Leinster get hell of a battle

Leinster 19 Castres 7

Any notions that the visitors would adopt a laissez-faire attitude to proceedings were quickly dispelled in the early stages of this absorbing and brutal contest.

Despite their lowly position in the Top 14 and wretched away form so far this season, Castres turned up in Dublin for a fight; and a fight Leinster well and truly got.

Led by the superb all-South African backrow of Jan Bornman, Pedrie Wannenburg and Antonie Claassen, Castres set about frustrating Leinster for the duration of the contest.

A losing bonus point was the least they deserved for their efforts and head coach David Darricarrère will have painful memories looking back on the final 20 minutes where his side were forced to play with 14 men after two mindless sin-binnings while ex-Ulster flanker Wannenburg was millimetres short from touching down late on.

Leinster, for their part, were very much the masters of their own malaise. The aggression and intent was present in spades, but the three-time Heineken Cup champions lacked accuracy at the breakdown, produced a host of unforced errors and generally forced the killer pass on far too many occasions.

The Gopperth-Madigan debate is far from over based on the Kiwi’s inconsistent display. The former Wellington Hurricanes fly-half kicked his goals and generally ran proceedings efficiently. However, there was some clumsy play from the incumbent Leinster number 10 which included a sloppy pass into touch, a wayward intercept — that could have proved costly — and a restart that failed to make 10 metres.

Just before kick-off, the crowd were informed by the stadium’s PA that the main clock was broken and regularly had to update the RDS faithful of the correct time throughout the contest. It was not a good omen. Leinster never really ticked into life either, save for the attacking blast of phases that led to Jack McGrath’s crucial touchdown on the hour mark.

For all their possession and territory, Leinster continued to invite Castres into the contest with their ineffective attack and high error-count.

The home side appeared to be cruising after half an hour. Matt O’Connor’s troops looked in complete control with the likes of Sean O’Brien, Jamie Heaslip and Cian Healy breaking the gainline on countless occasions while Gopperth and his fellow backs looked primed to breach the Castres line before the break.

Then, it all went awry. The ease at which Claassen created the space for Rory Kockott to touch down in the left corner was greeted by stunned silence in the 18,540-strong crowd.

“The first-half try was disappointing from everyone’s perspective,” said O’Connor.

“But it was the only one they got and the only opportunity they took. So from that end we were pretty pleased. The boys worked pretty hard to get more numbers around in those opportunities and thankfully we solved them.”

Nonetheless, his team are top of Pool One and, crucially, have overcome Ospreys and Castres in the opening two rounds.

Plenty of positives, but plenty to work on for the crucial double-header against Northampton in December.

“We wouldn’t be completely happy with that performance,” said the Leinster boss on the hard-fought win.

“There’s growth in our game, especially with the ball. But we’ll tick those boxes as we come to them and keep working hard in training. Hopefully it doesn’t rain next week!”

Saturday’s opponents were game, but never looked like they would steal victory.

Alas, Leinster kept inviting them back into the contest and were incredibly fortunate not to concede a late bonus point. That solitary point, which eluded the visitors, may prove crucial in the final standings of this pool.

“That’s the way they approach the game,” said O’Connor on the visitors’ never-say-die attitude in Dublin.

“If you give them an opportunity, they’ll have a genuine crack. If they get something out of it, they’ll go hard at you again.”

Certainly, the spine of Leinster’s attack has suffered with the departures of Jonathan Sexton and Isa Nacewa not to mention Brian O’Driscoll’s injury-enforced absence while the pack sorely missed the calming influence of Leo Cullen. The inexperience of this young squad told and, for a while, it seemed like Leinster had dug themselves into an almighty mess. They did rally, though, and this victory will hold them in good stead for the challenges ahead.

“We lost our way a little bit [out] there,” O’Connor offered. “We wrestled it back though. [McGrath’s] try was enormous from a mentality perspective and the scoreboard obviously.

“And that was the difference.”

Small margins on the day; the return fixture at the Stade Pierre Antoine in January promises to be one hell of a rematch.

LEINSTER: R Kearney; F McFadden, B Macken (L Fitzgerald 52), G D’Arcy (I Madigan 68), D Kearney; J Gopperth, I Boss (E Reddan 47); C Healy (J McGrath 54), S Cronin (A Dundon 74), M Moore (M Bent 63); D Toner, M McCarthy (Q Roux 54); K McLaughlin (R Ruddock 69), S O’Brien, J Heaslip (capt).

CASTRES: B Dulin; R Martial, R Cabannes, R Lamerat, M Evans (G Palis 28); R Tales (capt), R Kockott (J Tomas (55); M Lazar (S Taumoepeau 28), B Mach (MA Rallier 47), A Peikrishvili (K Wihongi 45); R Gray, R Capo Ortega (C Samson 47); J Bornman, P Wannenburg, A Claassan.

Referee: Greg Garner (England)