O’Driscoll works magic again
But it was a close call after a 92-17 drubbing of the same side in Dublin last week. It was everything coach Declan Kidney promised it would be.
The coach remarked: “That was pretty scary but I warned the guys all week what to expect. It didn’t surprise me that they pushed us all the way.
“Pride takes over when French teams play at home and it’s difficult to win over here. I’m just happy that we got away with it.”
Five minutes from the end, Leinster were staring at defeat and their Heineken Cup aspirations were in difficulty until O’Driscoll produced one moment of magic and out half David Holwell converted that brilliant try to give Leinster their second European Cup victory on French soil.
It wasn’t easy and it wasn’t pretty but Bourgoin, in front of a small crowd of 3,000, made life near impossible for the Irish side who didn’t help themselves.
Leinster haven’t done all that well on the road, particularly in France.
Perhaps with this particular monkey off their backs they can prosper. Had they lost last night, and they could have lost, it would have made their journey in Europe more difficult.
Now that they have won, the fourth victory in succession, they can probably afford to lose away to Bath and still qualify as pool winners.
It all came down at the end to a bit of bottle and the fact that Bourgoin probably lost the plot.
The home side were awarded a penalty in the dying seconds that any decent goal kicker would have knocked over with eyes closed.
They got greedy and went for touch with the possibility of a try off it. Leinster were up to the task and defended venomously.
It started brightly for Leinster with Dave Holwell kicking a third minute penalty, only to fall for an immediate sucker punch from Bourgoin out half Benjamin Boyet, who skipped through at least five tackles for a try that Alexandre Peclier converted.
It got worse when Peclier kicked a penalty after Boyet had missed the target with a drop goal.
Leinster did not play well in that opening spell. They weren’t allowed to, and made a significant amount of mistakes to compound the problem
Holwell brought Leinster closer with his second penalty but Peclier responded with his second in the 23rd minute to re-establish that seven point lead. Leinster finally found form, disrupted a Bourgoin throw and the home side earned the wrath of referee Nigel Whitehouse (no other favours for Leinster in the first half) by conceding 10 metres. Holwell kicked a superb penalty from half way to narrow the gap to four.
He went one better by kicking a third minutes later to make it 12-13 and keep a rather muted Leinster in the match.
Referee Whitehouse was replaced at half time by David Davies and fortunes changed for Leinster instantly.
Perhaps it had nothing to do with the man in the middle, but at least Leinster appeared much more confident.
Five minutes into the half, Felipe Contepomi broke brilliantly and rode three tackles before sending O’Driscoll in for a try that Holwell converted for a 19-13 lead.
But three minutes later, Peclier tacked on a penalty for the home side to narrow the gap to just three points and Leinster found themselves back in a dogfight again. Holwell though, put Leinster back into a perfect attacking position with a magnificent line kick and the visitors could have prospered off that had Shane Horgan managed to hold possession out wide.
Neither did it help that Leinster lost their own throw to a line out in the Bourgoin ‘22 with 15 minutes remaining, or that Contepomi sliced a clearance seconds later.
That caused all sorts of problems for Leinster and they conceded the lead when Horgan failed to deal with an angled kick by Benjamin Boyet.
The ball bounced back off Horgan over the Leinster line and Jean Francois Foux pounced for a try that Peclier converted. 23-19 to Bourgoin and it was game on again.
But O’Driscoll, quiet for much of the game, finally came up trumps.
Taking the ball in the middle of the field, he scythed through three defenders who waited for him to offload and went in for a magnificent try that Holwell converted to put Leinster back into a three points advantage, one they held despite some hair-raising moments in the closing seconds.
: Peclier, A Forest, Davis, Esterhuizen, Janin, Boyet, M Forest, Milloud, Cabello, Peyron, Raschi, Pape, Frier, Bonnaire, Petrilli. Replacements: Pucciarello for Peyron (33).
: Tries: Boyet, Coux. Cons: Boyet, Peclier. Pens: Peclier 3.
: Dempsey, Horgan, O’Driscoll, Contepomi, D Hickie, Holwell, Easterby, Corrigan, S Byrne, E Byrne, Cullen, O’Kelly, Miller, Jennings, Costello.
: Brown for Dempsey (76), Nebbett for E Byrne (71).
: Tries: O’Driscoll 2. Cons: Holwell 2. Pens: Holwell 4.
: N Whitehouse (Wales). Replacement D Davies (Wales) half time.
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