MAGNERS LEAGUE: Leinster 20 Glasgow 14: BY THE end of last night's Magners League clash Leinster's team contained several academy players and the fact they finished on the right side of the scoreline will allow a certain mitigation when coach Michael Cheika reflects on a very patchy performance.
The home side were more clinical in exploiting their opportunities but for large tranches of this game they carried out an inordinate amount of defending. There were several fine individual performances in number eight Stephen Keogh, halfbacks Paul O’Donohue and Shaun Berne, centres Fergus McFadden (prior to his injury) and Eoin O’Malley and especially Isa Nacewa, the best player on the pitch: quick of thought and deed.
Ultimately the home side secured their victory with a gutsy defensive effort.
The lineout functioned brilliantly, so too the scrum but a lack of composure at times and some poorly directed kicking invited several self-inflicted wounds.
McFadden gave Leinster the lead on three minutes with a beautifully-struck long-range penalty but for the next 12 minutes the home side were stretched,defending mostly in the shadow of their own posts. They scrambled brilliantly at times but Glasgow were guilty of ignoring obvious numerical mismatches out wide.
Leinster were defending in a narrow fashion but having survived the siege, they conceded a try in unlikely circumstances. Having cleared downfield and with the ball bobbling around the Glasgow 22, the Scottish side set up a ruck, counterattacked and their diminutive right wing Heffin O’Hare beat three defenders in a 60-metre run before touching down under the posts.
It was a brilliant individual try, which Ruaridh Jackson converted. Nacewa would play a central part in the home side’s response, choosing a beautiful inside arc to send McFadden over for a try and then it was his superbly-judged punt that gave his side the field position in the visitors’ 22.
Eoin Sheriff, a replacement for the injured Kevin McLaughlin, nicked the Glasgow throw and following a series of rucks that saw the home side edge closer to the Glasgow line, Girvan Dempsey used every inch of his six feet to stretch and touch down.
McLaughlin will have a scan on his injured shoulder today. The injruy is not thought to be serious.
McFadden kicked a fine conversion to bring his tally to 15 points for the half and extend his team’s lead to 20-7 at the interval.
McFadden and CJ van der Linde didn’t reappear for the restart, replaced by Ian Madigan and Stan Wright, the young centre picking up a heavy knock.
Leinster were a little careless initially after the break, kicking away too much possession when the better option was to keep the ball in hand. One huge stumbling block for Glasgow was Leinster’s dominance out of touch. The visitors couldn’t get a consistent platform because of those turnovers and were also shockingly imprecise at times in their handling.
Shaun Berne departed having picked up a bang on his ankle midway through the half and the home side had to reshuffle their backline once again. Madigan went to outhalf, Nacewa to outside centre, with Michael Keating coming in on the right wing. The changes definitely knocked Leinster a little out of kilter from a structural perspective but they were sloppy on other occasions.
A well-taken try by Glasgow’s replacement outhalf Colin Gregor – he tagged on the extra points – made a contest of the game again. Keating might have scored a try following a brilliant counter-attack but stumbled 12 metres from the line after wrong footing Glasgow fullback Bernardo Stortoni.
Glasgow kept playing but were hampered by error as they tried to go through the phases. In the end Leinster survived but only just.
Magners League Results:
Leinster 20 Glasgow 14
Munster 23 Scarlets 17
LEINSTER: G Dempsey; S Keogh, E O'Malley, F McFadden, I Nacewa; S Berne, P O'Donohue; CJ van der Linde, B Jackman (capt), M Ross; D Toner, M O'Kelly; K McLaughlin, P Ryan, S Keogh. Replacements: E Sheriff for McLaughlin (32 mins); I Madigan for McFadden (half-time); S Wright for van der Linde (half-time; van der Linde for Ross 59 mins); M Keating for Berne (61 mins); R Strauss for Jackman (77 mins).
GLASGOW WARRIORS: B Stortoni: H O'Hare, P Murchie, P Horne, DTH van der Merwe; R Jackson, M McMillan (capt); J Welsh, D Hall, E Kalman; T Barker, D Turner; J Eddie; C Forrester, R Vernon. Replacements: F Thomson for Hall, M Low for Kalman, C Gregor for Jackson, P Burke for Eddie (all 47 mins); D McCall for Horne (68 mins); C Kinloch for van der Merwe (73 mins).
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales).
Tries: O'Hare, Gregor Cons: Jackson, Gregor