MAGNERS LEAGUE Leinster 19 Ospreys 13:THE OSPREYS came with serious intent and had more than enough territory and chances to have pushed Leinster even closer, but though there were warts in the performance coach Michael Cheika will have been glad of this stiff examination. In a game graced by a try of stunning quality and plenty of grit, to the delight of a 15,000-plus crowd Leinster ended the Ospreys' unbeaten start and preserved their own.

A highly entertaining contest ebbed and flowed, though Leinster were obliged to defend close to their line for long stretches. They won by dint of their defence and perhaps most of all their work in contact and the collisions, turning defence into attack repeatedly by counter-rucking with gusto.

The return of Leo Cullen coincided with plenty of grunt up front, typified by the hard-working Bernard Jackman and Stanley Wright. Jamie Heaslip had a big game too and there were glimpses of young Seán O'Brien's serious talent. Chris Whitaker was a calm hand on the tiller and Girvan Dempsey, typically faultless, looks like he's had another rejuvenation.

But there was lots for Cheika and co to ponder. The scrum struggled on the tight side off Leinster's own put-in - thereby limiting scope off the base for Heaslip - and a few holes appeared in the midfield defence.

The penalty count again went heavily against them and Isa Nacewa gave a mixed bag of a performance at outhalf. His experience of the ELVs has led him to kick plenty, and he's possibly not as two-footed as he thinks, but his class shone through by the end.

Worryingly though, he was headed after the game for an X-ray on a suspected broken arm.

From the off, Leinster put themselves on the back foot by bringing the kick-off into their own 22 for Nacewa to kick out on the full, and James Hook missed a drop goal after a great snipe by Rhys Webb.

A strong tackle by Cullen and good counter-rucking by O'Brien, Wright and Heaslip lifted the early pressure and a burst by O'Brien and a counterattacking chip and catch by Dempsey had them knocking on the Ospreys line.

Out of the blue though, Lee Byrne found a gaping hole in the Leinster line from a lovely flat pass by Hook and though he was collared short of the line, a couple of recycles later, with Nigel Owens playing advantage to the Ospreys, Hook nonchalantly landed a drop goal.

Just as suddenly though, Leinster pulled out a stunning try from broken play. Nacewa was the catalyst, catching his own up-and-under, and a skip pass off the recycle by Brian O'Driscoll freed Contepomi up the left touchline. A sweetly timed exchange of three flat passes between Contepomi and Luke Fitzgerald took out three defenders in turn for Fitzgerald to round the posts off the Puma's second inside pass to him.

A penalty by Hook inspired the Ospreys to lift their intensity and by half-time Leinster had lost their way a little.

Reinforced after the break by Shane Jennings and Malcolm O'Kelly, back came Leinster, a delicate reverse pass by O'Driscoll to Nacewa on the loop threatening to open the Ospreys up, but Ronnie McCormack couldn't hold on to Stan Wright's offload with daylight to the posts.

A strong tackle by Whitaker on Ryan Jones off the base of an Ospreys scrum and counterrucking by Jennings enabled Contepomi to make it 10-6 before Ospreys laid siege again.

A huge double hit by Wright and O'Driscoll on Nikki Walker typified Leinster's resistance and a rugby league-style passage ended with Hook's grubber being covered by Dempsey.

An angled kick over Tommy Bowe by Nacewa - Owens over-ruling his touchjudge in decreeing the Ireland wing had touched the ball - was a bit of a turning point.

The Leinster pack eked out hard yards off O'Kelly's clean take and Heaslip punched over the gain line for Contepomi to extend the lead after Ian Evans rolled the wrong side of the ball.

Cian Healy just lost control of the ball reaching for the line but the Ospreys attempts at catch-up from their own line led to successive drop goals by Nacewa off turnover ball before Leinster's concentration lapsed in the last minute.

Kearney should have made sure of the tackle rather than going for the big hit on Hook after his own kick-ahead; the Ospreys outhalf slipped free and moved the ball on to Byrne. Nikki Walker took a superb line from inside halfway on to the fullback's short pass, accelerating past Stephen Keogh on the outside and breaking Nacewa's tackle to score. Hook nailed the touchline conversion.

The anti-climactic mood in the crowd was palpable, and Leinster will reproach themselves for letting Ospreys in for a bonus point, but it was a good night's work.

SCORING SEQUENCE:22 mins: Hook drop goal 0-3; 26: Fitzgerald try, Contepomi con 7-3; 29: Hook pen 7-6 (half-time 7-6); 55: Contepomi pen 10-6; 75: Contepomi pen 13-6; 76: Nacewa drop goal 16-6; 79: Nacewa drop goal 19-6; 80: Walker try, Hook con 19-13.

LEINSTER:G Dempsey; S Horgan, B O'Driscoll, F Contepomi, L Fitzgerald; I Nacewa, C Whitaker; R McCormack, B Jackman, S Wright; L Cullen (capt), D Toner; C Jowitt, S O'Brien, J Heaslip. Replacements: M O'Kelly for Toner, S Jennings for O'Brien (both 48 mins), C Healy for McCormack (59 mins), S Keogh for Jowitt, R Kearney for Horgan (both 68 mins), J Fogarty for Jackman (76 mins).

OSPREYS:L Byrne; T Bowe, S Parker, A Bishop, N Walker; J Hook, R Webb; D Jones, H Bennett, A Jones; A-W Jones, I Evans; J Thomas, S Tandy, R Jones (capt). Replacements: R Wells for Webb, F Tiatia for Tandy, P James for A Jones (all 56 mins), I Gough for A-W Jones (61 mins), A Jones for D Jones (63 mins), E Shervington for Bennett (68 mins), D Biggar for D Bishop (71 mins).

Referee:Nigel Owens (WRU).