Leinster destroy lukewarm Bath

Bath 23 Leinster 35

It won’t matter that the prize is a dubious one, an away fixture to champions Toulouse, for they came to England on a wing and a prayer, seeking victory to keep their European dreams alive.

They didn’t need the prayers, and showed they have the wings with an awesome display of back play that left Bath, up until the last few minutes, dead on their feet.

Leinster also did Munster a huge favour by denying Bath the bonus point that would have changed the rankings for the last eight and forced Munster to play Leicester away.

A tongue-in-cheek comment from Leinster coach Michael Cheika in a post-match telephone call to Declan Kidney suggested a very good bottle of wine, at least, should be winging its way to Dublin in the next 24 hours.

“Yeah, I suppose we were looking after our friends down in Munster as well as ourselves! No, seriously, our only aim was to ensure that we qualified; we couldn’t be thinking of anything else. We were fighting for our survival and were very aware of the necessity to win.”

Now, with that victory and the qualification in the bag, Cheika is actually excited at the prospect of a visit to the south of France to play the champions.

“Quite honestly, nothing mattered to us other than getting there. With that achieved, we always knew we would have to play away from home, and it really doesn’t matter who we got.

“I have always said that if you want to develop as a team, then you have to pitch yourselves against the best. Toulouse have an enviable record in this competition, but I believe we have a chance. If the guys play to their capabilities, then we have a good chance.”

Bath coach Brian Ashton concurred: “While the odds are stacked in favour of the home sides, the fact that it is a knock-out game, rather than a league match, means that the opportunity to win is there.”

The group winners scored twice in the closing stages and Leinster had to throw everything into a rearguard action. Ultimately, even though it was a close call, they were well worth the 12-point win. This was, arguably, Leinster’s most complete performance of the season, certainly their very best away from home.

Ashton expected danger to come from Leinster’s backs, particularly from Brian O’Driscoll. He wasn’t disappointed, but was shocked with the intensity of effort from the pack, in which Keith Gleeson, Jamie Heaslip and Malcolm O’Kelly were outstanding. Leinster did lose two of their own line-out throws but Bath were unprepared for the challenge at scrum time.

Ashton conceded: “That was an area we had targeted to put them under pressure, but we didn’t get any change at all. The scene was set in the opening quarter because Leinster murdered us everywhere then. We couldn’t cope with the intensity or the pace of the game.”

Leinster stormed into a 21-3 lead with three tries in the first 20 minutes even though Bath had launched some early assaults.

The first came from a tapped penalty inside Leinster’s own 22. Guy Easterby moved swiftly, Brian O’Driscoll and Denis Hickie were set loose and Shane Horgan fastened on to Hickie’s infield kick. Horgan galloped away for the try that Felipe Contepomi converted.

Ollie Barkley kicked a penalty for Bath, but Leinster stretched forward and onwards. Contepomi intercepted and streaked away for the second, and then O’Driscoll produced his magic to combine twice with Gordon D’Arcy and give the scoring pass to Will Green. Contepomi pushed the lead out to 18 points with the two conversions before Barkley narrowed the gap with his second penalty

It stayed that way until the break, though Leinster did have one good late opportunity when O’Driscoll conjured up a bit of magic. He did it again eight minutes into the second half when sending Hickie away. The winger’s inside pass to Green was slightly forward and spoiled what would have been a wonderful try from the supporting Heaslip.

Bath struck back in the 57th minute when Barkley kicked his third penalty; clearly an intent that, if they couldn’t win this game, they wanted the crucial bonus point that would give them a home draw.

But seconds later, O’Driscoll split the Bath defence and sent Horgan flying in at the corner. Contepomi knocked over the conversion from the right hand touchline.

O’Driscoll went over for the next try in 68 minutes and Contepomi converted again to make it 35-9.

Bath had a consolation score when Andrew Higgins got away from Hickie and sent in Michael Stephenson. They got another when Matt Stevens stormed through and substitute Chris Malone kicked both conversions.

BATH: M. Stephenson, A. Higgins, T. Cheeseman, S. Finau, F. Welsh, O. Barkley, N. Walshe, D. Flatman, L. Mears, M. Stevens, S. Borthwick (captain), D. Grewcock, A. Beattie, G. Delve, M. Lipman

Replcements. D. Bell for Flatman (40), C. Malone for Barkley (70), A. Williams for Walshe (70), J. Hudson for Borthwick (73).

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

Replacements. E. Miller for Jowitt (34, injured), R. Kearney for Dempsey (40, injured), E. Byrne for Green (65), K. Lewis for Contepomi, D. Blaney for B. Blaney, A. Byrnes for O’Kelly (all 78).

Referee: N. Owen (Wales).