Leinster 17 Leicester 10: match report
Read a full match report of the Heineken Cup match between Leinster and Leicester at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday April 9, 2011.
Voice of experience: Brian O'Driscoll made himself heard at the Aviva Stadium as the Irish, once again, defeated an English side Photo: ACTION IMAGES
By Paul Ackford, Aviva Stadium, Dublin 8:11PM BST 09 Apr 2011
Comments
Another fabulous evening of rugby, rousing, competitive and thoroughly engaging. Leinster were good value on Saturday night. They imposed themselves from the start of the match, relying on a set of bristling forwards and the experience of Brian O’Driscoll to quell a Leicester side who ran out of ideas rather than steam.
There are few weaknesses in this Leinster outfit. They scrummage well and the strength of their team spirit is clear for all to see. One fine piece of defensive work by Richardt Strauss when Leicester threatened brought a round of collective high fives and back-slapping which was almost American in its visibility. That kind of trust and affection can carry teams a long way in competitions.
The opening quarter was eerily reminiscent of the match here three weeks ago when England came to Dublin in search of glory. Once again an Irish team set out to attack their opponents at the pinch points. Tom Croft was targeted at the line-out and Leinster had the nudge in the early scrums.
They even had the barefaced cheek to opt for a scrum after they had been awarded a tap penalty. Not many teams do that to Leicester. This one backfired, though. Leicester, clearly incensed at the indignity, shoved Leinster back on their behinds as the Irish province strove to prosecute their advantage.
But there the comparisons ended. The difference between England and Leicester was that the Tigers had greater resolve, greater awareness of what to do to counter the onslaught. Even though Leicester were battered in the open-field collisions, felled and smashed backwards by Sean O’Brien and Strauss among others, they had moments of their own. The best involved Jordan Crane and Manu Tuilagi. Crane drove hard and true at Leinster tacklers, but it was Tuilagi who held up best.
The 19 year-old, on England’s radar for World Cup consideration, was up against the great O’Driscoll yet his first carry saw him bounce O’Driscoll out of the way and another fierce, muscular invention left Gordon D’Arcy dazed on the turf. O’Driscoll did wrong foot Tuilagi in the build-up to Leinster’s best chance of the first half when Luke Fitzgerald overran what should have been a scoring pass from Strauss, but the youngster demonstrated clearly that he was up to the occasion and the contest.
The first period ended with Leinster 9-3 in front, three penalties from Jonathan Sexton to one from Toby Flood. But even here the very act of scoring showed how tight the contest was because Sexton’s second penalty ricocheted off both posts before dropping the right side of the cross bar. Leicester also lost their England lock, Louis Deacon, to injury.
The game moved further Leinster’s way when Isa Nacewa scored eight minutes into the second half. There was a whiff of controversy about the try because there was a suspicion that Shane Horgan’s pass which freed Nacewa was a shade forward. No doubts about the quality of execution. The full-back ran through half of Leicester, turning Horacio Agulla inside out, on his way to the line.
The fact that Leicester had had a try correctly disallowed by the television match official minutes earlier when pressure from a chasing O’Brien forced Alesana Tuilagi into touch by the corner flag did not lift their growing sense of grievance one bit. A wretched penalty miss by Flood which would have cut the deficit to a more manageable eight points did not help either.
Leinster were barely troubled in the final quarter. Leicester tried to crank it up. Thomas Waldron came off the bench for Crane and Martin Castrogiovanni replaced Dan Cole but Leinster simply shifted the admirable physicality and intensity which they showed from the start from attack to defence.
Manu Tuilagi made inroads but when a pass had to go to hand, notably from Ed Slater on one glaring occasion, Leicester couldn’t execute with accuracy.
It was typical of Leicester that they exited the Heineken Cup with dignity, heads held high. Replacement Rob Hawkins managed a late try but, just as it did three weeks ago, the night belonged to the Irish. And with Leinster hosting the winners of Sunday’s hit out between Biarritz and Toulouse, there is every chance of them progressing further in this wonderful tournament.
Team details
Leinster: I Nacewa; S Horgan, B O’Driscoll, G D’Arcy, L Fitzgerald; J Sexton, E Reddan; C Healy, R Strauss, M Ross, L Cullen (capt), N Hines, K McLaughlin, S O’Brien, J Heaslip.
Leicester: S Hamilton; H Agulla, M Tuilagi, A Allen, A Tuilagi; T Flood, B Youngs; B Stankovich, G Chuter, D Cole, L Deacon, S Mafi, T Croft, C Newby (capt), J Crane.
Referee: N Owens (Wales).
brian o driscoll, heineken cup, leicester side, irish province, fabulous evening, photo action, irish team, action images, voice of experience, scrums, rsquo online, high fives, behinds, team spirit, aviva, indignity, greater awareness, scrum, collisions, onslaught
No comments:
Post a Comment