CELTIC LEAGUE Leinster 12 The Ospreys 16: Gordon D'Arcy survived his allotted hour recalling his former days as a full back and Keith Gleeson returned to serious competitive rugby but after that there was precious little to enthuse about in Leinster's performance at Donnybrook yesterday. John O'Sullivan reports from Donnybrook
The Ospreys' march to a Celtic League title seems inevitable. They were full value for this victory, more assertive and innovative in equal measure. The margin flattered Leinster. D'Arcy played 58 minutes at full back demonstrating many of his trademark shuffles but on the occasions when he was asked to sprint flat out he elected to pass. In some respects it offered a microcosm of Leinster's performance; good in patches but several notches below the top standard.
Now that the Celtic League has organised a definite structure for the coming few seasons, the next priority other than securing a title sponsor, should be examining the basic competence of the match officials. At Donnybrook yesterday the standard was abject and it impacted hugely on the match. Suffice to say they won't be getting any Christmas cards from either team.
The Ospreys will be particularly concerned about a try denied to scrumhalf Jason Spice after just five minutes on the pretext that he had a foot in touch. The naked eye suggested that he hadn't brushed the whitewash.
Leinster's sluggish start was eventually punished 60 seconds later when Ospreys outhalf Sean Connor kicked a fine long range penalty to put them 3-0 ahead.
Victor Costello was his traditional forthright self off the base of scrums, while Des Dillon, winning his 50th cap for the province also made some big inroads but the Ospreys scrambled defensively every bit as well as their hosts, that is until one minute before the interval.
Guy Easterby's chip ahead looked innocuous enough but Ospreys wing Richard Mustoe slipped and crashed to earth, David Holwell nipping in to secure possession. David McAllister fed Kieran Lewis and the Leinster wing straightened beautifully to take out a couple of defenders before flicking out a pass to the supporting Christian Warner. The Australian had enough speed to edge out Richard Pugh in the race to the corner.
Holwell couldn't convert but that slender advantage was barely merited on the strength of a first half performance that produced only sporadic bursts of cohesive rugby. McAllister kicked prodigiously while D'Arcy managed to find the odd pocket of space, quick feet and good strength, without making the definitive break.
The pack were working hard, Ben Gissing, Dave Blaney, Dillon, Costello and the excellent Shane Jennings particularly conspicuous but the scrums creaked and out of touch there was the odd problem. Leinster began the second half brightly but again they lacked the precision to turn decent approach work into scores.
D'Arcy continued to be a lively presence but there was one interesting cameo early in the half. He had the shoulder on a couple of defenders but chose to pass rather than hit the afterburners as if not sure how the hamstring might react. He lasted the allocated hour and was replaced rather interestingly by Keith Gleeson, the latter returning from a broken leg.
Warner went to full back, Lewis to centre and Jennings moved from openside to the left wing to accommodate Gleeson. It wasn't this reshuffle that saw Leinster's influence on proceedings wane but rather the intensity and pace that the Ospreys introduced to the game. It started with the pack who made inroads around the sides and also looked to offload in the tackle. They started to prise holes in the Leinster defence and forced the home side to concede penalties as their desperation became more acute. Connor kicked his second on 56 minutes before being replaced by Matthew Jones. The young pivot varied his game capably as the Ospreys continued to dominate and they grabbed the try their play deserved through lively scrumhalf Jason Spice.
Jones kicked the conversion, tagged on a penalty and at 16-5 the home side looked bedraggled and beaten. To their credit they rallied, Warner's break pre-empting a try for Jennings. Holwell's touchline conversion set up a frenetic last few minutes but that urgency would have been more apt at the start rather than the finish of the match.
SCORING SEQUENCE: 6 mins: Connor penalty, 0-3; 39: Warner try, 5-3. Half-time: 5-3. 56: Connor penalty, 5-6; 67: Spice try, M Jones conversion, 5-13; 74: M Jones penalty, 5-16; 75: Jennings try, Holwell conversion, 12-16.
LEINSTER: G D'Arcy; J McWeeney, C Warner, D McAllister, K Lewis; D Holwell, G Easterby; J Lyne, D Blaney, R Nebbett; D Dillon, B Gissing; C Potts, V Costello, S Jennings (capt). Replacements: E Byrne for Nebbett (58 mins); K Gleeson for D'Arcy (58 mins); A McCullen for Gissing (68 mins); J Heaslip for Costello (68 mins); B O'Riordan for Easterby (74 mins); G Hickie for Blaney (74 mins); R Nebbett for Jennings (77-82 mins).
NEATH/SWANSEA OSPREYS: S Terblanche; R Mustoe, A Bishop, E Seveali'i, D Tiueti; S Connor, J Spice; D Jones, B Williams (capt), A Millward; A Newman, L Bateman; J Thomas, J Bater, R Pugh. Replacements: A Durston for Seveali'i (27-37 mins); M Jones for Connor (59 mins); C Griffiths for D Jones (71 mins); N Bonner-Evans for J Thomas (79 mins); R Hibbard for Williams (81 mins).
Referee: A Ireland (Scotland).
Yellow card: E Byrne (Leinster) (73-83 mins).
