Pumped-up Leinster find measure of redemption

RUGBY/Leinster - 27 Munster - 20: Vengeance it wasn't - it never could be - but this was a redemptory night for Leinster. Ever since last April that Heineken European Cup semi-final defeat had left their team and supporters alike a little scarred, and while that result can never be reversed, the manner of this win ought to help sustain them through the long winter months.

Their scrums and lineouts still creaked but they overcame their great rivals as much through the intensity of their rucking and counter-rucking at the breakdown and their defence as through their superior use of the ball and strike power. In the loose, the Leinster pack never gave an inch and any thoughts of Malcolm O'Kelly's demise again looked premature.

Brian O'Driscoll continued where he left off last week in Galway with a voracious and ultra-physical two-try performance, and he was closely followed by the excellent Denis Hickie, Shane Horgan and Gordon D'Arcy, not to mention Felipe Contepomi, who gave the huge crowd his full repertoire, warts and all.

Munster tried as they might, none more so than David Wallace, who had a mighty game. Indeed, the watching Eddie O'Sullivan must have been quite content with the way the early skirmishes have developed. The Irish frontliners on delayed starts after 10-week pre-seasons looked in excellent nick.

That three late Leinster changes that brought back Brian Blaney, Cameron Jowitt and Guy Easterby into the starting line-up meant there were only two changes from that Euro semi-final. As so often happens in a sporting contest between friends, no quarter was asked or given. Put another way, heaven help you if you fell on the wrong side of a ruck. Leinster overstepped the mark, with first-half yellow cards for Ronnie McCormack and Contepomi meaning they played half that period with 14 men, while Marcus Horan was sinbinned after the resumption.

The worst of the weather forecast having held off, a late home surge took the attendance to 27,252, shattering the 15,000-plus previous best for Cardiff v Leinster last season.

Munster won the toss and surprisingly elected to give Leinster first use of the wind.

Almost inevitably, Brian Blaney's first throw toward O'Kelly, who wasn't lifted, was blown off course and when Keith Gleeson was penalised for playing the ball on the deck Ronan O'Gara drew first blood, figuratively.

The literal honour went to McCormack for needlessly shoeing Paul O'Connell and turning a possible three-pointer into a reversed penalty. Yet, with Alan Quinlan's hamstring giving way for Denis Leamy as Reggie Corrigan temporarily replaced Jowitt, it was Leinster who thrillingly won the next 10 minutes 7-0.

Contepomi retrieved a little grubber by O'Gara to set up quick go-forward ball and an excellent long pass by Horgan gave Girvan Dempsey the chance to release O'Driscoll, who easily slipped inside Jeremy Manning's tackle and round the posts for Contepomi to convert.

Contepomi promptly responded to Donncha O'Callaghan's shirt-tugging with the sweetest of right punches to the chin. He, his team-mates and most of the crowd were relieved he saw only yellow. So the temperature rose. Horan and D'Arcy had a dust-up off the ball, and O'Driscoll launched himself like a human missile into O'Connell.

Leinster's first try emanated from one of three steals, and their second from their first accurate lineout at the fourth attempt.

There won't be a better setpiece try all season either. Contepomi, just back, looped around O'Driscoll, taking a return pass behind D'Arcy's decoy run to find Hickie hitting the line. He unselfishly drew Manning with a perfectly timed pass to Horgan, who nervelessly narrowed the angle for Contepomi to make it 14-3.

Sitting in the stand, assistant coach David Knox, normally so voluble, barely allowed himself a contented smile. His nirvana.

Munster sought to go through the phases, but every handling error was punished and then Contepomi potted a towering penalty from near half-way.

But Munster still came knocking. Contepomi prevented Manning from scoring in the corner but five put-ins culminated in Wallace scoring on the blindside, albeit with some streetwise obstruction by both Horan and Peter Stringer.

That may, or may not, have been what prompted Michael Cheika to engage Simon McDowell as the team's left the pitch. Either way, O'Gara landed an astonishing conversion from the touchline into the wind. 17-10. Game very much on.

Horan was promptly binned and Leinster exacted due punishment. Though D'Arcy was held up off O'Driscoll's trademark one-handed flip pass, Hickie's hard rucking enabled McCormack to take the recycle up the middle, and Leinster had kept numbers aplenty on the blind side for O'Driscoll to score off D'Arcy's skip pass.

At 22-10 they had something to defend into the wind, even with O'Gara's ensuing penalty. A huge touchfinder by Foley had Munster upping their intensity only to be turned over again by Leinster's counter-rucking.

O'Gara was wide from just inside halfway and Munster had to indulge Leinster in endgame, helter-skelter, broken-field rugby off a succession of turnovers, Harry Varmaas and Will Green making good yardage and Contepomi putting Jamie Heaslip over in the corner for the bonus try with a visionary cut-out pass.

Munster's pride and close-in pressure yielded an injury-time try for Horan - and a bonus point. Munster will come again but this was Leinster's night.

SCORING SEQUENCE: 4 mins: O'Gara pen 0-3; 13: O'Driscoll try, Contepomi con 7-3; 33: Horgan try, Contepomi con 14-3; 38: Contepomi pen 17-3; 40(+4): Wallace try, O'Gara con 17-10 (half-time 17-10); 47: O'Driscoll try 22-10; 49: O'Gara pen 22-13; 77: Heaslip try 27-13; 84: Horan try, O'Gara con 27-20.

LEINSTER: G Dempsey; S Horgan, B O'Driscoll (capt), G D'Arcy, D Hickie; F Contepomi, G Easterby; R McCormack, B Blaney, W Green; T Hogan, M O'Kelly; C Jowitt, K Gleeson, J Heaslip. Replacements: R Corrigan for Jowitt (9-17 mins), S Keogh for Jowitt (48 mins), H Vermaas for Blaney (65 mins), O Finegan for O'Kelly (74 mins), L Fitzgerald for Hickie (79 mins). Unused: M D'Arcy, C Warner. Sinbinned: McCormack (7 mins), Contepomi (23 mins).

MUNSTER: J Manning; T O'Leary, J Kelly, T Halstead, I Dowling; R O'Gara, P Stringer; M Horan, F Sheahan, F Pucciariello; D O'Callaghan, P O'Connell; A Quinlan, D Wallace, A Foley. Replacements: D Leamy for Quinlan (9 mins), T Ryan for Foley (45-52 mins), B Murphy for Kelly (45-49 mins) and for Dowling (54 mins), M O'Driscoll for Foley (74 mins). Unused: A Kiriacou, T McGann, B O'Meara. Sinbinned: Horan (42 mins).

Referee: Simon McDowell (IRFU).