Leinster 29 Connacht 9:The final margin flattered Leinster somewhat, two late tries by a reinvigorated Gordon D'Arcy putting a gloss on a performance that only really ignited in the last quarter of the match. Up until then the home side huffed, puffed and largely undermined their own cause by overcomplicating patterns and cluttering precious space with too many bodies.
If Leinster wish to play the fast and open game for which they are noted, they will have to offload more effectively in the tackle, run better support lines and basically bring greater awareness to their game management.
Last night's Magners Celtic League clash could be distilled into a battle of the outhalves. Connacht's Tim Donnelly kicked two penalties from six attempts while Christian Warner kicked all seven, five penalties and two conversions, deservedly earning the "man of the match" accolade.
The visitors deserved to eke out a 9-6 half-time lead if only for their scavenging, which earned priceless turnover ball. No one was more effective in this respect than openside Johnny O'Connor.
From one such act of larceny at a ruck they almost grabbed a try. O'Connor pilfered possession, David Gannon and Johnny Muldoon carried and loosehead prop Brett Wilkinson was held up five metres short. Leinster's Jamie Heaslip was penalised for killing the ball but Connacht outhalf Tim Donnelly failed to convert the opportunity. His meagre return of two from four with the placed ball was offset slightly by a smartly taken drop-goal on 37 minutes.
Connacht benefited from an aggressive defence and scrambled to great effect. Right wing Ofisa Treviranus saved a certain try by bundling Luke Fitzgerald into touch; Brian O'Driscoll's low pass caused Leinster's left wing to check and having half stepped inside Gavin Duffy he was bundled into the flag by Treviranus.
Fitzgerald's sharpness created his side's first clear try-scoring chance, the young wing snaffling a restart that bounced, stepping inside a tackler and offloading to Stephen Keogh. Keith Gleeson, Christian Warner and Gordon D'Arcy all handled, the latter being held up as decreed by the television match official.
Indeed in a manner of speaking it wasn't D'Arcy's half. Despite some slashing trademark breaks he was the victim of a dangerous high tackle and in a subsequent play was denied a try when pulled back off the ball. Both offences, the first meriting a penalty, the second a penalty try, were missed by the officials.
Warner may be noted for his handling and running but his kicks, especially his restarts and drop-outs, were excellent, as was his strike-rate, two from two in the opening half and a third eight minutes after the interval restored parity at 9-9.
He added a fourth penalty on 57 minutes but with three quarters of the game elapsed Leinster's attacking gambits were largely individual thrusts.
They crowded the short side, closing down their own space and making it easier to defend. A shallow alignment is fine as long as players run straight and hard; Leinster rarely did. When they did get continuity they rarely looked to offload in the tackle.
Thankfully, the duel between the outhalves was summarily overtaken by a moment of pure skill and wonderful intuition from Fitzgerald. Having fielded a Donnelly punt, he shaped to kick but instead pulled the ball back in, stepped sweetly inside a chasing line and raced 30 metres before linking with Heaslip, who sent D'Arcy scampering over.
Warner converted as he would do on 79 minutes when D'Arcy embellished an excellent performance with a superb individual try.
He took Shane Horgan's intelligent long pass, exploiting the short side to tip-toe down the touchline and stand up Duffy with a waggle before cutting inside and dotting down.
Connacht were hardly 20 points an inferior side on the night but once again in the last quarter they simply ran out of energy initially and then ideas.
Leinster finished strongly, a state of affairs they will need to sustain from the start when the Leicester Tigers come to town next weekend.
SCORING SEQUENCE: 9 mins: Donnelly penalty, 0-3; 18: Warner pen, 3-3; 23: Donnelly pen, 3-6; 25: Warner pen, 6-6; 37: Donnelly drop-goal, 6-9 (half-time 6-9); 48: Warner pen, 9-9; 57: Warner pen, 12-9; 63: Warner pen, 15-9; 70: D'Arcy try, Warner conversion, 22-9; 78: D'Arcy try, Warner con, 29-9.
LEINSTER: G Dempsey; S Horgan, B O'Driscoll (capt), G D'Arcy, L Fitzgerald; C Warner, C Whitaker; O le Roux, B Jackman, S Wright; M O'Kelly, L Cullen; S Keogh, K Gleeson, J Heaslip. Replacements: S Jennings for Gleeson (59 mins); JF Gomez for Wright, B Blaney for Jackman (both 72 mins); C Jowitt for O'Kelly, R Kearney for O'Driscoll (both 75 mins); J Sexton for D'Arcy, C Willis for Whitaker (both 79 mins).
CONNACHT: G Duffy; O Treviranus, M Deane, A Wynne, K Matthews; T Donnelly, C McPhillips; B Wilkinson, J Fogarty, R Morris; D Gannon, A Farley (capt); M McCarthy, J O'Connor, J Muldoon. Replacements: C O'Loughlin for McPhillips (12-31 mins); D Yapp for Wynne (17-30 mins and half-time); A Flavin for Fogarty, M Swift for Gannon (both 49 mins); R Ofisa for McCarthy (58 mins); O'Loughlin for McPhillips (63 mins); McPhillips for Treviranus (77 mins).
Referee: P Fitzgibbon (IRFU).
