Lamb stuns sheepish Leinster

IT was what Leinster feared all week long, being the hunted rather than the hunter. So a stirring triumph over old rivals Munster in the dress rehearsal for this opening game in their defence of the Heineken Cup meant absolutely nothing; the champions fell victim to a sucker punch in the dying stages of a vigorously contested but disappointing match at the RDS last night.

The London Irish hero was substitute out-half Ryan Lamb, who kicked a 76th minute penalty to heap agony on the home side, whose performance fell way short of what they aspired to and of what was necessary.

It will be a long week as they prepare for the away fixture to Brive. There will be a lot of soul-searching and anguish after coughing up the opportunity of benefiting from launching a new campaign on home soil.

London Irish came to destroy the type of rhythm Leinster like to play with; they turned the tables on the champions by challenging everything that moved up front, particularly at ruck and line-out time, and they changed the style of play that has helped them to a lofty position in the Guinness Premiership.

Irish head coach Toby Flood admitted that last night was part of evolution for the club. “It pushed us to play a different type of game. Friday night rugby is not the same as Saturday afternoon rugby and Heineken Cup rugby is not the same as domestic stuff. You’ve got to adapt and we didn’t get that part of it right for at least 20 minutes.

“If you had asked me at half time I would have said I’d be very happy with a draw. It was nip and tuck, so I’m very happy with the win, very happy indeed.”

Yet Leinster exploded out of the blocks and could have had a try from either Brian O’Driscoll or Jonathan Sexton in the opening minute; instead they had to satisfy themselves with a penalty from the out-half after 90 seconds.

Irish got back into the game with a penalty from Peter Hewat after nine minutes, but Sexton responded immediately with his second, awarded for a high tackle on Cian Healy against Chris Hala’ufia from the kick-off.

The game turned a tad aggressive in the 27th minute and a touchline incident ended with Jamie Heaslip and David Paice being sent to the cooler for ten minutes. But that was one of the few spells that drew gasps from the capacity attendance during a generally dour first half; it was one of the few opportunities that the Leinster supporters had to really get behind the team, although they were also howling loudly for retribution when Sexton was taken out by Chris Malone in the 39th minute. Unfortunately, the Leinster out-half failed to nail the subsequent 40-metre penalty and paid a huge price seconds later when Shane Horgan was penalised for failing to release in a ruck. Hewat stepped up for London Irish and hit a boomer from 50 metres to bring his side level.

Hewat missed his first kick in the opening minute of the second half, and it was only then that the Leinster fans cranked up the pressure, although the enthusiasm was frustrated by their side’s inability to compete efficiently at the line out.

Nick Kennedy and Bob Casey caused some embarrassment to the home side in that facet, and Cullen’s troops looked a very different side from the team that put Munster to the sword a week before, although they will hardly thank French referee Roman Poite for adding to their frustration by his view of what was happening at the breakdown.

Yet, for their own part they struggled to cope with the power of the London Irish pack — although the scrum appeared solid enough — and clearly didn’t have enough quality possession to provide the type of threat they did against their domestic rivals.

And they can’t blame everything on the referee either; sometimes they lacked vision and numbers to compete aggressively enough against a focused London Irish eight who committed astutely to the action on the ground.

Having conceded a second and then a third kickable penalty to London Irish, they fell behind when substitute Lamb knocked over a 50-metre penalty in the 69th minute. There were nervous times for Leinster, until Sexton easily stroked over the equaliser in the 76th minute

But it all turned sour in the closing minutes; Lamb kicked his second penalty for the Exiles to regain the lead, and Poite ignored vociferous claims for a home penalty when Sexton appeared to be tackled high.

The referee allowed play continue, Eoin Reddan assumed a penalty was in the bag and chipped ahead to allow for an advantage that never came. Instead, the French official called a halt to the match and left the arena to a chorus of boos that lasted until he had disappeared to the safety of the changing rooms.

It left Leinster coach Michael Cheika frustrated but determined to put on a brave face. “I’ve sat here in a similar situation before after losing the opening game of a Heineken Cup campaign to Bath and we recovered. We will go to Brive determined to win; I have not doubt we’re capable of bouncing back,” he said.

LEINSTER: I Nacewa; S Horgan, B O’Driscoll, G D’Arcy, L Fitzgerald; J Sexton, E Reddan; C Healy, J Fogarty, M Ross; L Cullen (capt), N Hines; K McLaughlin, J Heaslip, S Jennings.

Replacements: B Jackman for Fogarty, S O’Brien for McLaughlin, R Kearney for Nacewa (all 56) Temporary sub R Kearney for D’Arcy (26-32)

LONDON IRISH: P Hewat; T Homer, E Seveali’i, S Mapusua, S Tagicakibau; C Malone, P Hodgson; C Dermody, D Paice, F Rautenbach; N Kennedy, B Casey (capt); D Danaher, C Hala’Ufia, S Armitage;

Replacements: P Ion for Rautenbach (66), R Lamb for Malone, D Coetzee for Paice (both 59) Temporary D Coetzee for Armitage (32-38).

Referee: Romain Poite (FFR).