Rusty Leinster make too many mistakes

Coaches hanker after work to do on the training ground. It's a staple of most post-match dissertations; things accomplished but more to do. Leinster Michael Cheika will have a surfeit following yesterday's Celtic League opener against last season's champions, The Ospreys at the New Stadium.

The Australian will need to address serious shortcomings in Leinster's performance, apart from one obvious moment of indiscipline that ultimately cost them a match they shouldn't have been anyway near winning but paradoxically might have stolen. He'll then have to take to the paddock and try to patch up a Leinster lineout that misfired horribly.

There are certain fundamentals in the sport and one is that teams which cannot claim a decent proportion of their own ball out of touch don't win matches. The Irish province almost overcame what was a huge handicap. Having scrapped for possession and turned over ball with some excellent defence, Leinster promptly handed it back, a galling sight for those who had worked so hard to force the turnovers. Cheika admitted: "We didn't deserve to win the match. If we could win, and we almost did, when playing no good, imagine what we could do if we played well. It's a very disappointed dressingroom in there. We made too many mistakes from set-pieces."

The Leinster coach is not about to harangue his charges after one game but they can expect the video session to be uncomfortable.

A certain amount of ring rust was understandable in what was their opening competitive outing against last season's outstanding Celtic League team but for all their endeavour it couldn't mask sloppy handling, questionable decision-making and too much aimless kicking.

The Ospreys will have breathed a sigh of relief at the final whistle and none more so than outhalf Matthew Jones. It was his thumping 45 metres strike five minutes into injury time that snatched the honours but it was a dithering, ineffective performance in the pivot position that had almost cost his team the game.

It was difficult to reconcile how Leinster trailed by just five points at the interval. They had pretty much gifted the Ospreys their 14 points. The two tries summed up the visitors' error-laden first-half display that probably warranted a greater punishment on the scoreboard.

Robert Kearney had his kick charged down by Ospreys centre Andrew Bishop after 18 seconds but neither of the two passes which preceded his clearance kick were sharp enough to provide him with the requisite time. The young wing demonstrated his character by putting the mistake behind him and, although it wasn't his only error, he showed enough flashes of a burgeoning talent.

There were some notable performances from Ciarán Potts, Keith Gleeson and Jamie Heaslip in his short cameo. Behind the scrum Brian O'Meara looked sharp while Felipe Contepomi was the pick of the Leinster backline in which Girvan Dempsey also excelled.

Contepomi led by deed, kicking five from six attempts and making two wonderful breaks. He kicked three first-half penalties but Leinster trailed because of Bishop's try and another from Barry Williams as the visitors were slow to defend a close-in lineout. Matthew Jones tagged on both conversions.

Contepomi chipped away with another penalty, Bishop grabbed a second try and then Dempsey produced the individual moment of the match with a superb inside and then outside break to send Kearney over for a try. Contepomi missed the conversion but appeared to have won the match in injury time with a fifth penalty only for Leinster to concede a penalty at a ruck and Matthew Jones to send 10,131 supporters home happy.

SCORING SEQUENCE: 18 seconds: Bishop try, M Jones conversion, 7-0; 13 mins: Contepomi penalty, 7-3; 22: Williams try, M Jones conversion, 14-3; (40+2): Contepomi penalty, 14-6; (40+5): Contepomi penalty, 14-9. Half-time: 14-9. 44: Contepomi penalty, 14-12; 72: Bishop try, 19-12; 75: Kearney try, 19-17; 80: Contepomi penalty, 19-20; 82: M Jones penalty, 22-20.

THE OSPREYS: S Terblanche; R Mustoe, S Parker, A Bishop, A Brew; M Jones, J Spice; D Jones, B Williams (capt), A Millward; A Newman, L Bateman; L Beach, S Tandy, A Lloyd.

Replacements: A Wyn-Jones for Lloyd 8-20 mins; P James for Millward 33-40; Wyn-Jones for Tandy (40)+1-40(+5); L Davies for Brew 48 mins; James for Millward 56 mins; Millward for D Jones 68 mins; H Bennett for Williams 68 mins; Wyn-Jones for Beach 78 mins; R Wells for Spice 80 mins.

LEINSTER: G Dempsey; R Kearney, K Lewis, F Contepomi (capt), B Burke; C Warner, B O'Meara; R McCormack, B Jackman, W Green; D Dillon, B Gissing; C Potts, K Gleeson, E Miller.

Replacements: J Heaslip for Miller 44 mins; G Easterby for O'Meara 58 mins; S Crawford for Dillon 61 mins; E Byrne for McCormack 67 mins; D Blaney for Jackman 76 mins.

Sin Bin: L Bateman (Ospreys) 43-53 mins.

Referee: R Dickson (Scotland).