Champions' statement of intent

Scarlets 7 Leinster 32:AS STATEMENTS of intent go this had the stamp of European champions. Leinster travelled to the new home of the Pool Three upstarts without their main playmaker and goalkicker, yet put the Scarlets thrillingly and daringly to the sword. About the only blemish was they weren't quite as ruthless as they set out to be.

Having more or less put the game to bed by the half-hour mark, and then threatened to secure a bonus point by half-time, they only closed the deal entering the last 10 minutes. By the standards of Euro champions, they’ll rue loosening their grip when they had the Scarlets by the throat.

Even so, they’d have gladly settled for such a convincing, five-point haul beforehand. Superbly led up front by Leo Cullen and Jamie Heaslip, whose influence grows and grows it seems, the starting point were the set-pieces. The scrum was dominant throughout, almost chundering forward at will, while their lineout was slick and varied.

Sean O’Brien, Kevin McLaughlin, Heaslip and Cian Healy made a host of carries and hard yards, and when it came to handing out the man of the match gong O’Brien was a worthy recipient. But there would have been any number of contenders – all of them in blue – with Cullen and Eoin Reddan perhaps the other stand-out contenders.

Leinster were always going to have to lighten the load on Shaun Berne, though his polished and assured all-round display suggested he didn’t much mind. Behind such strong forward foundations, Reddan has never played better for Leinster. Sharp and alert from the off, he invariably chose the right option in when to feed Berne, go blind, orchestrate close-in drives or put more width on the pass, and his steepling box-kicks landed on the proverbial six-pence.

Berne ran his backline as seamlessly as might have been expected, but he also gave the lie to the notion that his game management and kicking – both tactical and off the tee – mightn’t be up to scratch.

Outside him the stars shone, none more so than Isa Nacewa, who caused panic in the home ranks almost every time he touched the ball. He, Rob Kearney and Shane Horgan were also excellent under the high ball.

In all of this Leinster were facilitated by the Scarlets, who were lively if lightweight, and exposed in an inexperienced back three. But their intentions were equally positive and bright. Opting for four quick taps or throws in that opening half-hour, and taking every lineout off the top and moving it quickly into midfield, they played at a high tempo.

They recycled the ball swiftly for Martin Roberts to move the ball away with the best pass in Wales, off either hand, for Stephen Jones to launch target runners such as Lou Reed or the hard-running Jonathan Davies and co. Coming hard on the heels of the dreary, mistake-ridden affair up the road in Cardiff beforehand, the net effect was almost like watching a different sport.

Aside from Leinster’s greater muscularity up front, the other difference was in the champions’ aggressive defence, which was also full of double-tackles to stop the Scarlets’ offloading game at source. And, of course, there was Leinster’s back play.

In their mood of the first half-hour here no team in Europe has a sharper cutting edge.

The first try had its origins in first Nacewa’s superb take, then the counter-attacking run and presentation. On halfway, Reddan ran laterally, kept the defenders guessing and fed Berne who moved the ball on to Shane Horgan. The Scarlets had the numbers, but drifted too much and the winger straightened between Lee Williams and Kew Owens before veering inside Daniel Evans for a stunning opening try.

The second try emanated from their scrum. Jamie Heaslip rumbled hard and Healy took the ball back up the middle before the backs linked with perfect depth, alignment and handling for Brian O’Driscoll to skip-pass to the touchline-hugging Nacewa, who in turn put Gordon D’Arcy over inside. As a tacit demonstration of how much space can be achieved by straight running lines, this could be put in a coaching DVD.

The third, which originated in O’Driscoll’s good chase in dragging Stephen Jones into touch, came via Reddan’s quick throw to van der Linde and Nacewa’s alert line infield. Heaslip straightened things for Rob Kearney to put Berne over after 29 minutes.

Leinster might have had their bonus point within another three minutes had Nacewa been able to link with Kearney after breaking from deep.

Other chances were missed, while referee Chris White seemed almost to take sympathy with home team and crowd alike, and the penalty against McLaughlin for not releasing within two seconds with the ball already at Reddan’s feet summed up much of what is wrong with modern rugby.

But there’s plenty right too, and, with the crowd’s passions rising, Leinster faced a mini-crisis after Davies straightened through Berne for a converted try and Nathan Hines was binned for slowing down ball.

But the response was indicative of Leinster’s composure: Heaslip called for a throw to Cullen, a maul, Reddan’s box-kick and Horgan’s chase and hit on Williams.

Ultimately, they saw out the 10 minutes by 3-0 and completed a deserved maximum haul when Reddan skip-passed blind to Berne on halfway. Perhaps inadvertently assisted by D’Arcy “crossing”, Berne broke through and fed Heaslip, whose superb offload was supported by O’Brien whose try ensured the bonus point.

SCORING SEQUENCE: 4 mins: Horgan try, Berne con 0-7; 18: Berne pen 0-10; 24: D’Arcy try, Berne con 0-17; 29: Berne try 0-22; (h-t 0-22); 46: J Davies try, S Jones con 7-22; 56: Berne pen 7-25; 72: O’Brien try, O’Brien con 7-32.

SCARLETS: D Evans; A Fenby, S Lamont, J Davies, L Williams; S Jones, M Roberts; I Thomas, K Owens, D Manu; L Reed, D Day; S Easterby (capt), R Pugh, D Lyons. Replacements: P John for Thomas (66 mins), V Cooper for Day (71 mins), T Knoyle for Roberts (73 mins), E Phillips for Owens, R McCusker for Pugh (both 77 mins). Not used: J Corsi, R Priestland, G Maule. Sinbinned: Lamont (56-66 mins).

LEINSTER: R Kearney; S Horgan, B O’Driscoll, G D’Arcy, I Nacewa; S Berne, E Reddan; C Healy, J Fogarty, C van Der Linde; L Cullen (capt), N Hines; K McLaughlin, S O’Brien, J Heaslip. Replacements: M Ross for van der Linde (51 mins), B Jackman for Fogarty (71 mins), S Wright for Healy, F McFadden for O’Driscoll (both 73 mins), P O’Donohoe for Reddan (74 mins), M O’Kelly for Cullen, G Dempsey for Berne (both 76 mins). Not used: S Keogh. Sinbinned: Hines (48-58 mins).

Referee: Chris White (England).