Leinster 17 Leicester 10: The ground may be a little different but this was familiar territory for two old foes with a 10-game European Cup history equally shared into five wins apiece. The bragging rights had to fall in someone's favour this evening and it was Leicester, for so long the experts in trench warfare, who gave that inch as their hosts booked a home semi-final against Biarritz or Toulouse.
It wasn’t their fight that let them down, it never does, but in comparison to previous incarnations they were desperately lacking in ideas behind the scrum. That said, their opponents have evolved defensively in the time since they won this competition two years ago.
Their organisation was impeccable and benefitted from admirable discipline and restraint when temptation could have led to trouble at the breakdown. They stayed on their feet, tacklers released and Leicester, more often than not, made their own mistakes.
Nevertheless, it was a 10-point win that didn’t come easy and only one try, a fortunate one from Isa Nacewa, proved the difference in the end, thanks to replacement hooker Rob Hawkins’s late effort in the corner.
There is scant need for motivation when a place in the last four is at stake but Leicester had bad memories that needed exorcising, not least their 2009 final defeat in Murrayfield, while England’s mauling at the hands of Ireland at this venue just three weeks ago must have been fresh in the minds of halfbacks Ben Youngs and Toby Flood.
They did little to rectify that in the first half as Eoin Reddan and Jonathan Sexton dictated proceedings and the back three consistently punched holes in the Leicester defence on the counter.
Yet Leinster held only a six point lead at the break after letting at least one try slip through their grasp, quite literally in the case of Luke Fitzgerald, who dropped Richardt Strauss’s offload yards from the Leicester line in the 20th minute. It came after a wave of attacks from the home side that had the Tigers chasing shadows.
They might have already had one on the board at that stage had Cian Healy used the overlap in the third minute, following the first of many counter-attacks from the Leinster back three. They did leave with three points on that occasion, however, after Leicester went off their feet and Jonathan Sexton notched an easy opener.
Toby Flood sent the restart left to Shane Horgan for the second time, having opted for that tactic on kick-off, and it paid off both times, the second resulting in Horgan knocking on and Brian O’Driscoll instinctively gathering in an offside position. Flood struck his kick straight and true from 40 metres and the scores were level.
There was nothing between the sides on the scoreboard but it was soon apparent the home side were light-years ahead in terms of invention, both instinctive and from the training ground.
Life was made easier by the direct, predictable crash ball fed to number eight Jordan Crane and the Tuilagi brothers, Alesana and Manu. Strauss belied his size in the face of both Samoans and tackled with a blatant disregard for personal safety.
In the lineout, too, Strauss and Leinster were dominant, while Jamie Heaslip and Leo Cullen both robbed Leicester ball as the visitors’s usually reliable set-piece faltered. Losing Louis Deacon to injury can’t have helped. In the scrum Leinster were shoved back twice and penalised but they coped well enough throughout.
They got to half-time six ahead thanks to two more penalties from Sexton, the first bounced off both posts in the 14th minute after Leicester were caught off their feet by referee Nigel Owens, and the second for the same offence four minute from the break.
It was to their immense credit that Leicester made it far more of a contest after the break and they almost closed the gap to one immediately after the restart when Heaslip gathered but failed to adequately deal with Horacio Agulla’s chip ahead. The Ireland number eight was robbed thanks to ferocious support play from Manu Tuilagi and George Chuter and Alesana thundered through Brian O’Driscoll when the ball was sent out wide, but brushed the deadball line with his leg under pressure from Seán O’Brien.
It was a wake-up call and Leinster got a bit more luck in the 49th minute when Nacewa gathered a clearance, passed clearly forward to Horgan before getting it back and expertly dancing around Youngs, Scott Hamilton and Agulla from 22 metres out. Sexton missed the conversion.
Like he did against Ireland, Flood then fluffed his line after Nathan Hines went off his feet in the 53rd minute. The Tigers kept coming, but O’Driscoll and D’Arcy worked tirelessly in defence, both fearless in the tackle.
Leicester showed little imagination in attack, but finally set Manu Tuilagi free after a rehearsed scissors switch with Hamilton.
He burst pass Kevin McLaughlin but was soon stopped and Leinster regrouped. D’Arcy then got a hand in to dislodge the ball from Ed Slater’s grasp as he bore down on the line and Isaac Boss, on for Reddan, cleared.
The game opened up and that looked likely to suit Leinster, as Nacewa countered brilliantly but Hines knocked on. O’Brien was then denied a try when Leinster obstructed in the lineout but extended after further indiscipline from Leicester and Sexton added three more for a 14-point advantage.
That looked to have sealed it but when Manu Tuilagi crashed down the touchline, Hawkins timed his run well to burst over and Flood added the extras.
The dying moments saw Leicester pin Leinster back with Steve Mafi and Manu prominent but appropriately another knock-on prompted the final whistle.
Leinster: Nacewa, Horgan, O'Driscoll, D'Arcy, Fitzgerald, J. Sexton, Reddan, Healy, Strauss, Ross, Cullen, Hines, McLaughlin, O'Brien, Heaslip. Replacements: McFadden for Horgan (75), Boss for Reddan (59), van der Merwe for Healy (78), D. Ryan for McLaughlin (68). Not Used: Harris-Wright, Wright, Toner, Madigan.
Scores
Tries: Nacewa. Pens: J. Sexton 4.
Leicester: Hamilton, Agulla, M. Tuilagi, Allen, A. Tuilagi, Flood, Youngs, Stankovich, Chuter, Cole, Deacon, Mafi, Croft, Newby, Crane. Replacements: White for Stankovich (75), Hawkins for Chuter (75), Castrogiovanni for Cole (52), Slater for Deacon (29), Waldrom for Crane (62). Not Used: Grindal, Staunton, Smith.
Scores
Tries: Hawkins. Cons: Flood. Pens: Flood.
Attendance: 50,000
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales).