Bath 13 Leinster 18:MATCHES ARE defined by opportunities, those taken and those spurned. Leinster just about managed to get the balance right to ensure victory at the Recreation Ground yesterday but came perilously close to toppling ignominiously.

It was difficult to comprehend how they managed to edge so close to the precipice of defeat because on any other day they might have scored four tries, should have crossed for two but ended up with none. This morning’s post-match video analysis and reflection will be excruciating individually and collectively.

Butcher, botch, choose the verb but the players will be disappointed at the failure to execute the most simple of overlaps. The fact that it ultimately didn’t matter on the scoreboard won’t assuage those feelings. Jonathan Sexton’s place-kicking, six penalties from seven attempts, provided the escape route.

Privately Bath acknowledged that this was their best performance of the season, but although they were game and deserved their try, they were also limited. They monopolised possession and territory for most of the opening 40 minutes but their back play was largely lateral, their handling laboured and their forward patterns diluted by individual charges rather than collective cohesion.

Bath outhalf Stephen Donald was clearly not match fit, taking a little too much time in making decisions and this, coupled with Leinster’s streetwise efforts in slowing down ruck ball, denied space and time to those outside him.

Leinster’s defence was disciplined, the drifting precise. Bath’s failure to commit tacklers and straighten meant that what initially appeared as numerical overlaps were snuffed out emphatically all bar once. The only occasion that the visitors got it wrong was when Matt Banahan scored Bath’s try 15 minutes from the end of the contest.

Leinster centre Fergus McFadden deserves credit for the composure with which he marshalled that outside channel and also for his success in breaking the gain line. The irony is that the visiting orchestrated a plethora of line breaks, almost from the outset.

Sexton’s vision – he also had one sublime 60-metre cross kick that almost led to an Isa Nacewa try – in putting Luke Fitzgerald clear with a wonderful long pass sent the wing scampering clear inside his own 22. He slowed down to try and link with his support – the move eventually petered out with a misplaced pass inside the Bath 22 – but he might not have done if he had realised that the only defender barring his way to the line was Bath openside flanker Guy Mercer.

Worse was to follow from the visitors’ perspective. Trailing 3-0 to an Ollie Barkley penalty, Rob Kearney cut a brilliant line on halfway from a clever inside pass, raced clear and with Isa Nacewa outside him in splendid isolation and an unobstructed run to the line, the Leinster fullback instead threw a pass inside to Seán O’Brien, who was being well policed by defenders. The flanker not being able to hold the head-high delivery was immaterial as he would not have made the line; the original decision was flawed.

Bath realised that Leinster were misfiring in attack and their confidence grew exponentially. They dominated territory and possession but to their credit the visiting defence remained resolute in the face of relentless pressure. Barkley kicked a second penalty but in first-half injury time Leinster put five phases together, arguably for the first time in the match, and forced the home side to concede a penalty, which Sexton kicked, having earlier missed a more difficult chance.

Leinster managed the game a little better on the resumption, greater precision and patience enabling Sexton to tag on a further three penalties. O’Brien had made some wonderfully coruscating runs for serious yardage and it was possibly his physical dominance in the collisions that made for a mental aberration.

Some excellent continuity, clever appreciation of soft shoulders and sheer grunt allowed Leinster to conjure a three-man overlap eight metres from the Bath line with O’Brien in possession. A try seemed a mere bagatelle, the identity of the scorer the only debating issue at that point, but the flanker chose to try and break the last tackle and was grounded by a fine tackle from Donald. It slightly tarnished an otherwise excellent afternoon for the Tullow man.

At 12-6, dominant in most facets of the game and looking the more likely try scorers, the visitors were caught napping. Replacement hooker Seán Cronin was isolated in the tackle, Bath captain François Louw effecting the turnover on halfway that pre-empted a sweeping counter-attack that culminated in Matt Banahan carrying a couple of Leinster defenders over the try line.

Barkley nailed the conversion and at 13-12 the home side was infused with enthusiasm and belief. To their credit the European champions, led by captain Leo Cullen, recalibrated their patterns, powerfully working the ball around the fringes and then varying the point of attack to force Bath back inside their own 22.

The home side’s discipline cracked, conceding two silly penalties and Sexton’s right boot nudged Leinster to victory. The Irish province will be appreciably better next Saturday at the Aviva Stadium but the scope for Bath to follow suit is less discernible.

SCORING SEQUENCE: 15 mins: Barkley penalty, 3-0; 34: Barkley penalty, 6-0; 40 (+2): Sexton penalty, 6-3. Half-time: 6-3. 45: Sexton penalty, 6-6; 53: Sexton penalty, 6-9; 62: Sexton penalty, 6-12; 65: Banahan try, Barkley conversion, 13-12; 72: Sexton penalty, 13-15; 80: Sexton penalty, 13-18.

BATH:N Abendanon; J Cuthbert, D Hipkiss, O Barkley, M Banahan; S Donald, M Claassens; D Flatman, C Biller, D Wilson, D Attwood, R Caldwell, F Louw (capt), G Mercer, S Taylor. Replacements: S Vesty for Hipkiss (61 mins); C Cook for Claassens (66 mins); N Catt for Flatman (72 mins); A Perenise for Wilson (72 mins).

LEINSTER: R Kearney; I Nacewa, F McFadden, G D'Arcy, L Fitzgerald; J Sexton, I Boss; H van der Merwe, R Strauss, M Ross, L Cullen (capt), D Browne, K McLaughlin, S O'Brien, J Heaslip. Replacements: C Healy for van der Merwe (hal-time); D Toner for Browne (50 mins); S Jennings for McLaughlin (50 mins); E Reddan for Boss (62 mins); N White for Ross (62 mins); S Cronin for Strauss (62 mins); E O'Malley for D'Arcy (70 mins).

Referee: J Garces (France).

Yellow card:François Louw (Bath) 72 mins.

Attendance:12,200.