Pecleir penalty breaks heroic Leinster hearts

IT’S not often Leinster put in a performance that makes the neutral feel sorry they fell short, but that was the aftertaste following their heart-breaking loss at the Stade Pierre Rajon on Saturday.

It was as brave and heroic an effort as we’ve ever seen from Leinster in the Heineken Cup, particularly in the second-half. Just after the interval, following David Vendetti’s breakaway try, the visitors founds themselves 27-13 in arrears. To make matters worse, Eric Miller was in the sin-bin but what happened over the next 14 minutes truly was fairytale stuff.

Inspired by the Felipe Contepomi, Gordon D’Arcy and Robert Kearney, Leinster scored two tries in the space of just three minutes and when the out-half landed a 45-yard penalty, his side were ahead, 28-27.