Leinster 31 llanelli 25: Brian O'Driscoll on the sideline with a tight hamstring, Gordon D'Arcy and Shane Horgan nowhere to be seen, and you could say this Leinster side were a little shy of their regular cutting-edge players. Still, with the rest of the international brigade, including six who played in Cardiff last weekend, this was not Leinster lite.
What Declan Kidney will take into the Leicester Heineken European Cup quarter-final next weekend apart from the win is difficult to say. Much will hinge on the fitness of O'Driscoll and D'Arcy, but with only a couple of threatening attacking moves of real enterprise last night, he must be concerned about his side's ability to build scores outside of the perfect David Holwell.
The Leinster outhalf and his Welsh counterpart, Gareth Bowen, didn't miss a kick, Holwell slotting nine from nine and Bowen seven from seven. That excellent Holwell cameo and Denis Hickie's 45th-minute try stood out in a match played almost entirely without tactical kicking. Holwell played almost everything to hand.
A spate of indiscipline in the first 20 minutes cost Leinster dearly and forced them to chase the match for the first half. With the lethal Bowen kicking for Llanelli, setting him up in front of goal was something Leinster did not want to do. Still, in that fraught opening quarter the outhalf was gifted three kicks while secondrow Leo Cullen contemplated an early indiscretion from the sinbin.
Cullen's yellow card on six minutes allowed Bowen his first kick for 3-0. Five minutes later holding in a ruck gave him the opportunity for 6-0.
While Leinster moved the ball well in the hand, it was the backrow players Keith Gleeson and an energetic Eric Miller who punched through for the yardage from centre positions.
Leinster's sharpest sequence came on 25 minutes with a counterattack. Girvan Dempsey picked up in the Leinster 22 and put Hickie in space for a break out of the half. From there Holwell kicked into the Llanelli 22 for Felipe Contepomi to chase before the scrambled defence recycled and punted to safety.
The half closed with a delicately executed Bowen drop goal and a Holwell penalty for 9-12.
In the 45th minute Leinster took the lead for the first time when Ciaran Potts' pop-up sent Hickie away and Holwell converted to make it 16-12.
Llanelli's try, which took the sides to 25-25, came from nothing when replacement centre Steve Thomas burst through a space in his 22 and set up a sequence that ended with Garan Evans beating Dempsey and Gary Brown to the chip through.
Leinster emptied the bench, the Irish players all coming ashore as the province controlled the win.
In musical terms, it was Leinster supporters patiently waiting for the big, anthemic number to blow away the opposition and build hope, but what they got was a decent pop tune with a catchy riff from Holwell. More volume and more edge to their game is likely to be needed next week.
SCORING SEQUENCE: 7 mins: G Bowen pen, 0-3; 12: G Bowen pen, 0-6; 17: D Holwell pen, 3-6; 19: G Bowen pen, 3-9; 20: D Holwell pen, 6-9; 28: G Bowen drop goal, 6-12; 32: D Holwell pen, 9-12. Half-time. 45: D Hickie try, D Holwell con, 16-12; 47: D Holwell pen, 19-12; 49: G Bowen pen, 19-15; 51: D Holwell pen, 22-15; 54: D Holwell pen, 25-15; 65: G Bowen pen, 25-18; 69: G Evans try, Bowen con, 25-25; 74: D Holwell pen, 28-25; 81: D Holwell pen, 31-25.
LEINSTER: G Dempsey; D Hickie, K Lewis, F Contepomi, G Brown; D Holwell, G Easterby; R Corrigan (capt), S Byrne, R Nebbett, L Cullen, M O'Kelly, C Potts, K Gleeson, E Miller. Replacements: D Quinlan for Hickie (50 mins), V Costello and B Gissing for O'Kelly and Cullen (60 mins), J Lyne for Corrigan (71 mins), B O'Meara for Easterby and S Jennings for Gleeson (73 mins).
LLANELLI: B Davies; G Evans, M Watkins, M Taylor, T Selly; G Bowen, M Philips; P John, R McBryde, J Davies, V Cooper (capt), A Jones, C Wyatt, G Thomas, A Powell. Replacements: A Gravelle for McBryde (59 mins), S Thomas for Taylor and J Mills for Wyatt (61 mins).
Referee: I Ramage (SRU).
