European Cup - Leicester 29 Leinster 18: History will decree that Leinster were possibly a little unlucky to run into the best club sides which France and most definitely England have to offer but thereafter they could have no excuses.
Their season effectively ended unceremoniously in Welford Road yesterday when the wounded Tigers showed their teeth, Leinster at least had the wherewithal to avoid being gobbled alive, something which had looked decidedly likely.
Leinster had their best moments at the outset, and late on, when playing to type and keeping the ball in hand. But in the meat of the match Leicester responded to an early 10-0 deficit with a decisive four-try salvo in the second quarter when kicking to the corners and utilising their renowned maul.
On occasions though, they also released their talented backs, who came onto the ball with impressive depth, as - like him or loathe him - the gifted Austin Healey unveiled his full box of tricks at outhalf to call the shots. There were some classy touches from Geordan Murphy as well.
To a degree Leinster were authors of their own downfall, with some loose kicking, and they'll rue that their normally excellent defence became a little ragged. Even so, with Leicester hitting the rucks with ferocity and forcing countless turnovers in contact, quite possibly no visiting team could have lived with the English and European champions in this mood.
The downpour for the 24 hours beforehand had to be seen, or more accurately absorbed, to be believed. It was like manna from heaven for the Tigers' mauling pack.
Despite the absence of Malcolm O'Kelly, Leinster were at least buoyed by the presence of the other walking wounded, their playmaker Nathan Spooner, captain Reggie Corrigan and, after a remarkable recovery, Shane Horgan. The concern about Spooner, however, meant Richie Governey was included on the bench and so Leinster sacrificed the potential impact and speed of Peter McKenna on the bench.
Nonetheless, true to type and to their pre-match team talk, they started boldly. Neil Back's take off Bob Casey's tap down from the kick-off had been undone by Ben Kay's spillage when Leinster attacked wide off their first foray from a lineout 40 metres out.
Spooner's long cut-out pass, from left to right, saw Brian O'Driscoll link with Keith Gleeson on the switch and Victor Costello took the move on; quick recycling enabled Spooner to open the scoring with a close-range penalty.
Leicester came knocking again, as Gordon D'Arcy gradually warmed to his task of stopping the stampeding Samoan winger Freddie Tuilagi. Cue one of those trademark relieving turnovers inside the 22, courtesy of Gleeson, when he snaffled loose Leicester ruck ball and this time the reward was immense.
Spooner kicked downfield, where a retreating Murphy fumbled and slipped, allowing Denis Hickie to hack on and win a marginal touchdown decision ahead of Healey, according to touch judge Daniel Pruvot. Spooner converted for 10-0.
Leicester's response was the stuff of true champions, however, and awesome too - a four-try salvo in about 15 minutes. It began with O'Driscoll being penalised for not releasing, after ripping the ball from Healey, when it looked physically impossible to do so. Leinster were convinced Rod Kafer's penalty to touch drifted into touch in goal, and the officials looked nonplussed before giving Leicester the benefit of the doubt. Thereafter though, Leinster's grievances were non-existent.
Back's mauling try off Ben Kay's ensuing lineout take was the signal for their pack to stick it up their jumpers and then release their backs when they'd finished pummelling a wilting Leinster pack.
As Leinster's defence became flimsier and more ragged, Leon Lloyd steamed onto Healey's long left-to-right pass for his first try; soon after Healey showed the ball before taking the tackles of Leo Cullen and Shane Byrne to score and then Murphy re-enacted a reprise of Lloyd's earlier effort after Back's cut-out pass to Tuilagi had outflanked the blue line.
Murphy converted the latter two and suddenly it was 24-10 and Leinster were grateful when Spooner closed out the half with a penalty. Leinster will rue that two of the tries came after Spooner had restarted out on the full and O'Driscoll had kicked out on the full.
The interval scarcely constituted an interruption. Leicester continued to kick penalties to the corner and Back burrowed over from another lineout maul off Kay's take. Briefly, the biter was bit when Leinster mauled off a penalty to the corner themselves, Ben Willis squeezing over on the blindside.
Leicester were getting a little cocky, Healey being ensnared by Willis on halfway with an attempted dummy and then being penalised for not releasing, but Spooner was just short from fractionally inside halfway. Even so, Leinster began to get their running game going again, Costello, Hickie and Gordon Dempsey all making promising runs wide on the left, but they couldn't break the final tackle.
Alas, they were penalised at an attacking lineout for having three men beyond the 15-metre mark infield and then Spooner couldn't hold a low pass from Willis. Leicester's defence and Healey's lengthy line-punting kept Leinster at bay, but it had been a game effort by the end.
Leinster went into a huddle and emerged to circle the pitch and thank their 1,000-plus travelling support. In the heel of the hunt, the postscript to their season deserved that much.
SCORING SEQUENCE - 3 mins: Spooner pen 0-3; 13 mins: Hickie try, Spooner con 0-10; 23 mins: Back try 5-10; 28 mins: Lloyd try 10-10; 33 mins: Healey try, Murphy con 17-10; 39 mins: Murphy try and con 24-10; 40 mins: Spooner pen 24-13. Half-time: 24-13. 51 mins: Back try 29-13; 56 mins - Willis try 29-18;
LEICESTER: G Murphy; O Smith, L Lloyd, R Kafer, F Tuilagi; A Healey, J Hamilton; G Rowntree, R Cockerill, D Garforth, M Johnson (capt), B Kay, L Moody, M Corry, N Back. Replacements: H Ellis for Hamilton (59 mins); J Kronfeld for Back (68 mins); A Balding for Garforth (71 mins). Sinbinned: Moody (72 mins).
LEINSTER: G Dempsey; G D'Arcy, B O'Driscoll, S Horgan, D Hickie; N Spooner, B Willis; R Corrigan (capt), S Byrne, P Wallace, B Casey, L Cullen, E Miller, V Costello, K Gleeson. Replacements: A Magro for Horgan (49 mins); T Brennan for Casey (51 mins); S Keogh for D'Arcy (70 mins); P Coyle for Wallace (71 mins); G Hickie for Byrne (79 mins).
Referee: J Jutge (France).
