Swansea ... 10 Leinster ... 51 Long before the end the majority of the home supporters in the crowd of 1,500 was long past caring, the odd spiteful remark, an audible vehicle for their frustration.
Leinster thrashed Swansea, despite playing for only about 55 minutes of the game at St Helens on Saturday and mercifully for all concerned the Irish province didn't sustain the quality of the opening 40 minutes beyond the break.
Had they done so then the final margin could have been 70 or 80 points. Swansea lost 11 players during the summer and those that arrived to this part of south Wales haven't managed to paper over the cracks of a club in serious decline. International full back Kevin Morgan is out with cruciate ligament damage and before yesterday's game Swansea lost their talisman and captain Scott Gibbs.
His absence they could ill-afford. The arrival of former Queensland and Stade Francais coach John Connolly was seen as a significant coup but even he cannot turn water into wine. The Welsh side has conceded over 200 points in their last three games; their status within the pool nothing more than whipping boys as their opponents relish a try chase.
Montferrand managed six at home while on Saturday night Leinster matched that accomplishment. Coach Matt Williams had asked his players for a magnificent seven and will be a little disappointed that their response fell agonisingly short. He won't require the minutiae of the video analysis to pinpoint the reason Leinster didn't pile even more agony on the home side.
"At half-time I asked them to maintain the tempo and not to rush things. In the second half we tried a little too much too quickly without establishing the platform first and made some errors. In fairness, Swansea played with more commitment after the break and made it more difficult.
"Our performance in the first half was probably the best 40 minutes that we have played this season."
Allowing for Swansea's shortcomings there was much to admire in Leinster's first-half display, the pace and accuracy, continuity and support play and with even a modicum of good fortune they could have tagged on another 15 points to their 37-3 interval lead.
The seamless interchange of roles between backs and forwards stretched Swansea remorselessly, the odd knock-on or flawed decision the only respite they managed. The main beneficiaries for the visitors were left wing Gordon D'Arcy and centre Brian O'Driscoll who collected a hat-trick and a brace of tries, respectively.
In essence, though, they merely applied the final sheen to the exemplary approach work of their team-mates. Even allowing for Swansea's ineptitude, Leinster's performance in the first half hour was excellent, epitomised by their first try of the evening.
Counter-attacking from their own line, centre Shane Horgan scooted free inside his own 22. Showing commendable intelligence, having initially beaten a couple of defenders for pace, he bamboozled the remaining cover by turning first inside and then outside, timing his release perfectly to Aidan McCullen.
The flanker found Shane Byrne in support and from quick ruck ball two skip passes allowed D'Arcy to skate over in the corner. It was a classic team try that showcased the quality of Leinster's rugby during that period. Scrumhalf Brian O'Meara kept the scoreboard ticking over with penalties initially before the D'Arcy-O'Driscoll show began in earnest.
On 22 minutes O'Driscoll had even the most diehard Swansea supporter purring with his clever take and step off either foot, taking him through the traffic in the home side's 22. He received the man-of-the-match accolade but it could easily have been a very sharp D'Arcy, Horgan or several members of the pack for whom Shane Byrne, Leo Cullen, Mal O'Kelly and Keith Gleeson were particularly conspicuous.
The one disappointing aspect of a fine result will be Leinster's performance in the opening 20 minutes of the second half. At one juncture, individuals, some repeat offenders, made six unforced errors in the space of five minutes, conceding two careless penalties to boot.
Swansea, stumbling upon a bit of pride after Connolly's interval invective, would have been a factor but Leinster were guilty of putting the cart before the horse in several instances in the second half. However, with a six-week respite until their home and away clashes with Montferrand, the Irish province have achieved most of their initial targets and perhaps crucially, the performance graph is very much in the ascendant.
SCORING SEQUENCE
5 mins: O'Meara pen 0-3
9 mins: O'Meara pen 0-6
17mins: D'Arcy try 0-11
20 mins: O'Meara pen 0-14
22 mins: O'Driscoll try 0-19
25 mins: O'Meara pen 0-22
29 mins: D'Arcy try 0-27
36 mins: Warner drop goal 0-30
38 mins: A Thomas pen 3-30
42 mins: O'Driscoll try, O'Meara con 3-37
Half-time: Swansea 3, Leinster 37
61 mins: McCullen try, O'Meara con 3-44
65 mins: Winn try, A Thomas con 10-44
75 mins: D'Arcy try, D'Arcy con 10-51
SWANSEA: S Payne; R Rees, M Taylor, S Winn, M Robinson; A Thomas, S Cordingley; D Morris, C Balchen, B Evans; A Farley, J Griffiths; D Thomas, C Charvis (capt), T Tamarua. Replacements: D Pittard for Cordingley half-time; D Dorsey for Morris half-time; R Jenkins for Tamarua 60 mins; J Thomas for Griffiths 71 mins; D Colclough for Balchen 76 mins; M Brayley for Winn 76 mins; G Swales for Taylor 77 mins.
LEINSTER: G Dempsey; D Hickie, B O'Driscoll, S Horgan, G D'Arcy; C Warner, B O'Meara; R Corrigan (capt), S Byrne, P Wallace; L Cullen, M O'Kelly; A McCullen, V Costello, K Gleeson. Replacements: E Byrne for Wallace 66 mins; D Quinlan for Horgan 68 mins; B O'Riordan for O'Meara 71 mins; D Dillon for McCullen 77 mins; A Kearney for Cullen 77 mins; A Magro for Hickie 77 mins; P Smyth for Byrne 78 mins.
Referee: J Jutge (France).
