Leinster abandon flair for true grit

A perfect 10 perhaps, albeit by dint of Leinster's most imperfect performance this season. Even so, having played well and won well all season, Leinster will be content to have not played particularly well but dug deep to win - supposedly the hallmark of a good side. If they don't mind the compliment, this was almost Munsteresque.

For the most part, this was because the beefy Welsh visitors forced all manner of handling errors, and there was enough evidence of Newport's physical impact in contact and general organisation to suggest that they'll extend Leinster even further at Rodney Parade in next Friday's rematch.

Though they struck stealthily midway through the first half and, as is their custom, in injury time, Leinster generally weren't permitted to establish their normal flow. They had to rely on their excellent defence, in which Keith Gleeson tackled and competed at the breakdown smartly, and on some good line-kicking by Nathan Spooner on a taut, error-prone night fastidiously refereed by Robbie Dickson.

Leinster's rustiness was hardly surprising after the two-week international hiatus, which also left a third of their starters looking a little jaded.

A harbinger of the edginess to come wasn't long in arriving as Spooner, unbelievably, pulled a 22-metre penalty wide from virtually in front of the posts, then promptly pulled a 40-metre penalty. That second effort had barely left his boot when the majority of a packed Donnybrook crowd groaned in unison.

Spooner compounded this mistake with the first of two loose passes, and, when Adam Magro was penalised for not rolling away after the tackle, Shane Howarth unerringly opened the scoring for Newport from 30 metres. It was going to be a long night.

Leinster, clearly on edge, couldn't get into their rhythm, and one spell of keystone cops rugby summed it up. From Spooner's loose pass in front of Magro, the centre picked up off the deck and then stumbled between Victor Costello's legs, and although Keith Gleeson tidied up, O'Meara's ensuing pass found no one and Denis Hickie picked up before slicing his kick out on the full and high into the tennis courts. Hickie damaged a shoulder last night and is doubtful for next week's trip to Wales.

The one thing about Leinster this season, however, is that no matter how bad they may be playing or what way the exchanges may be going, they are liable to score anytime, anywhere. Gleeson, typically, ended a spell of Newport pressure with a big tackle on Jon Pritchard which induced a knock-on and, utterly out of the blue, from the resultant scrum outside their 22, Leinster scored.

Hickie took O'Meara's pass from a nominal outhalf position and half-shaped to kick, but instead saw a gap and, as only he can, accelerated through it with a classic outside break. He ran fully 60 metres, and, as Matt Pini came across, Shane Horgan had supported well for Hickie to put him over with a flat, early pass inside.

That was pretty much it for the first half, save for serial offender Peter Buxton being sin-binned for blocking an O'Meara pass from a prostrate, but more pertinently, offside position. Leinster couldn't make it tell, however.

Whatever Matt Williams and the Leinster management said at half-time had an effect, albeit briefly. With the forwards getting their maul going and punching holes closer in, and with the backs probing the blind side more, field position was established for Spooner to have three shots in succession at goal; he landed the first two to make it 13-6.

Thereafter Leinster largely relied on their defence. After Emmet Byrne was penalised for popping up at a scrum, Howarth made it 13-6. Newport threw on a raft of replacements, and Williams responded with Trevor Brennan and Bob Casey.

After a pivotal spell of Newport pressure had been repelled, the sense that Leinster had prevailed hardened when Spooner landed a difficult, 35-metre penalty, and Howarth promptly steered a straighter one wide.

Dublin's azzurri then maintained the habit of the season by scoring in injury time. After Brennan had bravely won loose ball on the deck, Magro linked with Horgan who sped through to offload in a double tackle for Peter McKenna to score in the corner. Spooner's kick hit the upright.

No matter. They'd won the kind of game they might well have lost last season and will probably play better next week. They'll need to.

Match stats: Donnybrook

SCORING SEQUENCE

10 mins: Howarth pen 0-3

25 mins: Horgan try, Spooner con 7-3

Half-time: ... 7-3

44 mins: Spooner pen 10-3

49 mins: Spooner pen 13-3

59 mins: Howarth pen 13-6

78 mins: Spooner pen 16-6

82 mins: McKenna try 21-6.

Full-time: ... 21-6

TEAM LINE-UPS

LEINSTER: G Dempsey; D Hickie, A Magro, S Horgan, G D'Arcy; N Spooner, B O'Meara; R Corrigan (capt), S Byrne, E Byrne, L Cullen, M O'Kelly, E Miller, V Costello, K Gleeson. Replacements: P McKenna for Hickie (54 mins), T Brennan for Costello (63 mins), B Casey for Cullen (65 mins).

NEWPORT: M Pini; M Mostyn, A Marinos, J Pritchard, M Watkins; S Howarth, O Tonu'u; R Snow, J Richards, C Anthony, S Raiwalui (capt), M Voyle, P Buxton, A Powell, J Powell. Replacements: A Garvey for Anthony (53 mins), I Gough for Voyle, J Forster for J Powell (both 60 mins), N Brew for Pritchard (71 mins), C Jones for Richards (75 mins), D Burn for Watkins (76 mins).

Referee: S Dickson (Scotland).