Defiant Contepomi kicks bonus questions into touch

MONDAY morning quarterbacks, that’s what we are, says Felipe Contepomi. Those of us who criticised Leinster for conceding a late bonus point to Toulouse in their second-round Heineken Cup meeting, in Toulouse. Those of us who criticised Leinster again for having missed the bonus point in the third round, in the RDS in Dublin last weekend against Edinburgh.

As they face into the crucial return game against Edinburgh in Murrayfield this weekend, those bonus points loom large in what is an extremely tough group, leaving Leinster in the situation where they will probably have to win their three remaining games to qualify for the Heineken Cup quarter-final.

Felipe, however, makes no apologies for either of the two major decisions that are seen to have cost Leinster; against Toulouse, three tries already conceded, time almost up, Leinster opted to try to run the ball out of their own 22, got turned over, conceded the bonus try. And against Edinburgh, in the second half, a one-man advantage in an already dominant pack, Leinster opted to kick for goal and extend their advantage, rather than take a penalty scrum and power over for the try that would have taken the game completely beyond Edinburgh, set themselves up for the bonus try.