Leinster look the complete package
Crucially, on this occasion Leinster will be at home on April 30 in the Aviva Stadium, where they have yet to lose a game. Toulouse just about got the better of Biarritz in San Sebastian yesterday after the drama of extra-time in the last of four enthralling quarter-finals.
Ulster suffered a set-piece meltdown in the heat of Milton Keynes and were blown away by Northampton in the end while Munster kept their Amlin Challenge Cup aspirations alive after an extraordinary game in sun-kissed Brive. The Saints will now return to Milton Keynes to face Perpignan who impressed in their win over of Toulon on Saturday.
When Leicester dominated this tournament, winning back-to-back Heineken cups in 2001 and 2002 — still the only side to do so — their mantra was simple: defence wins trophies. Influenced by the World Cup-winning Wallabies of 1999 and under the direction of the market leader at the time in organising defensive structures and patterns, Phil Larder, the Tigers became impossible to break down.
Leinster have now taken that model and enhanced it greatly. They provide a potent mix, the perfect balance between creative brilliance in attach and unyielding stubbornness in defence. Now they are in the perfect position to kick on from here and regain the crown they surrendered in Toulouse last season.
Leicester’s game is built around direct running, pummelling the opposition up front, with their scrum and maul the main vehicle of attack as they grind teams down. On Saturday, they met their match in all those areas but had nothing like the creative edge that Leinster offer.
Given the visitors’ approach the first scrum was always going to be instructive. When Mike Ross got the better of Boris Stankovich to provide Leinster with the perfect angle on the tight head side, an important marker was laid down just as he did when Ireland played England three weeks ago.
In fact there were many similarities between those two contests, the most important being that Eoin Reddan and Jonny Sexton completely dominated their much vaunted opponents Ben Youngs and Toby Flood once again. Sexton was magnificent throughout and when his early penalty sneaked over despite hitting both uprights, you just knew it was going to be his day.
Against Ireland, England second row Tom Palmer was forced off before the half hour mark just as his partner that day, Louis Deacon, was on this occasion. The net result was that the Tigers lineout was exposed with only one real go to man in Tom Croft. Leo Cullen read him brilliantly. In total Leinster won five Leicester deliveries, denying them crucial possession.
In addition, Flood missed a vital penalty kick from practically the same spot on the Lansdowne turf he did in the Grand Slam contest. Such was Leinster’s dominance in the opening half they could have been out of sight at the break, butchering at least two perfect try scoring opportunities. Against a side of Leicester’s pedigree that was a concern because they will always have a period of dominance.
When it arrived, in the opening ten minutes of the second half, they were desperately unlucky not to translate it into points. Alesana Tuilagi produced one of his impersonations of a runaway rhinoceros, swatting Brian O’Driscoll out of his path en route to what looked an explosive try. Crucially, one of those tree trunk thighs scraped the chalk in the in-goal area after a great cover tackle by Sean O’Brien and the try was disallowed.
Minutes later Lady Luck smiled on Leinster when Isa Nacewa delivered a quite brilliant solo try despite the presence of four Leicester defenders to open up an 11 point lead. However there was a blatant forward pass in the build-up from Shane Horgan to Nacewa. Sometimes you have got to ride your luck.
Not that they needed it. For me they were by far the better side and are one of the few teams that can influence a game as much without the ball as with it. In the opening half, their defensive capability was such that even when the Tigers were attacking deep in Leinster’s 22, the home team never panicked, kept their discipline and forced the opposition to concede either turnovers or penalties in the contact area. It was a masterclass in forcing the opposition to play under your terms.
Quite why Leicester chose to start with Martin Castrogiovanni and Thomas Waldrom on the bench was a mystery and both made a big impact upon their introduction. But the damage had been done at that stage. Leinster were magnificent in most facets from the work rate of their excellent tight five — Richardt Strauss at hooker a colossus — to the manic physicality of their back row.
The half-backs and back three were outstanding with Nacewa once again a match winner but the fulcrum of this team comes from midfield where Gordon D’Arcy and O’Driscoll set the tone. As expected, Leicester were one dimensional and direct, constantly sending their biggest ball carriers down the throats of Leinster’s midfield. The dynamic duo however were never found wanting, unwavering in defence and mesmeric in attack despite taking all kinds of punishment.
D’Arcy was laid prone in the opening half after a dangerous blindside hit from Manu Tuilagi while O’Driscoll, despite being run over by the older Tuilagi, still had the energy and awareness to open up the Leicester defence at will. Now they will have their chance to unleash their magic once again against those magnificent free spirits from Toulouse. What a game that promises to be.
ULSTER recovered well from a dreadful start in Milton Keynes, conceding a converted try within two minutes, to lead at half time by three points. However they were simply blown away by the power and athleticism of Northampton in the second half when they failed to register a single point.
To have any chance of winning this one they had to convert every opportunity to register points and while Ian Humphreys delivered on the place kicking front they left a certain try behind them at a crucial point in the second half with full-back Adam D’Arcy knocked on with the line at his mercy. Despite displaying more creativity and ambition than we have seen from Ulster all season they just couldn’t get the score board moving.
They will have to absorb the lessons and respond in the manner that Northampton have from their defeat by Munster at the same stage last season.
Leinster’s ambitions, though, could well be satisfied within a few weeks.
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