I couldn’t have asked for more, says Johnson

MARTIN JOHNSON may not be rugby’s most affable personality but you have to admire and respect him as one of the game’s great players.

Having led his Tigers to a magnificent win over Leinster, Johnson brought his players around the pitch, “not because I was emotional or that it was a lap of honour”, he stressed, but “as a thank you to the fans who would have been justified in not bothering to come here after how badly we let them down last week against Leeds.”

A mighty warrior by any standards, Johnson turned 35 three weeks ago and intends to stand by his decision to quit the game at the end of the season. He enthused: “Occasions like this are great, coming to Lansdowne Road and putting on a display like that. It was like a Test match atmosphere. It’s been a great European Cup weekend and hopefully the semi-finals will be even better.”

Johnson was making his 50th Heineken Cup appearance and has rarely been seen in such munificent mood. He admitted that they had “snuck in the side door to get here at all” but added that he was proud of the manner in which Leicester struck for vital scores at vital times.

“That’s what put them away. Lewis (Moody) caught the kick off and got us going. Our first half was tremendous, there is no other word to describe it. Leinster hardly got into our half, we put severe pressure on them and I could not have asked for any more - except that we could have been two tries better.”

Leicester coach John Wells is quitting the club at the end of the year to take up a position with the (English) RFU and looks well capable of departing on the highest possible note. He clearly had planned well for the Dublin visit, pointing out that “we were up against a quality team and had to do the hard work. Martin Johnson is a very special individual and we saw today what he is capable of doing.”

Flanker Lewis Moody was voted man of the match, an award that sat very well with all involved in Leicester. Johnson underlined the importance of his catch from the first half kick off that allowed the Tigers to take a grip on the proceedings and even more so how he produced “a similar piece of magic” to create the second half try for Daryl Gibson.

Moody happily accepted the plaudits, adding that “this was the kind of performance we’ve been looking for a very long time. We set out to make our mark on the game and are very happy to come out of Lansdowne Road with this kind of win.

Losing coach Declan Kidney has known highs and lows in the Heineken Cup with Munster and has now sampled more of the latter in his new role with Leinster. He admitted that all connected with the side were “very low” but praised Leicester for how “well they played and how well they retained possession. They kept the ball much better than we did.”

Victor Costello, now nearing the end of his playing career, said the second half try from the restart was “a knife in the heart”, a simile appropriate to describe so much that has happened to Irish rugby in the last month or so.