‘Ugly’ Leinster put squeeze on Agen
With Felipe Contepomi’s kicking skills sorely absent and their set-piece unreliable, problems were more evident than solutions.
So, how come by the time referee Tony Spreadbury blew the final whistle, Leinster had engineered a 12-point victory, buttressing their own European ambitions and denying the French the consolation of a bonus point? They did it by playing ugly. The final try – a pushover effort from prop Ronan McCormack – said it all. Agen were squeezed out of the game in the last quarter, like pips from a lemon.
Struggling in the tight, the visitors forwards made hay in the loose, utilising the pick and run tactic in and around the rucks and mauls to punch through Agen’s defence. It was a tactic against which the French had no answer.
When someone suggested to Michael Cheika that their tactics were very ‘Munster’, the Leinster coach’s reaction was a wry smile. As a former ‘grunt’ himself, the manner of the victory obviously gave him great pleasure.
“Closing the game out (like that) is something we wouldn’t really be renowned for in the past,” he admitted.
Cheika pinpointed the role of scrum-half Chris Whitaker in particular but, despite their continuing problems at the scrum and lineout, Denis Hickie felt this was one occasion when the Leinster pack should reap all the plaudits.
“I was particularly pleased for our forwards because they are constantly, every week, getting bad-mouthed. We are the only team whose forwards are constantly under the cosh like that.
“I don’t know how they manage to get themselves picked up every week with all that but we’ve come away from some hard places with some hard wins in the pool stages. I was delighted they got that pushover try at the end.”
Last Christmas Leinster’s forwards took the game to their Munster counterparts with good effect at the RDS and the same was the case earlier this month when they stuffed it up their jumpers in the mud and rain in Ravenhill.
It isn’t just the myth around their forward play that needs deconstructing either. The perception that Leinster are some sort of professional Barbarians outfit is another that requires re-examination.
Cheika spoke at some length about how they were consciously attempting to mix up the pace of their game, keeping the ball tight for longer periods before moving it out wide at pace, especially against a team like Agen who were committing very few numbers to the breakdown.
“There’s a lot of generalisations about the Leinster team but that’s the same for every team,” added Hickie.
“Everyone seems to be pigeon-holed. There’s such familiarity with the teams. We’ve been accused of being all backs with no grunts and others are painted the other way around. While we do tend to play to our strengths, we can mix it up as we did in Ulster a few weeks ago in the worse conditions you could imagine. We’re very conscious of having to mix our play.”
To be fair, against a more accomplished side than Agen, they might have – maybe should have — fallen short. By half-time, Leinster were 10-8 in arrears though they had enjoyed the lion’s share of possession and territory.
Agen’s only real period of dominance came after the break but, thanks to some stout Leinster defending, they managed to emerge from it with only the concession of a Jerome Miquel penalty.
Minutes later, Denis Hickie switched on the turbo to score the Irish side’s second try and a late Andy Dunne drop goal and McCormack’s touch down allowed them to sign off with a flourish.
Having arrived with little in the way of expectation in their baggage, it was an impressive effort, but Cheika wasn’t screaming ‘oh ye of little faith’ afterwards. “People watched last weekend’s game and saw our scrum getting knocked around a bit. Plus, we didn’t kick our goals which really forced us to score tries so it’s pretty understandable that people would expect us to be up against it. It’s not like we won by a hundred, is it? We had to work hard for our victory,” Cheika said.
The grafting isn’t over yet. Leinster have still to face Edinburgh at home and Gloucester at Kingsholm before they can even think about turning their attention to the quarter-finals.
While the game against the Guinness Premiership side is the red marker date, memories of the slip-up at Murrayfield are still too vivid for anyone in the Leinster camp to gloss over the game against the Scots.
“Obviously everyone is very happy,” said Hickie. “It’s great to win in France and that’s something Leinster never did a lot over the years but all we’ve done is put ourselves back in a position where we might win the group. We’re still guaranteed nothing.
“We’ve got two matches left and we’ve got to win both of them. We put a lot of pressure on ourselves by getting beaten by Edinburgh. We had to win (here). Okay, we’re in the driving seat but if we lose our next match some other team will be top.”
P Elhorga; M Ahotaeiloa, C Stolz, S Mirande, R Caucaunibuca; J Miquel, N Morlaes; P van Niekerk, J Narjissi, K Meeus; W Stolz, K Koulemine; M Lievrermont, C Yukes, T Soucaze.
E Guinazu for van Niekirk (46), S Socol for Koulemine (55), F Culine for Yukes (66), A Fulton for Morlase (72), A Mignardi for Caucaunibuca (72, blood), A Tiatia for Lievremeont (74), R Caucaunibuca for C Stolz (80).
G Dempsey; S Horgan, B O’Driscoll, G D’Arcy, D Hickie; C Warner, C Whitaker; R McCormack, B Blaney, S Wright; T Hogan, M O’Kelly; S Keogh, K Gleeson, J Heaslip.
B Jackman for Blaney (24), R Corrigan for Wright (43), A Dunne for Warner (82)
T. Spreadbury (England).
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
