O'Driscoll class the difference

Bourgoin 23 Leinster 26 It wasn't pretty but few in the Leinster camp will give a hoot. The Irish province survived a patchy performance to be rescued by a sublime individual try from Brian O'Driscoll, his second of the match, that allowed them to squeak home.

For much of this match Bourgoin were in the box seat, playing with huge pride and no little ability.

Rampaging ball-carriers close in and a commitment to putting width on the game came within a whisker of unseating a team that humiliated them 92-17 last week. Leinster coach Declan Kidney had spoken beforehand of the importance of this game to his team, an acid test of their credentials as potential Heineken European Cup winners.

O'Driscoll's two tries will capture the headlines, but there were excellent performances from David Holwell, Malcolm O'Kelly, Leo Cullen and Shane Byrne in particular.

It was more perspiration than inspiration on the night.

O'Driscoll was suitably self-effacing in the aftermath: "We would have settled for a one point win. It was a tough game if not a great one. David Holwell had a magnificent game. For the try, I didn't think anything was on, but got a great pass from Felipe Contepomi, slid off a tackle and the line opened up."

No one would have doubted the integrity of Bourgoin's play at Stade Pierre Rajon. The intensity right from the kick-off was light years removed from the feeble acceptance of their fate last week.

The mandatory mini-scrap was easily predictable, an affirmation of intent to appease the meagre crowd of 3,000 supporters.

For a recent local derby against Grenoble, the compact, 10,000-seat stadium was full an hour before kick-off, and for most of their home games there are few seats to be had: that underlined the muted expectations of the home support.

Leinster nerves facilitated the home side early on, manifest in a plethora of unforced errors, particularly the number of missed first-up tackles. There was no communal aggression in seeking out ball-carriers, with the result that Bourgoin were able to take the tackle on their terms.

Even more disquieting was the number of defensive line breaches that Leinster suffered. The home pack was handing out a lesson to their counterparts in the first 20 minutes, strongly contesting ball in all facets of play and surging onto possession. The only area where the visitors managed to upset them was in the scrum.

Fortunately for Leinster, through all their tribulations, outhalf Holwell offered a master class in place-kicking. The pick of four first-half penalties was a monster strike from the half way line.

The Irish province courted the wrath of referee Nigel Whitehouse and the penalty count was heavily in favour of the home side in the opening half, until they lost their discipline a little towards the interval.

Full back Alexandre Peclier kicked two penalties and converted a fine individual try from outhalf Benjamin Boyet, after the latter ghosted past some insipid tackling, missed by two Leinster defenders in Holwell and Shane Horgan. In fairness to the latter, it was one of few aberrations in a fine opening 40 minutes.

Quite just how Bourgoin only eked out a 13-12 interval advantage is a mystery. They played the better rugby, and managed large tranches of good continuity. But while they stretched Leinster's defence they couldn't quite manufacture another definitive breach. In deference to the Irish side, they scrambled well.

Whitehouse didn't appear for the second half and was replaced as referee by David Davies, though he too didn't appear enamoured with Leinster's discipline at the ruck.

If the visitors were looking for a blueprint for success they should have taken note of their own patterns and attitude at the start of the second half. Patiently working through phases and keeping possession of the football, they probed aggressively before Contepomi stepped inside and then outside a couple of tackles on the Bourgoin 22, straightened and gave a superb pass for O'Driscoll to scamper over. Holwell converted superbly and the visitors led 19-13.

But Leinster's concentration wavered and a turnover at a lineout eventually culminated in the concession of a penalty that Peclier posted.

Leinster were lucky Bourgoin were not averse to throwing away promising field position with handling errors of their own, but the home side were not always going to be as generous. A cross kick from Boyet, following another Leinster turnover, was contested by Horgan and Bourgoin flanker Julien Bonnaire, it deflected back off the wing's hands and Jean Francois Coux beat Contepomi to the touch; the decision followed the intervention of the television match official. Peclier converted superbly and suddenly Leinster were in dire straits.

Cue O'Driscoll and the sort of individual virtuosity that makes the purists purr. From a lineout ball off the top, O'Driscoll simply sliced between two tacklers and then stepped off his left foot to beat Peclier for a wonderful try. Holwell's conversion nudged Leinster to a 26-23 lead.

Still, it wouldn't be Leinster unless there were frayed nerves, and it took a brave refereeing decision by Davies, who penalised a Bourgoin player for being ahead of Peclier's chip, that ultimately resulted in Anthony Forest crossing for a try which, to the huge relief of the small travelling contingent of Leinster fans, didn't count.

SCORING SEQUENCE: 3 mins: Holwell penalty, 0-3; 6: Boyet try, Peclier conversion, 7-3; 16: Peclier penalty, 10-3; 18: Holwell penalty, 10-6; 22: Peclier penalty, 13-6; 25: Holwell penalty, 13-9; 33: Holwell penalty, 13-12. Half-time: 13-12. 45: O'Driscoll try, Holwell conversion, 13-19; 49: Peclier penalty, 16-19; 69: Coux try, Peclier conversion, 23-19; 77: O'Driscoll try, Holwell conversion, 23-26.

BOURGOIN: A Peclier; A Forest, G Davis, J F Coux, D Janin; B Boyet, M Forest; O Milloud, B Cabello, P Peyron; P Raschi (capt), P Pape; J Frier, J Bonnaire, A Petrilli. Replacements: F Pucciariello for Peyron (32 mins).

LEINSTER: G Dempsey; S Horgan, B O'Driscoll, F Contepomi, D Hickie; D Holwell, G Easterby; R Corrigan (capt), S Byrne, E Byrne; L Cullen, M O'Kelly; E Miller, V Costello, S Jennings. Replacements: G Brown for Dempsey (75 mins), R Nebbett for E Byrne (83 mins).

Referee: Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)

replaced by David Davies (Wales) half-time.