Kidney unable to conjure happy return

RUGBY/Gwent Dragons - 34 Leinster - 13: Maybe Declan Kidney should have stayed at Rodney Parade in the summer. His three-week sojourn into Wales left the Newport Gwent Dragons with the impression they had missed out on a quality coach when Leinster brought him back to Ireland, but there were no regrets after this comprehensive defeat.

Unbeaten Leinster travelled with their full squad following the return of their Ireland internationals. But they return to Dublin today with their tails between their legs after conceding four tries - and ending on a record equalling 21-point defeat.

Kidney warned before the game the return of his Test stars would not be an instant fix. What this performance proved is they are going to need time to blend together once again before they get stuck into the real stuff when the Heineken European Cup comes around later this month.

When Kidney left, the Dragons turned to Australian rugby league coach Chris Anderson to revive their fortunes. He has brought the defensive virtues of the league code very much to the fore in his first 15-a-side team.

There was simply no room for Brian O'Driscoll to weave his magic, the forwards were hacked down and by the end of the night Leinster looked a sorry sight.

The Dragons, for their part, welcomed back their star player who will have been no stranger to the Irish internationals having played a key role in Ireland's downfall during the summer.

Percy Montgomery, enjoying a renaissance at Newport that earned a recall to the Springboks team, returned to make his first appearance since winning the Tri-Nations title with South Africa.

An injury to Wales centre Hal Luscombe meant Montgomery started opposite O'Driscoll at centre, but ironically it was when Ceri Sweeney bypassed the Springbok star that the Dragons opened the scoring with a try inside three minutes.

The Wales outhalf's long pass to full back Kevin Morgan caught Leinster short out wide before off-loading to wing Gareth Wyatt who slid over in the corner despite Gary Brown's cover tackle.

Inevitably, however, it was not long before Leinster's key players made their presence felt as O'Driscoll's awareness and keen eye created their first try from nothing more than a half-chance.

Ireland's captain pounced on a loose ball among the Dragons back, kicked ahead for Shane Horgan who displayed football skills at full pace, more usually seen in the Premiership, to side-foot the ball over the line to score. Felipe Contepomi converted and doubled Leinster's lead on 18 minutes with a penalty.

Yet it was to prove a rare moment of ascendancy in the first half for Leinster as the Dragons, third in the Celtic League last season, got into their stride, aided by some hesitant defending.

There was no waiting around when O'Driscoll and Reggie Corrigan hammered Dragons centre Sione Tuipolotu yards from the line. But when Brown dithered in dealing with Morgan's speculative kick ahead, Wyatt grabbed the opportunity by diving at his feet to score.

Sweeney again missed the conversion but landed his second penalty when Contepomi infringed at a ruck to leave Leinster trailing 16-10 at the break.

The second half began a little more promisingly for Leinster as Contepomi narrowed the gap to three points after new signing Rickie Nebbett showed his promise by putting Canada prop Rod Snow under immense pressure at the scrum.

With strength at the scrum, Leinster enjoyed far more possession but struggled to hold on to the ball for enough time to mount any sustained pressure as the game ebbed and flowed from one end to the other.

The Dragons similarly suffered in the wet conditions, Sweeney dropping a pass with the line at his mercy only to make up for his error with two penalties to open daylight between the teams.

With their heads up, the Dragons threw the ball with confidence as Gareth Cooper finished Wyatt's scorching break and Morgan wrapped up the bonus point in injury time.

DRAGONS: K Morgan; G Wyatt, P Montgomery, S Tuipolotu, N Brew; C Sweeney, G Cooper; R Snow (A Black, 57), S Jones (J Richards, 69), R Thomas (C Anthony, 64), I Gough, P Sidoli, R Bryan, M Owen (capt), J Ringer.

Scorers: G Wyatt 2 tries, G Cooper try, K Morgan try, C Sweeney 4 pens, 1 conv.

LEINSTER: D Hickie; S Horgan, B O'Driscoll (D Quinlan, 73), C Warner, G Brown; P Contepomi (K Lewis, 73), G Easterby (B O'Meara, 73); R Corrigan (capt), S Byrne (G Hickie, 73), R Nebbett (P Coyle, 73), M O'Kelly (D Dillon, 73), B Gissing, E Miller, V Costello, S Jennings.

Scorers: S Horgan try, P Contepomi 2 pens, 1 conv.

Referee: R Dickson (Scotland).