RUGBY/Leinster 26 Connacht 18:CONNACHT HAVE got into a habit this season of turning these interprovincial meetings into wars of attrition. The tactics are fairly basic - through whatever means, stay in touch entering the last quarter before letting adrenaline and teamwork guide them home. It nearly paid off again.
They play a frustrating territorial game through the boot of promising young outhalf Ian Keatley. It worked twice at the Sportsground in 2008, against Leinster and Munster, and very nearly caused an upset last night.
Having not learned the lesson dished out in October, again leaving several internationals out of the team, it took two sparks of genius from Leinster substitute Brian O'Driscoll, aided by some Felipe Contepomi magic, to quell the Western invasion. Another lesson learned, no doubt, for coach Michael Cheika with the January 17th showdown against Wasps at Twickenham creeping into view.
"Obviously, it is good to win the game but I'm disappointed to miss two opportunities to get the bonus point. Really we should have finished that off," he said.
Late tries from Rob Kearney and Luke Fitzgerald settled this scrappy affair but Leinster's backline finished in a disjointed state. The three-quarter balance needs to be re-examined and eventually an Irish international will have to be dropped.
Leinster got off to a perfect start as Cheika's preferred 10, 12 combination immediately stamped their authority. Isa Nacewa ran hard to break the line, fended off John Muldoon's cover tackle before offloading to Contepomi who was hauled down inches short. Chris Whitaker got quick ball away to Nacewa and he fed Trevor Hogan who swivelled over with just four minutes gone. Contepomi's radar was off and he also missed a penalty soon after.
In contrast, Keatley landed four first-half penalties and in a repeat of last week's victory over Munster he rewarded the Connacht forwards' endeavour. Leinster were making serious headway at scrum time with Stanley Wright forcing three penalties out of another Leinster graduate John Lyne. Referee Peter Fitzgibbon lost his patience, banishing Lyne to the sinbin 10 minutes before the interval.
Contepomi rediscovered his kicking groove to put the hosts back in front but sustained pressure before the break came to nothing when the Argentine knocked on as he attempted an audacious offload. Keatley's boot relieved the pressure. Rocky Elsom charged back into the Connacht territory but was penalised for not releasing, allowing Keatley a penalty attempt from inside his own half that fell just short.
The second half continued in a similar vein with Fitzgibbon penalising Leinster for failure to roll away at the breakdown. Before this a Fitzgerald clearance went out on the full and from the resulting attack fullback Fionn Carr (yet another Leinster exile) should have given Liam Bibo a run to the line. Instead, he cut inside but Keatley did land the penalty to put the visitors back in front.
The scrum continued to crumble but this time the official rewarded the Connacht frontrow. Fifty metres out, Muldoon spurned another kick at goal, opting to go through the phases off the lineout. The Leinster defence punished the decision, sending three runners backwards 30 metres to finally get a foothold in Connacht territory.
From another scrum Wright and John Fogarty lost their tempers, landing a hail of blows on their opposite numbers. Wright was given 10 minutes to calm down. Lyne was replaced soon after. It was at this point the RDS went very quiet, perhaps thinking the unthinkable. Connacht forced another penalty but Keatley missed his easiest kick of the night. They continued to self-destruct from the 22 restart as Carr knocked on. The crowd quickly rediscovered its voice.
In the middle of all this O'Driscoll slipped into the fray. He didn't have an immediate effect as Keatley made it 18-14 in the 64th minute when Shane Jennings was pulled up for an elbow thus forcing Leinster to chase a try. It came from five minutes of pressure when Chris Whitaker and O'Driscoll attacked the short side to allow Kearney to squeeze over.
The hammer blow came 90 seconds later after some marvellous interplay and offloading from O'Driscoll and Contepomi put Fitzgerald clear. Connacht were livid with Fitzgibbon who consulted his touch judge before awarding a try.
It ended with Leinster pounding the Connacht defence but an unforced error from Seán O'Brien, with the line in sight, saw the bonus point disappear.
SCORING SEQUENCE: 4 mins: T Hogan try, 5-0; 7 : I Keatley pen, 5-3; 15 mins: F Contepomi pen, 8-3; 17 mins: I Keatley pen, 8-6; 20 mins: I Keatley pen, 8-9; 22 mins: F Contepomi pen, 11-9; 25 mins: I Keatley pen, 11-12; 31 mins: F Contepomi pen, 14-12. half-time. 41 mins: I Keatley pen, 14-15; 64 mins: I Keatley pen, 14-18; 69 mins: R Kearney, 19-18; 71 mins: L Fitzgerald try, 24-18; F Contepomi conv, 26-18.
LEINSTER: R Kearney; G D'Arcy, L Fitzgerald, F Contepomi, S Keogh; I Nacewa, C Whitaker (capt); R McCormack, J Fogarty, S Wright; T Hogan, C Jowitt; R Elsom, S Jennings, S Keogh. Replacements: M O'Kelly for T Hogan (49 mins), C Healy for R McCormack (50 mins), R McCormack for S Keogh (53-61, temp), S O'Brien for S Keogh (61 mins), S Horgan for R Kearney (69 mins), C Keane for C Whitaker (75 mins).
Connacht: F Carr; T Nathan, N Ta'auso, M Deane, L Bibo; I Keatley, F Murphy; J Lyne, A Flavin, R Morris; M Swift, A Farley; M McCarthy, J Muldoon (capt), C Rigney. Replacements: R Loughney for M Swift (34-40, temp), R Loughney for J Lyne (54 mins), S Cronin for A Flavin (63 mins), D Gannon for M McCarthy (65 mins).
Referee: P Fitzgibbon.
Sinbinned: John Lyne (30-40 mins), Stanley Wright (49-59 mins).
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