Ospreys rain on Cheika’s parade

IT was billed as the dream send-off for Leinster coach Michael Cheika but the inspired Ospreys danced all over the script in this inaugural Magners League Grand final at the RDS on Saturday.

Leinster were left to rue a plethora of uncharacteristic handling errors, and their inability to compete in their usual vigorous way against an aggressive Ospreys back row, marshalled superbly by Marty Holah, was crucial.

The psychological hurt was evident in the post-match press conference with Cheika’s hopes of a glorious farewell ruined; but while he and matchday captain Shane Jennings were clearly disappointed, neither had any axe to grind with the result that yielded the Welsh region a fourth trophy in seven years.

It was, said victorious coach Sean Holley, a triumph over adversity for a team that has struggled to win over public support since the merger between Neath and Swansea a few short years ago.

But this latest success, coming hot on the heels of Cardiff ‘s Amlin Cup triumph will boost Welsh rugby and will surely go a long way towards helping the club establish itself amongst their own.

It was a thoroughly disappointing night for Leinster, whose standing at the head of the league table and their subsequent victory over Munster in the semi-final allowed them the luxury of a home draw for this decider. Despite the accepted threat from a Welsh team packed with quality players, they were also favourites.

The Ospreys produced a vigorous challenge however, with Cheika conceding the better team won.

“They deserved their win most definitely; they took their opportunities when they came. We had some chances, got some goals and we stayed tough as we have all season, but we weren’t able to convert enough points to put them under (enough) pressure and they got the crucial tries in the match.

“We didn’t play well and the key to winning these games is that you must take opportunities when they arise. In general, we had enough opportunities to build pressure but we released them from that pressure through our own fault they took full advantage,” he said.

Holley was clearly chuffed that his charges had the ability and the bottle to take on Leinster in their own back yard and win. “That’s two very good wins on the road, having already beaten Munster, but this was the big one. We knew we had to seize the moment, knew we had to take our scoring chances to beat a quality team like Leinster, and it was pretty satisfying for us in the end.

“As for achievements with this team, this is pretty much up there; it was a special night, I wouldn’t say it was our best performance but it was one of our most courageous,” he said.

LEINSTER never got out of the starting blocks and the Ospreys strolled into a 14-3 lead that could, if Jerry Collins had been more accurate with a pass in the 30th minute, have been greater.

It didn’t help that Leinster lost Kevin McLaughlin through injury on the half hour or that his replacement Stephen Keogh followed him off the field early in the second-half. Leinster had to reorganise their pack by moving Nathan Hines to the back row as Trevor Hogan slotted in alongside Malcolm O’Kelly.

Yet, Leinster got quickly back into the game when Jonny Sexton kicked his second penalty four minutes into the second half; the Ospreys had deservedly led by 11 points following those two superb tries from Tommy Bowe and Lee Byrne, both converted by out-half Dan Biggar and both orchestrated by sensationally good approach work from centre Andrew Bishop as he exposed frailties in Leinster’s normally cast iron defence.

Biggar restored the 11-points advantage with a 47th minute penalty and that held firm until the mid-point when Sexton tacked on another penalty after two minutes of intense Leinster pressure.

After D’Arcy was taken out with a high tackle from Lee Byrne, Sexton added his fourth penalty to give Leinster further hope with ten minutes on the clock.

That hope evaporated in the 76th minute, however, when Sexton blew a golden opportunity to cut the deficit to two points by missing a penalty straight in front of the posts.

When Leinster turned over possession to concede a scrum in midfield three minutes later, the deal was done.

LEINSTER: R Kearney; S Horgan, B O’Driscoll, G D’Arcy, I Nacewa; J Sexton, E Reddan; S Wright, J Fogarty, CJ van der Linde; N Hines, M O’Kelly; K McLaughlin, J Heaslip, S Jennings (capt).

Replacements: S Keogh for McLaughlin (31, inj), C Healy for Van der Linde (48), R Strauss for Jennings (66, inj).

OSPREYS: L Byrne, T Bowe, A Bishop, J Hook, S Williams, D Biggar, M Phillips, P James, H Bennett, A Jones, AW Jones, J Thomas, J Collins, R Jones (capt), M Holah.

Replacements: I Gough for Thomas (61); F Tiatia for Jones (66); N Walker for Williams (70); R Bevington for P James (71).

Referee: C White (England).