Conservative Leinster get the job done
Not the sort of words we have come to associate with Leinster this past, well, ever but Matt O’Connor’s side ticked off all the right boxes like a fussy accountant on Saturday night and the numbers duly added up.
Gordon D’Arcy’s controversial 73rd-minute try, claimed thanks to a pass from Jimmy Gopperth that was clearly forward regardless of the IRB’s rules tweaks and the TMO’s thumbs-up, sealed it in the end.
It was a slick move, one of their few on the night in Galway, and one added considerable punch by Jamie Heaslip, who shouldn’t have been on the pitch at the time after a late shoulder charge on Dan Parks moments earlier.
That apart, Connacht, shepherded by 21-year out-half Jack Carty for an hour, tried to play most of the rugby and they claimed the best score with Fionn Carr’s searing finish to a backline move 22 minutes in.
Leinster mostly kicked and kicked and then they kicked some more but they got the job done in a ground where they coughed up five tries last season and against a side which routinely gives them headaches.
Still, it was curious to see a side which has swept through Europe in such style play so conservatively against a youthful underdog and one which O’Connor claimed played little rugby in the meeting at the RDS in October.
“You’d like to look at all the glitz and glamour of coming here and playing the style of rugby you like to play,” said O’Connor.
“But talking to people who’ve been involved in Leinster for a long time, it never happens in Galway.
“We were realistic in relation to what we had to do to get a result. It won’t be too dissimilar to [the Heineken Cup visit to Castres]. It’s all about the four points, it’s all about getting the result this weekend and next.”
O’Connor has done brilliantly since assuming the reins from Joe Schmidt, dealing with the loss of Jonathan Sexton and Isa Nacewa and turning into the New Year with both trophies very much within their compass.
Their win-loss ratio is marginally better than it was 12 months ago and, crucially, their European ambitions are far healthier ahead of the trip to Stade Pierre Antoine and a round six meeting with Ospreys in Dublin.
How they have done it is another thing.
O’Connor made no secret of the fact that defence was a priority when he arrived. It normally is with a new coach, but Leinster had leaked more than they liked last season and Schmidt admitted as much at the time.
The difference there has been apparent, with eight tries less conceded after 16 games compared to last term and the suspicion that such solidity has come at the expense of flair isn’t reflected in the stats.
Leinster have scored only three tries less at this stage of the campaign. Take away the nine they managed in a one-off against Cardiff 15 months ago and the difference is negligible and yet they can clearly do better.
That six-try blitz of Northampton at Franklin’s Gardens aside, they have by and large failed to take the breath away and they go to France next weekend having scored just two five-pointers in their last four outings.
They have had to cope with more squad rotation than others thanks to their plethora of Ireland internationals and Christmas camp but they possess an ability to hang in there till the death regardless of personnel.
That quality was in evidence again here. Trailing 8-3 at the break after a period where they were clearly second best, Leinster reappeared with a tighter game plan and execution and did the necessary.
Sometimes, it takes some luck to get the job done too and the visitors clearly had that in a final quarter which was dominated by Jamie Heaslip whose contract negotiations were for once put in the ha’penny place.
Heaslip was lucky to stay on the pitch after a late shoulder charge on Dan Parks and it was his incision through the middle long before a ten-minute spell in the bin should have been up that established the platform for D’Arcy’s touch down.
“I thought he carried really well in those close channels,” said O’Connor of his captain. “It’s something we’re going to have to look at with Sean O’Brien gone. He was big in those channels and got us good forward momentum which was important.
“Jordi Murphy, Rhys Ruddock and Dominic Ryan all gave us a bit of that. So they’re sharing the responsibility a little bit. They were all very good in that second-half. There wasn’t a bad performance. It was pretty tidy.”
Tidy, that’s the word for it.
CONNACHT: D Leader; F Carr, R Henshaw, E Griffin, M Healy; J Carty, K Marmion; B Wilkinson, J Harris-Wright, N White; M Kearney, C Clarke; A Browne, J Muldoon, E McKeon.
Replacements: R Ah You for White (44); D Buckley for Wilkinson (57); D Parks for Carty (60); T O’Halloran for Leader (67); M Swift for Kearney (70); P O’Donohue for Marmion (71); D Heffernan for Harris-Wright (75); G Naoupu for McKeon (76).
LEINSTER: R Kearney; Z Kirchner, B O’Driscoll, G D’Arcy, D Kearney; I Madigan, E Reddan; J McGrath, S Cronin, M Moore; D Toner, T Denton; R Ruddock, J Murphy, J Heaslip.
Replacements: M McCarthy for Denton (half-time); M Ross for Moore (47); J Gopperth for Madigan; I Boss for Reddan; D Ryan for Ruddock (all 54); A Dundon for Cronin (70); J O’Connell for McGrath; S Cronin for Dundon (both 77).
Referee: G Clancy (IRFU).
Jamie Heaslip staying on the pitch after that late hit on Dan Parks 15 minutes from time which the ex-Scotland 10 couldn’t punish with three points. The No.8 was then pivotal in the subsequent try that sealed the game for Leinster.
Next week. Festive interpros are all fine and dandy but both these sides and their supporters can now look ahead to crucial Heineken Cup fixtures over the next two weekends.
Young Darragh Leader missed two penalties from near halfway within minutes of each other, giving both too much air, but Dan Parks’ missed kick after Heaslip’s hit was more pivotal.
Jordi Murphy. Again. Handed the award a week earlier when he played at No.8 against Ulster, Murphy was switched to flanker here with Jamie Heaslip returning. Massive workrate and carried well.
George Clancy was given a hot reception by the Clan Terrace on his departure angered by his failure to bin Jamie Heaslip and allow the late Leinster try. Lucky for TMO Jude Quinn that he didn’t have to run the same gauntlet, then.
Connacht face Zebre in the Sportsground next weekend as the Heineken Cup returns centre stage. Leinster make the trip to Stade Pierre Antoine in France, where Castres await.
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