Cheika wants extra effort as dream hinges on Bath plunge

LEINSTER’S Heineken Cup dreams all hinge on Sunday’s clash with Bath at the Recreation Ground, after putting Glasgow to the sword at the RDS on Saturday night.

But coach Michael Cheika will demand major improvement against a side that will ask more serious questions of Leinster’s ability to mix it with the elite.

Cheika, for a man who had just witnessed his side run in eight tries, was strangely subdued and admitted: “The dressing room is pretty quiet too.”

“We did some good things, but you can probably guess from my demeanour that I wish we put play together a bit better. There were some things I wasn’t happy about, but the good thing is that the players weren’t happy with some aspects of play either. It’s a positive thing to admit it could have been better.”

But he is convinced Leinster have the ability to beat high-flying Bath, who secured the top spot in pool five with victory away to Bourgoin.

Cheika believes Felipe Contepomi and skipper Brian O’Driscoll could be key figures.

And he forgave Contepomi for a succession of missed conversion attempts.

“He has knocked a lot of goals over for us this season. He’s entitled to one day off.”

In relation to O’Driscoll, who scored two tries on Saturday, the coach said: “He has got better and better over the past few weeks. You must remember he was out of the game for a long time, and it does take time to work your way back. A lot of it is about confidence and he has come back in at a pretty difficult time when all of our matches were pretty significant. I think he has done exceptionally well, and the couple of tries won’t do his confidence any harm.”

He acknowledged: “We have got to be more street-wise in every department. Bath will pride themselves in their record and won’t sit back and relax even if they have qualified. They will be looking to the quarter-finals as to who they might play.

“But for us, that’s a good thing because we know not to expect any favours from them. It’s really in our own hands, totally up to us. We looked upon the Glasgow game as a semi final and this will surely be the same as a final.”

Leinster hit the ground running, even though they elected to play against a significant breeze after winning the toss. Glasgow were torn to shreds in the opening quarter when Leinster made all of the smart moves.

Cameron Jowitt ploughed over for the first try after seven minutes, following a Leinster penalty, line-out win and driving maul. Shane Horgan got the second 10 minutes later when O’Driscoll and Girvan Dempsey combined to send the winger away.

But O’Driscoll proved he is not infallible and five minutes later he threw out a wild pass, one that was picked up by Rory Lamont who made it to the line for a try Dan Parks converted.

There was some irony in another bad pass a few minutes later in that it actually led to a third try for Leinster.

The home side swept forward, moved the ball left and right before Jamie Heaslip took control on the narrow side. He did brilliantly to draw the cover but his pass to Dempsey was a shocker. The full back, however, in his 100th appearance for the province, held on brilliantly at ankle level and dived in for the score.

Parks intervened to score a penalty but Leinster secured the bonus point with a fourth try three minutes before the break. Horgan and O’Driscoll were both denied in full flight but Contepomi picked up to storm over. His failure, yet again, to kick the conversion, gave Leinster only a 10-point lead when they deserved much more.

They did get a further five points buffer when Jowitt went in for his second try just before the interval and that was enough to spur Leinster on to a comprehensive victory.

The biggest cheer of the night was reserved for Contepomi, who finally got it right in the goal kicking stakes. He converted O’Driscoll’s try, Leinster’s sixth, but he was also the creator when he chipped through the Glasgow defence for the Irish captain to get the touch.

The Leinster performance deteriorated after that; the biting cold and the knowledge a 32-10 lead was more than enough might have been factors.

Whatever, the proceedings were only enlivened in the closing stages. O’Driscoll got in for try number seven and Contepomi converted, Glasgow responded with a Mike Roberts score, Denis Hickie and Contepomi stretched the lead out by seven and Glasgow’s John Barclay, with the try, and Colin Gregor, with the conversion, had the last say.

LEINSTER: G. Dempsey, S. Horgan, B. O’Driscoll (captain), G. D’Arcy, D. Hickie, F. Contepomi, G. Easterby, R. Corrigan, B. Blaney, E. Byrne, B. Williams, M. O’Kelly, C. Joowitt, J. Heaslip, K. Gleeson.

Replacements. N. Ronan for Jowitt (40, injured), R. McCormack for Byrne (63), D. Blaney for B. Blaney, A. Byrnes for O’Kelly, B. O’Riordan for Easterby, K. Lewis for Horgan, R. Kearney for Dempsey (all 73).

GLASGOW: G. Staniforth, H. O’Hare, G. Morrison, A. Henderson, R. Lamont, D. Parks, G. Beveridge, K. Tkachuk, S. Lawson, E. Murray, D. Turner, C. Hamilton, S. Swindall, J. Petrie (captain), J. Barclay.

Replacements. F. Thompson for Lawson, T. Barker for Turner, M. Roberts for Staniforth (all 40), S. Pinder for Beveridge (55), C. Gregor for Parks, G. Hayter for Swindall (both 62), L. Harrison for Barclay (66).

Referee: J. Jutge (France).