Celtic League/ Glasgow 23 Leinster 30: These two teams will meet again in the Celtic Cup quarter-final in Dublin at the end of the month, thanks to the losing bonus point Glasgow secured. But it would be a brave man who would predict a Leinster victory with any confidence after watching this tight encounter in Scotland.
Leinster's stand-in coach Gerry Murphy is not one of them. "I think if you look over the history of the Celtic league," he said after the game, "the Glasgow-Leinster games have always been tight, with only a score in it either way. We certainly won't be counting any chickens."
In the end, it was a period of sustained pressure late in the second half that led to the decisive score, lock Ben Gissing going over after play had swung right and left and back again, 10 minutes before the end. The reliable boot of David Holwell, whose conversion brought his tally to 15 points, made it just too hard for Glasgow to come back.
Glasgow coach Hugh Campbell identified the second quarter as the point where his team lost the game, conceding 13 points in as many minutes. Among them was a fine move that began when Holwell fielded a clearance from Calvin Howarth inside his own half and spun the ball out to Gary Brown. He linked up with Gordon D'Arcy, who released Girvan Dempsey, who went over unopposed. Leinster went in at the interval 10 points ahead.
But a flurry of scoring in the opening 10 minutes of the second half saw three tries and 24 points registered. After an early penalty for Holwell, Glasgow retook the lead with tries by Rory Lamont and Dan Parks.
The first came from a lineout midway between the Leinster 10-metre line and the 22. Gordon Bulloch made the hard yards, and quick ball fizzed down the line, leaving Lamont time to twist inside his man. The second was an interception of a loose pass from Holwell on halfway.
But before Glasgow had time to celebrate, Kieran Lewis, who had landed two try-saving tackles on the other Lamont brother, Seán, in the first half, squeezed over in the left corner. Parks hauled his side back to level pegging with two penalties. But the visitors discovered some control in the forwards, the crucial try beginning with a rumble from a lineout take by Des Dillon.
GLASGOW: C Howarth; R Lamont, A Craig, A Henderson, S Lamont; D Parks, S Pinder; K Tkachuk, G Bulloch, E Murray, J Beardshaw, D Turner, S Swindall, P Dearlove, J Petrie. Replacements: Lawson for Bulloch (37 mins), Logan for Howarth (52 mins), Beveridge for Pinder (52 mins), Barrow for Henderson (58 mins), Hall for Beardshaw (72 mins), Beattie for Dearlove (75 mins).
LEINSTER: G Dempsey; G Brown, B O'Driscoll, G D'Arcy, K Lewis; D Holwell, G Easterby; R Corrigan, S Byrne, R Nebbett, B Gissing, L Cullen, D Dillon, K Gleeson, V Costello. Replacements: B O'Meara for Easterby (52 mins), E Byrne for Nebbett (52 mins), S Jennings for Gleeson (65 mins), D Blaney for S Byrne (75 mins).
Referee: P Fear (Wales).
