RUGBY/Leinster 30 Llanelli Scarlets 22: A tale of two halves and of Leinster's two sides. Lacking intensity and accuracy for much of the first half, they upped their aggression immediately after a dressingroom dressing down, manufactured go-forward ball and played at a much higher tempo to maintain their lead atop the Celtic League with another bonus-point win. They were almost unrecognisable.
As befits the team who have scored more tries and points than anyone else in the league, while only Connacht and the Borders have conceded more tries, Leinster went the long way about it. All season long Michael Cheika has been hammering home the virtues of consistency, that they cannot turn it on tap-like, but whatever was in their half-time water they suddenly turned it on here. A sixth win in six sporadic league outings at their sometime home, a week before The Match, was timely while still leaving them with plenty to work on.
"We got a good old rollicking at half-time but it was a real spirited display in the second half," said captain Brian O'Driscoll. "Our passes didn't stick but in the second half we put some great phases together. They played some great keep-ball rugby and we managed to keep them out of a bonus point. But we know we'll have to up it 15 to 20 per cent next week."
A vocal 7,350 crowd, some of them heartened by snapping up 1,100 terrace tickets for next week's game beforehand, basked in the chilly sunshine in the East Stand, and clearly included some of those who had soaked up the comparatively warmer heat of Toulouse. Hence the recurring chants of Allez Les Bleus.
Even so, the visitors were much quicker out of the traps, going through five phases and using both touchlines - albeit for no gain - as an initial statement of intent. Eschewing three-pointers, they were rewarded for this policy when from Vernon Cooper's textbook drive - almost a scrum formation - loosehead Iestyn Thomas peeled off the side for a try. Ceiron Thomas, in his first start for Llanelli since the Celtic Cup final here last season, converted.
To the frustration of the crowd, Leinster's galacticos were obliged to live off scraps for virtually all of the first half. The pack singularly failed to generate much go-forward ball, turning the ball over in contact, runners getting isolated and the lineout malfunctioning.
A glimpse of what they were capable of saw them briefly draw level after Contepomi's charge-down of a Ceiron Thomas punt earned a rare attacking scrum. Gordon D'Arcy took Easterby's pass on the run and arced toward the blind side, where he stepped outside Clive Stuart-Smith and passed inside for the supporting Jowitt to score. Contepomi converted.
Soon, though, Stuart-Smith made inroads off a quick tap, as did the hard-running Alix Popham up the blindside, before Regan King passed inside to Mark Jones and he in turn passed back out to Lee Byrne, who had held his line well, to complete a neat interchange and a well-worked score.
Ceiron Thomas converted and after Leinster turned over two successive lineouts Llanelli were rewarded for another close-in lineout. Although the drive was held up, Popham danced to within inches of the posts before King's floated skip pass put Gavin Thomas over wide out.
The half ended with ironic cheers from the crowd for three good line-outs, Contepomi first trying a Carlos Spencer-style chip with the outside of his boot for the chasing D'Arcy from inside his 22 and then failing with a 45-metre penalty.
From the resumption, and no doubt after a collective rocket in their eardrums during the interval, there was far more intensity to Leinster's play and aggression at the breakdown, epitomised by Jamie Heaslip's fired-up, ball-carrying performance. A quick reward came with a Contepomi penalty, bringing him past 350 points for the season, and the binning of the influential Popham for going offside in preventing Easterby getting the ball away - having been warned for a similar offence in the first half.
Themselves opting for a penalty to the corner, the Leinster pack drove over the line from a Jowitt take; Mr Changleng taking his time to hunt among the debris for Blaney's clear touchdown. Contepomi hit the post with a kickable conversion, but had a simpler task after Easterby took Jamie Heaslip's quick pick-up off the base of a five-metre scrum to dummy inside Matthew Watkins's flimsy tackle.
However, with Popham back on, Ceiron Thomas drew them level after both Easterby and Hickie botched up a Stuart-Smith box kick and Jowitt naively played the ball from an offside position. The match was in the balance then, never more so than when King, of all people, failed to locate Popham with a try-scoring pass.
However, a searing, trademark jinking break from deep by O'Driscoll tipped the scales Leinster's way, and although Easterby and Hickie came within inches of the line a high tackle by Popham on Keith Gleeson afforded Contepomi the chance to kick Leinster back in front.
And a bonus point win was secured when Girvan Dempsey chased a kick by Hickie and benefited from a slip by the ponderous Dafydd James to gather and run in the try.
SCORING SEQUENCE: 8 mins: I Thomas try, C Thomas con, 0-7; 14: Jowitt try, Contepomi con, 7-7; 20: Byrne try, C Thomas con, 7-14; 29: G Thomas try, 7-19; (half-time 7-19); 46: Contepomi pen, 10-19; 52: Blaney try, 15-19; 57: Easterby try, Contepomi con, 22-19; 62: C Thomas pen, 22-22; 76: Contepomi pen, 25-22; 79: Dempsey try, 30-22.
LEINSTER: G Dempsey; R Kearney, B O'Driscoll (capt), G D'Arcy, D Hickie; F Contepomi, G Easterby; R Corrigan, B Blaney, W Green; B Williams, M O'Kelly; C Jowitt, K Gleeson, J Heaslip. Replacements: E Byrne for Green (half-time), E Miller for Jowitt (75 mins), D Blaney for B Blaney (81 mins), N Ronan for Gleeson (82 mins), K Lewis for Hickie (86 mins). Not used: B O'Riordan, J Hepworth.
LLANELLI SCARLETS: L Byrne; D James (capt), M Watkins, R King, M Jones; C Thomas, C Stuart-Smith; I Thomas, M Rees, C Dunlea; V Cooper, C Wyatt; D Jones, G Thomas, A Popham. Replacements: A Gravelle for Rees (68 mins), H Louw for Cooper (69 mins), B Davies for M Jones (70-76 mins) and Byrne (79 mins), G Quinnell for G Thomas (76 mins). Not used: M Madden, L Davies, G Bowen. Sinbinned: Popham (51-61 mins).
Referee: M Changleng (Scotland).
