Late comeback earns Leinster a share of the spoils

Scarlets 17 Leinster 17:JONATHAN SEXTON went from villain to hero and then villain again as he kept his nerve to earn an unlikely draw for Leinster, only to fluff his lines in overtime when a drop goal could have taken all the points.

In his first game back from Test duty, the Irish outside half had a nightmare with the boot, leaving 10 points on the field as he missed with two conversions and two penalties as the Scarlets raced into a 17-5 lead with 17 minutes left to play. It looked all over for the visitors with a second defeat in a row on the road in Wales very much on the cards. But Fergus McFadden weaved some magic on the narrow side of a ruck to squeeze over for a second try and then the outstanding Sean O’Brien rallied his troops once more as he carried the ball for an 18th time in the match.

The dent he made down the middle paved the way for Sexton to go on the run around and create an overlap that sent Shane Horgan over for a third try. The conversion would ordinarily have been a formality, but Sexton had to face his demons after four previous failures before holding his nerve to complete an incredible fightback.

But then came more drama and more hope for Leinster as the replacement number eight Ben Morgan knocked on at the base of a home scrum in front of their posts on the 22. There was just enough time for a final scrum and just enough time for a drop for glory from Sexton. O’Brien took the ball close to the posts to make it an easier attempt, but five minutes after regaining his poise, the outside half dropped Eoin Reddan’s pass and the late chance was lost. In the end, the draw was probably more than Leinster could have hoped for at one stage, and was more than the Scarlets could have expected as they faced that final scrum. Perhaps a draw was a fair result all round.

Five days after being forced to survive arctic conditions 12 miles up the road in Swansea, Leo Cullen’s men faced monsoon conditions at Parc y Scarlets as they tried to get their Magners League campaign back on track after a narrow defeat to the Ospreys.

If that result was hard to bear for Joe Schmidt, bringing to an end a nice six-match unbeaten run, then he would have been hoping for better luck on the return to Wales with six players back from international duty in his match day 22.

He got his return for the doggedness displayed by his youngsters over the past two games and while it might only be three points out of a possible 10 on the road, Schmidt’s team are still very much in the hunt for a play-off place.

They also managed to stop the Scarlets from temporarily taking over at the top of the table from Irish rivals Munster.

The Scarlets led 9-5 at the break thanks to three penalties from the boot of Rhys Priestland and his fourth at the start of the second half stretched the lead to seven points. Sexton missed two penalties himself before Rhys Ruddock’s 54th minute sin-binning allowed the home side to create an overlap for Gareth Maule to creep over in the left corner.

The home fans must have felt their side was on the march to the top of the Magners League table, but O’Brien had other ideas. He kept on driving the ball back into the tiring home defenders and making the dents and ground that ultimately led to the tries for McFadden and Horgan. Sexton did his bit to level the scores, but was then left with that dreadful ‘what if’ feeling as his last gasp chance literally slipped through his hands.

SCARLETS: Newton, Stoddart, Maule, King, Ajuwa, Priestland, Noyle, John, Owens, P. Edwards, Welch, Day, Turnbull, J. Edwards, Lyons. Replacements: R. Jones for Newton (56), S. Williams for Maule (78), Roberts for Noyle (66), Manu for P. Edwards (30), McCusker for J. Edwards (53), Morgan for Lyons (66). Not Used: M. Rees, S. Jones.

LEINSTER: Nacewa, Horgan, O’Malley, D’Arcy, McFadden, J. Sexton, Reddan, van der Merwe, Strauss, Ross, Cullen, Toner, R. Ruddock, D. Ryan, O’Brien. Replacements: Newland for Ross (66), Hines for Cullen (51), Jennings for D. Ryan (51). Not Used: T. Sexton, McGrath, O’Donohoe, Berne, D. Kearney.

Referee: N Owens (WRFU).