Celtic League Celtic Warriors 29 Leinster Lions 22The challenge for Leinster in Pontypridd was as much to sustain their tempo right through the game as to find the level at which they had to compete.
In the latter aspect they succeeded; in the former they fell short for just one brief phase four minutes into injury time, where inventiveness, skill and the bounce of the ball contrived to thieve 84 minutes of good work from this young side.
Instinct had urged Leinster to go and take this finely balanced match in the last 10 minutes, when a draw probably would have satisfied coach Gary Ella. Where a less callow side would have kicked for touch and taken what they could get from a strong Warriors side, Leinster relaxed for an instant and right wing Gareth Wyatt dealt out summary punishment.
Level at 22-22 with six kicks from scrumhalf Brian O'Meara and a nicely taken try from Brendan Burke, Leinster looked, after all the hard grind, like they would leave the valleys with something. Wyatt then turned on his boosters up the right from his own half, contrived a two-on-one with the covering Burke, then chipped the cover. While Gary Brown, in his first Leinster game, raced to the corner, the ball broke wickedly for him and Wyatt touched down for the win.
With a warrior tank in one corner of the ground menacingly pointing its turret at the Leinster dugout, legend JPR Williams and Welsh coach Steve Hansen in the stands and 4,000 opinionated Bridgend and Ponty supporters barking at the referee, the home side needed little geeing up in a fractured game.
"It was start-stop. The most disappointing thing was the referee not getting the support from his linesmen," said Ella.
"Then when the crucial score came at the end, the guys were still chasing the win. I felt we deserved to win at that stage."
Still, kicking dominated the match and after Leinster's poor return last week in that area, O'Meara was almost perfect in a game that lurched along to the tune of Iain Ramage's busy whistle.
Neil Jenkins, doubtful before the match, revelled in the high temperatures. Fittingly, it was he who first silenced the crowd, his first kick in front of the posts squirting wide. Every jaw in the house dropped. From there on he was perfect but with strong discipline from Leinster, he was confined to just three place kicks in the first half to O'Meara's four as Warriors chased 9-12 at the break.
Leinster came back out ready to raise the tempo and when John McWeeney and James Norton punched holes on the right, Burke picked and ran inches from the touchline for the Lions' only try.
Leinster handled the bigger Warriors pack well and went toe to toe. But too seldom did they contrive to supply their wide runners, Burke, McWeeney, Norton, and Kieron Lewis, who always looked dangerous when they got moving.
The try gave Leinster a five-point lead before the Warriors' replacement hooker, Melvin Davis, stole yardage from the fringe of a breakdown and sneaked over for 19-19 with just ten minutes remaining.
It wasn't until 72 minutes that Warriors went ahead, Jenkins firing in a kick for 22-19, O'Meara equalising four minutes later.
Then, with the end in sight, Leinster went looking for the score that would bury the match, Wyatt's hammer blow arriving as they pressed forward into the blazing sun.
SCORING SEQUENCE: 3 mins: B O'Meara pen 0-3; 5 mins: O'Meara pen 0-6; 8 mins: O'Meara pen 0-9; 20 mins: N Jenkins pen 3-9; 29 mins: O'Meara 3-12; 30 mins: D Jenkin pen 6-12; 40 mins: N Jenkins pen 9-12; 48 mins: G Wyatt drop-goal 12-12; 59 mins: B Burke try 12-19; 70 mins: M Davis try, Jenkins con 19-19; 72 mins: Jenkins pen 22-19; 76 mins: O'Meara pen 22-22; 84 mins: Wyatt try, Jenkins con 29-22.
CELTIC WARRIORS: K Morgan; G Wyatt, B Bishop, J Bryant, A Havili; N Jenkins, P John; P Booth, A Joy, C Horseman, D Jones, N Budgett, N Kelly, R Parks, R Bryan. Replacements: C Harris for Kelly 30 mins. S James for Bryant 31 mins. M Davis for Joy 51 mins. B Jones for James 72 mins.
LEINSTER: J Norton; J McWeeney, K Lewis, D Quinlan, B Burke; C Warner, B O'Meara; J Lyne, D Blaney, N Treston, L Cullen (capt), B Gissing, N Breslin, S Jennings, D Dillon. Replacements: G Brown for McWeeney 67 mins. P Coyle for Treston 68 mins. N Ronan for Breslin 72 mins.
Referee: I Ramage (Scotland)
