Cheika admits to having little in reserve

LEINSTER coach Michael Cheika admitted his team still has a way to go before it can successfully compete on two fronts after their Magners League campaign ended with defeat at Newport Gwent Dragons.

Cheika led Leinster to their first Heineken Cup final next week against newly-crowned English champions Leicester Tigers at Murrayfield.

Should Brian O’Driscoll lift the Heineken Cup on Saturday, few in or around Dublin will care that Leinster surrendered their Celtic crown this season. But if this performance at the distinctly less salubrious surroundings of Rodney Parade proved one thing, it is that Leinster still do not possess a squad capable of combining European glory with domestic success. Right now, it remains one or the other.

Other than the opening exchanges, Leinster failed to match the hunger of the hosts who were desperate to salvage a small element of pride from another desperately disappointing season, in front of their home fans.

They managed that, just, winning two tries to nil after restricting Leinster to just three Fergus McFadden penalties and precious few clear-cut try-scoring opportunities. Against better equipped opponents, this tie would have been over long before replacement James Arlidge slotted over two late penalties to put the game beyond Leinster’s reach.

“We still have a small way to go in getting the squad to mature enough to win games like this,” said Cheika.

“We had the same situation at Edinburgh after winning the Heineken Cup quarter-final at Harlequins. We weren’t able to come away with a result. That’s the small distance we still have to travel. It wasn’t difficult to motivate the team, we came here to win. Once we realised we couldn’t win the tournament, we wanted to make sure we finished second.

“That was still up in the air, but we’ve always finished in the top three since I’ve been here and we want to continue that. We wanted to win the game, but we didn’t manage key moments and some calls went against us and that all meant we couldn’t get a roll of momentum.”

Cheika rested key players ahead of Edinburgh next weekend though was nevertheless hoping more than a few of the second-stringers would take the chance to clinch a place in his Heineken Cup final team. In the end, however, he may have lost one after skipper Simon Keogh made way early in the second half with a shoulder injury. He will be further assessed today, but the early signs are not good.

“We think he’s suffered nerve damage to his shoulder, but we’ll know more on Monday,” said Cheika.

“He was in contention for the final. He’s done well over recent weeks, he’s strong and physical and we need that against a team like Leicester.”

He added: “I wanted some of the players to put their hands up. The priority was winning the game and second was seeing those players in contention for a start or a place on the bench for the final.

“There were some good performances from the likes of Sean O’Brien, Kevin McLoughlin, Ronan McCormack and Devin Toner. But we lacked experience in our decision making.”

It was a yellow card for McFadden, that ultimately proved the difference. Leinster had already survived ten minutes without O’Brien who saw yellow in the 13th minute. But when McFadden was judged to have obstructed Jason Tovey as he raced to touch down a kick behind the try line, referee Graham Knox not only awarded a penalty try under the posts, but brandished a second card.

Newport made the extra man count with a second try, through full-back Martyn Thomas, just four minutes later and that proved too much for Leinster to claw back. McFadden returned to land two more penalties, either side of half-time, though missed the chance to level the scores before Arlidge stepped off the bench to settle matters late on.

Scorers for Newport Gwent Dragons: Tries: M Thomas, Penalty try. Con: J Tovey. Pens: J Arlidge (2).

Scorers for Leinster: Pens: F McFadden (3).

DRAGONS: M Thomas; G Wyatt, R Gomer- Davies (A Brew, 75), P Dollman, R Fussell; J Tovey (J Arlidge, 62), W Evans (A Walker, 73); A Black (H Gustafson, 68), T Willis (capt) R Thomas, A Hall, L Charteris, D Lydiate, C Hill (G Webb, 68), L Evans.

LEINSTER: G Dempsey; S Keogh, F McFadden, K Tonetti (D Kearney, 60), R Kearney; I McKinley (I Madigan, 75), C Keane (P O’Donohoe, 50); R McCormack, J Fogarty, S Knoop (J Hagan, 78), T Hogan, D Toner, K McLaughlin, S Keogh (capt, C Jowitt, 50), S O’Brien.

Referee: Graham Knox (SRU).