Plenty of perspiration, precious little inspiration and a plethora of unforced errors encapsulated Leinster's performance at Stade Jean Bouin. Leinster conceded six tries - three in the last six minutes - five of which came from turnovers. The Irish province could ill afford such extravagance and it undermined sizeable chunks of hard graft in which Leinster defended with great resilience.
Their largesse extended to some woeful tackling and a suicidal tendency to play the ball out of the tackle when it simply wasn't on. Leinster also lacked direction at half-back where both Derek Hegarty and Mark McHugh had afternoons to forget: the three-quarter line malfunctioned as a result and ensured that Leinster were more of a danger to themselves than their opponents in possession.
The gameplan was predictable, Hegarty popping ball to a succession of runners, hoping to batter a hole through the Stade Francais fringe defence. When that failed to make the desired inroads, they tried to move the ball wide, overcomplicating affairs in midfield and denying each other space through lateral running.
The Parisian side in contrast were appreciably more dynamic in possession, particularly outstanding number eight Christophe Juillet, who always appeared to have time in the clutter of contact to link with support runners. The speed with which the French swept onto the ball offered a mark contrast to their opponents. Stade Francais though were facilitated by a Leinster side that spurned two glorious try-scoring opportunities in the first half.
The visitors only trailed 12-6 at the interval, albeit having enjoyed the benefit of a strong wind, and indeed could have led at half-time had Denis Hickie managed to control his fly hack, rather than kick it into downtown Paris following a clever cross kick by McHugh: a try was a fait accompli with a modicum of composure. Leinster, or more accurately Gary Halpin, spurned another great opportunity when the tighthead prop was penalised at a five-metre scum under the posts on a Leinster put-in.
For most of the opening 40 minutes, Stade Francais huffed and puffed, making periodic progress but crucially during this period they scored two tries. The first came on six minutes through flanker Christophe Moni, the byproduct of controlled driving by his fellow forwards, the other on 31 minutes from the wonderful Christophe Dominici.
The little French international wing is worth the price of admission alone, his acceleration and balance breathtaking. He grabbed a brace, the first by virtue of a shimmy and an insipid effort to tackle from Gordon D'Arcy, the second a stunning 55-metre effort that saw him scythe through the Leinster midfield and outpace the cover.
Fellow wing Thomas Lombard also managed two tries: on both occasions he shuffled past poor Leinster tackling. Centre Conrad Stoltz's try eight minutes after the re-start, converted by Diego Dominguez provided the home side with a 19-6 advantage and when the out-half added a penalty on 51 minutes Leinster's hopes effectively evaporated.
To their credit, they refused to buckle but the physical attrition of trying to make the hard yards only to carelessly turnover possession finally told and Stade Francais embellished their victory with three tries in the closing minutes, the pick of which was Dominici's effort.
There was precious little consolation for Leinster save for the performances of the backrow, in particular captain Liam Toland and second row Malcolm O'Kelly whose work-rate was noticeably higher than in previous matches. Leinster host Stade Francais at Donnybrook next Friday night but unless there is an appreciable improvement the result will not differ.
More is required from the three-quarter line but to extract that will require Leinster to bring a greater dynamism to their game. Ruck ball was too slow, pre-planned gambits largely pedestrian and telegraphed, the execution bedevilled by handling errors. Leinster can not afford to lose on Friday, nor can they attempt to offer the same substandard fare as yesterday.
Scoring sequence: 6 mins: Monitry, Dominguez conversion, 7-0; 19: McHugh penalty, 7-3; 27: McHugh penalty, 7-6; 31: Dominici try, 126. Half-time 12-6. 48 mins: Stoltz try, Dominguez conversion, 19-6; 51: Dominguez penalty, 22-6; 75: Lombard try, Dominguez conversion, 29-6. 79: Lombard try, 34-6; 81: Dominici try, 39-6.
STADE FRANCAIS: A Gomes; C Dominici, F Comba, C Stoltz, T Lombard; D Dominguez (capt), C Laussucq; S Marconnet, G De Carli, P De V illiers; D Auradou, H Chaffardon; C Moni, C Juillet, M Lievremont. Replacements: D Patterson for Laussucq 27 mins; F Landreau for Marconnet (halftime); D George for Chaffardon (61 mins); R Pool Jones for Moni (61 mins); D McFarland for De Carli (68 mins).
LEINSTER: G Dempsey; D Hickie, B O'Driscoll, S Horgan, G D'Arcy; M McHugh, D Hegarty; R Corrigan, S Byrne, G Halpin; R Casey, M O'Kelly; D O'Brien, V Costello, L Toland (captain). Replacements: S Forster for Hegarty (58 mins); E Farrell for McHugh (58 mins); A McKeen for Halpin (68 mins); L Cullen for Costello (76 mins).
Referee: G Simmonds (Wales).
