G D'Arcy, B O'Driscoll, S Horgan, G D'Arcy; C Warner, B O'Meara; R Corrigan (capt), S Byrne, E Byrne, A McCullen, M O'Kelly, E Miller, V Costello, K Gleeson. Replacements: D Quinlan for Dempsey (30 mins), P Coyle for E Byrne (70 mins), G Hickie for S Byrne (74 mins), N Spooner for Warner (80 mins), D Dillon for Costello (82 mins), A Kearney for McCullen, B O'Riordan for O'Meara (both 83 mins).
Referee: N Owens (Wales).
