POOL TWO Leinster 33 Castres 3: INJURIES TO Brian O'Driscoll and Girvan Dempsey and the failure to embellish victory with a bonus point tarnished Leinster's facile victory over a game if limited Castres Olympique at the RDS. The legacy of these setbacks may have both short and long-term ramifications.
O'Driscoll limped off with a hamstring injury after 78 minutes, one that is likely to keep him out of the reverse fixture at the Stade Pierre Antoine next Friday and possibly beyond. Dempsey (calf) is another for whom the treatment table beckons after a frustrating afternoon for the Irish province at the RDS. A silver lining may be provided today by the confirmation that Shane Jennings, Isa Nacewa and Felipe Contepomi may be fit to travel to France.
Prior to the fixture Leinster players and management spoke of the need to arm themselves with the requisite intensity for this Heineken Cup tie supplemented by a cold-eyed professionalism in ruthlessly exploiting what amounted to a largely second string visiting French side.
The province managed neither on a day when they simply could not drag themselves clear of the cloying morass of errors that peppered their patterns. The emphatic final scoreline was a true reflection in terms of the manner in which the game unfolded but it can not camouflage or assuage the fact that Leinster didn't fulfil their pre-match remit.
The home side lacked the precision and patience to translate bountiful possession into that most prized commodity, tries. When they did manage to clamber to within the shadow of the Castres' posts, individual mistakes scuppered gilt-edged opportunity.
The tone of a frustrating afternoon for the majority of the 17,120 spectators was set by Leinster's initial kicking game, poorly directed, the ball often aimlessly thumped up the middle of the pitch pursued by an ambling blue line. Castres fullback Cameron McIntyre - he's normally their first choice outhalf - for the most part had more time that he had any right to expect.
One statistic illustrates the folly of Leinster's tactics. In the opening 40 minutes Castres had five lineouts; they had possession filched on four occasions. The home side could have kicked to the corners with impunity, knowing they were odds-on to get the ball back, irrespective of which team had the throw.
Leinster's failure to adapt to what was unfolding on the pitch and play with a heads-up intelligence gradually crept into most aspects of their game. Nowhere was this more evident than in the back play. Support players overran ball carriers. Leinster set up with a deep alignment but scrumhalf Chris Whitaker's decision to take three or four steps sideways before releasing the ball allowed the Castres backs to greet their Leinster counterparts ahead of the gain line.
This is not to blame Whitaker but if he's crabbing then the Leinster backs need to be up a little flatter, taking the ball at pace and looking for soft shoulders. There were times when the ball needed to be cleared away quickly to afford time and space further out.
The home side didn't fix the drift defence by running straighter lines - O'Driscoll and the excellent Shane Horgan were honourable exceptions - and then there was the passing, which for most of the afternoon was abject.
Leinster coach Michael Cheika conceded: "I think we passed very poorly. There were some opportunities we created that needed a better pass out in front; a couple of balls went to ground and (we needed to) just finish a little better, (a little bit more) accuracy in that area. We know we could have made more of some of our opportunities. We dominated the possession and the game and sometimes it just doesn't happen."
Saturday was certainly a case in point. There were times when Leinster needed to pick up the pace, generate quicker ruck ball and there were occasions, particularly after some fine initial line breaks, when a dollop of composure and a sprinkling of patience would have yielded the ultimate reward. Creating opportunities for a team of Leinster's calibre is a given: taking them is what matters.
A few players escaped the general malaise. Devin Toner enjoyed arguably his best game in a blue jersey, Seán O'Brien had a strong first half, while Rocky Elsom and Stan Wright toiled with due diligence. Bernard Jackman deserved his try, a reward for a fine all-round display, while behind the scrum Shane Horgan was not alone superbly abrasive but his team's most potent attacking threat. Collectively, Leinster must aspire to be more precise and cohesive, championing the basics.
For Castres, it was a damage limitation and while they were partially successful in not coughing up a bonus point to their hosts, they left Dublin with four players who will be sidelined for some time. McIntyre suffered a broken jaw in a sickening accidental collision with Horgan in the last play of the game, while wing Rafael Carballo, flanker Darron Nell and hooker Mathieu Bonello won't be playing again in the foreseeable future.
Leinster led 9-0 at the interval, Jonno Sexton kicking three penalties, but were denied a couple of tries by errors and, on one occasion, the television match official, who ruled that Elsom had knocked on in grounding the ball.
Horgan's chip and a kind bounce on 48 minutes allowed Jackman to slalom his way over for a fine try, which Sexton improved upon. Anthony Lagardere kicked a penalty after Leinster infringed at the restart before Sexton responded in kind.
The home side's try chase was facilitated when Castres replacement prop Yannick Forestier was sent to the sin bin, O'Driscoll squeezing over in the corner 60 seconds later, with David Holwell - on for Sexton - kicking a fine touchline conversion. Another replacement, Simon Keogh, grabbed a third try on 84 minutes but it merely served to tantalise the home supporters on a day when the team's error-rate probably didn't warrant the nap hand of points.
SCORING SEQUENCE: 9 mins: Sexton penalty, 3-0; 20: Sexton penalty, 6-0; 33: Sexton penalty, 9-0. Half-time: 9-0. 48: Jackman try, Sexton conversion, 16-0; 50: Lagardere penalty, 16-3; 56: Sexton penalty, 19-3; 73: O'Driscoll try, Holwell conversion, 26-3; 84: Simon Keogh try, Holwell conversion, 33-3.
LEINSTER: G Dempsey; S Horgan, B O'Driscoll, L Fitzgerald, R Kearney; J Sexton, C Whitaker (capt); S Wright, B Jackman, CJ van der Linde; D Toner, M O'Kelly; R Elsom, S O'Brien, J Heaslip. Replacements: B Blaney for Jackman (2-4 mins and 9-15mins); D Howell for Sexton (66 mins); C Healy for van der Linde, T Hogan for Toner, Simon Keogh for Dempsey. C Keane for Whitaker (all 73 mins); Stephen Keogh for O'Brien (76 mins); Blaney for O'Driscoll (78 mins); Van der Linde for Wright (84 mins).
CASTRES OLYMPIQUE: C McIntyre; C Sika, S Kefu, L Mazars, R Carballo; A Lagardere, K Senio; G Lensing, M Bonello, L Ducalcon; L Michaux, C Gaston; L Tomiki, D Nell, F Faure. Replacements: T Bourquie for Carbello (20 mins); S Malonga for Nell (33 mins); A Giorgadze for Bonello (57 mins); F Staibano for Ducalcon (59 mins); Y Forestier for Lensing (62 mins); Lensing for Faure (72 mins); I Tekori for Michaux (74 mins); S Tillous-Borde for Mazars (84 mins). Sin Bin: Y Forestier (Castres) 72 mins.
Referee: Peter Allan(Scotland).
