HEINEKEN CUP QUARTER-FINAL Leinster 34 Cardiff Blues 3:IT'S OCCASIONALLY permissible to luxuriate in the aesthetics before delving deeper for analysis. Leinster's performance for 47 minutes of the Heineken Cup quarter-final at the Aviva stadium was flecked by moments of sumptuous quality, where nonchalant training ground precision was replicated in a more hostile and demanding environment.
The most graphic illustration was Brian O’Driscoll’s try on 33 minutes, a homily to accuracy, timing, angles and sleight of hand. It was picture-perfect from the instant Leinster hooker Richardt Strauss found his captain, Leo Cullen, at a lineout, possession dispatched instantly to scrumhalf Eoin Reddan.
Jamie Heaslip acted as a quasi-outhalf before transferring the ball to the team’s real number 10, Jonathan Sexton; Seán O’Brien held the drift defence. Luke Fitzgerald timed his run perfectly to maximise Sexton’s no-look, beautifully weighted inside pass that sundered the Cardiff defence.
Fitzgerald accelerated through the gap and his offload before contact to the supporting Brian O’Driscoll allowed the centre to scamper over for a try under the posts: an idyllic marriage of conception and execution. The game ceased to be a contest, the only lingering debate the margin on the scoreboard.
There were other aspects of Leinster’s performance during that period that broached the highest standards. The scrum was a corrosive weapon that forced the Welsh side to concede a litany of penalties and free-kicks. The set-piece is an eight-man unit skill but man-of-the-match Cian Healy gave Scott Andrews a torrid time, while Mike Ross discomfited Gethin Jenkins to the extent the Wales and Lions prop wore a perplexed expression throughout.
Brad Thorn’s ability in the scrum should not be overlooked. The New Zealander had a significant impact in the tight and loose, particularly in the tackle and at the breakdown. Leinster’s work in the latter aspect of the game placed huge pressure on Cardiff, forcing them to concede penalties in trying to rescue possession illegally.
Kevin McLaughlin, in his 49 minutes on the pitch, produced a towering performance and there was no diminution when Shane Jennings arrived to marshal Leinster’s defence. It was noticeable how astutely Leinster players used their feet in contact, epitomised by Jamie Heaslip, Healy, Gordon D’Arcy and Rob Kearney.
Sexton’s game management was exemplary, varying the point of attack intelligently and offering a forceful presence on the gain-line. His line-kicking was prodigious, the precision from the kicking-tee, equally commendable.
Reddan’s speed to the breakdown meant Leinster were able to maintain the high tempo they crave and it was an impressive effort from the scrumhalf.
The three-quarter line attacked with purpose, profiting from the quick, front foot ball, served up by the pack. The home side’s ability to repeatedly make half breaks and offload in the tackle makes it so difficult for opponents to scramble effectively in defence.
They conceded the first score of the match to a long-range penalty from Leigh Halfpenny but once they settled into their patterns, they set about dismantling Cardiff’s challenge. Sexton kicked a couple of penalties either side of a try from Isa Nacewa, which he also converted.
Healy made the initial breach and thereafter it was Sexton’s clever change of direction and dummy that allowed Kearney to release Nacewa to run in the try.
D’Arcy’s initial line break, O’Driscoll’s appreciation of a gap and Reddan’s 30-metre run were forerunners to Kearney easing between two defenders to score under the posts.
O’Driscoll’s try was the high point of Leinster’s artistry and when Cardiff conceded a fourth try six minutes after the restart to trail 34-3, the crowd of 50,340 sat back and waited expectantly.
But the sugar rush high of the points-fest gradually dissipated due to a number of factors, primarily the raft of replacements, a little complacency and inaccuracy from the home side and in fairness to Cardiff, a sense of pride and a display of character in adversity.
The longer the second-half progressed the more the fans fidgeted restlessly, having to content themselves with applauding the home side’s defence, which was thoroughly examined in the final 33 minutes.
Leinster coach Joe Schmidt and several players spoke of their disappointment in aspects of the second-half display, a healthy outlook, and there will also be an inquisition into a systems failure at the lineout that dogged the home side throughout the game.
It began as a difficult week for Cardiff and ended as painfully, although in players like their excellent young scrumhalf Lloyd Williams, wing Alex Cuthbert, Bradley Davies, Halfpenny and veteran Martyn Williams, there is a glimmer of hope.
Leinster move one step closer in bidding to become only the second side after the Leicester Tigers to win back-to-back European titles. There will be tougher, more fraught days ahead but on Saturday’s evidence, they are well placed to embrace the challenges.
Scoring sequence: 2 mins: Halfpenny penalty, 0-3; 7Sexton penalty, 3-3; 12Nacewa try, Sexton conversion, 10-3; 21Sexton penalty, 13-3; 29Kearney try, Sexton conversion, 20-3; 33O'Driscoll try, Sexton conversion, 27-3. Half-time: 27-3. 46Kearney try, Sexton conversion, 34-3.
