RUGBY/Castres 18 Leinster 15:LEINSTER'S HEINEKEN Cup ambitions suffered a significant blow last night at the Stade Pierre Antoine when they crashed to a bitterly disappointing defeat. Losing will be unpalatable but the manner of the loss should really rankle.
The Irish province's display was riddled by mistakes and indiscipline that would ultimately prove their undoing. Referee Dave Pearson was cast as the game's most influential figure but irrespective of whether his interpretation was correct or not he was the ultimate arbiter of fact on a bitter night. Leinster failed to understand this, judging by their relentless transgressions.
Castres didn't have to show any ambition, just hang around long enough for their Irish opponents to self-destruct. The Irish province managed a couple of tries and also a bonus point but it will be scant consolation on a night when the old failings came back to haunt them. When they needed courage, precision and patience, they were instead racked by indecision.
Wasps can now close to within a couple of points if, as expected, they manage to beat Edinburgh at Adams Park tomorrow and the English club will then relish the opportunity to welcome Leinster to Twickenham in January. Leinster's road to the play-offs just got appreciably steeper.
The good news that Brian O'Driscoll successfully negotiated a late fitness test was diluted when Leinster's South African international tighthead prop CJ van der Linde was forced to withdraw after picking up a calf strain. Cian Healy was promoted to the team at loosehead, Stan Wright switched across the front row and Ronan McCormack was elevated to the replacements.
O'Driscoll was a central contributor to Leinster's first try. His attempted grubber kick on the Castres 22 rebounded to him and he instinctively poked the ball through. There seemed little danger for the home side until wing Charlie Skia and fullback Thomas Bouquie contrived to collide in trying to secure the loose ball and Girvan Dempsey pounced as the ball trickled over the Castres line.
Sexton kicked a wonderful touchline conversion to confirm an ideal start but the outhalf will have been a little annoyed to see a 25-metre penalty rebound off an upright on 11 minutes. English referees police the breakdown with great zeal and Dave Pearson penalised the visitors on a couple of occasions early on for going off their feet at rucks.
On the second occasion, Castres outhalf Anthony Lagardere landed a kick from 40 metres and then posted a second penalty on 22 minutes as Leinster were guilty of both indiscipline and crass errors. The home side had been woefully error-prone in the opening exchanges but, invited to settle into the game on the back of Leinster's largesse, they gratefully accepted.
When the French team shredded a Leinster scrum, they won not only a turnover but eventually forced the concession of yet another penalty as an increasingly bedraggled Leinster again transgressed under pressure. Lagardere wasn't about to miss from 15 metres and at 9-7 the visitors were looking a little out of sorts.
Their response was both emphatic and representative of the flair that they can bring to a game. Luke Fitzgerald managed a mini line-break, Jamie Heaslip, Shane Jennings and Simon Keogh demonstrated hands, vision and timing to send Sexton scampering over close to the posts. The outhalf missed the straight-forward conversion but at 12-9 the visitors were back in front.
Leinster continued to provide Pearson with a platform to be a central figure in the match and several clumsy infringements gave Castres the field position a better team would have capitalised upon.
On two or three occasions in the opening 40 minutes Leinster played rugby, retaining possession, running clever lines and using their superior offloading skills, pre-empting a couple of tries. For the majority of the half though they resorted to a poorly directed kicking game, compounded by a lack of precision at ruck time.
Sexton, who had hurt a shoulder in scoring the try, didn't reappear for the second half and was replaced by Felipe Contepomi. The Argentine playmaker received an early opportunity seconds after the restart when Leinster were awarded a penalty. Castres had botched the kick-off and Rob Kearney was impeded as he hacked through.
The decision to go for the posts from what was a reasonably difficult angle rather than kick to the corner proved a flawed gambit when Contepomi pulled his kick wide. It was then the turn of the home side to incur the wrath of the referee, conceding a brace of penalties in quick order but once again Contepomi couldn't capitalise as he elected to take a long -range shot at the posts with the second one. He would make no mistake on 53 minutes, the penalty the direct result of Fitzgerald's superb break, stopped illegally by Steve Kefu, who was sent to the sinbin as a result.
Castres showed virtually no ambition but Leinster's indiscipline kept them in touch; Lagardere's fourth penalty on 65 minutes nudged them back into the contest, his fifth from the Leinster 10-metre line on 70 minutes had the visitors in serious trouble.
The Irish side had been treading water but their hopes were listing alarmingly. It beggared belief that Leinster refused to curb their indiscipline and once again they transgressed at ruck time and, much to the delight of the small home crowd, Lagardere posted his sixth penalty to give his side the lead in the match for the first time on 74 minutes.
SCORING SEQUENCE: 5 mins: Dempsey try, Sexton conversion, 0-7; 15: Lagardere penalty, 3-7; 22: Lagardere penalty, 6-7; 27: Lagardere penalty, 9-7; 31: Sexton try, 9-12. Half-time: 9-12. 53: Contepomi penalty, 9-15; 65: Lagardere penalty, 12-15. 70: Lagardere penalty, 15-15; 74: Lagardere penalty, 18-15.
CASTRES OLYMPIQUE: T Bouquie; C Sika, S Kefu, L Mazars, P Christophers; A Lagardere, S Tillous-Borde; G Lensing, A Giorgadze, D Saayman; J Tekori, L Nallet (capt); L Tomiki, C Masoe, F Faure. Replacements: L Ducalcon for Saayman 48 mins; K Kulemin for Tekori 80 mins; M Cabello for Giorgadze 82 mins; K Senio for Lagardere 85 mins.
LEINSTER: G Dempsey; S Keogh, B O'Driscoll, L Fitzgerald, R Kearney; J Sexton, C Whitaker (capt); C Healy, B Jackman, S Wright; D Toner, M O'Kelly; R Elsom, S Jennings, J Heaslip. Replacements: F Contepomi for Sexton h-time; B Blaney for Jackman 59-65 mins; I Nacewa for Keogh 70 mins.
Referee: Dave Pearson (England).
Sinbin: S Kefy (Castres) 52 mins.
