Harlequins 24, Leinster 18: For once, Ian Madigan's boot couldn't save them. The centre landed six from six in another unerring display off the kicking tee but as in Castres and at home to the Ospreys last week, Leinster could have played for another 30 minutes and still not scored a try.
Unhinged at times alarmingly in the scrum, they could have few quibbles about the outcome.
Harlequins’ scored both of the game’s tries and after losing Nick Evans, saw Tim Swiel, their 21-year-old English-born, South African short-term signing, leave five points behind.
Leinster's maul went well, their defence was pretty strong, if a little passive at times, and there were some big carries by Rhys Ruddock and some hard-working displays up front.
But there was insufficient penetration of Harlequins’ defensive line. The home side showed greater assurance with ball in hand, while too often Leinster shovelled it along the gain line and ran laterally, only to find the spaces all closed up out wide.
Three times they turned over the ball between full-back and winger close to the touchline, and one of these turnovers led to the decisive, intercept try by Asaeli Tikoirotuma.
Flattering to deceive
Leinster started strongly, before flattering to deceive, and then responded well to a two-try double whammy by Harlequins nearing the hour.
They had occasionally threatened in the first-half when Jimmy Gopperth, seemingly bound for group rivals Wasps in light of Johnny Sexton’s impending return, attacked the line but gradually he betrayed his lack of confidence by retreating backwards.
For their part, Conor O'Shea's men were galvanised by the return of their English contingent, notably club captain Joe Marler, who transformed their scrum, and Chris Robshaw, who contributed manfully with a huge shift.
Marler did something of a number on Mike Ross in the scrum. It may not always have been legal but it had a ripple effect throughout the match. Accordingly, Nick Easter too had a big game, with 16 carries and 13 tackles.
Madigan opened the scoring to reward multiple recycles (and good carries by Devin Toner and Jamie Heaslip) after Toner had chased down Gopperth’s opening kick-off, before Evans levelled matters when Jack McGrath was penalised for going off his feet
In the ninth minute, there was the ominous sight of the Leinster scrum caving in and being penalised. Disconcertingly for the home side, as in the infamous Bloodgate affair of five seasons ago here, Evans departed early, although this time there was no sign of any exercise bike for the outhalf to keep warm.
A loopy throw by Cronin was palmed awkwardly down by Heaslip to Reddan, who fumbled, and Mike Ross fell on the ball but from an offside position. Evans’ replacement, Swiel, was well off target, but when Madigan failed to gather Mike Brown’s up-and-under, Jérôme Garcès wrongly penalised Jordi Murphy for gathering the ball from an offside position even though the ball clearly went backwards – and Garcès had the 22 metre line for guidance. Swiel nudged Quins in front.
Soon after, Ross was done in the scrum again, but McGrath won a relieving penalty with a good poach and, when Gopperth took the ball to the line, Luke Fitzgerald was on hand to gather the deft offload and pierce the defensive line. Marler went off his feet and Madigan made it 6-6.
In between twice kicking out on the full (once from a restart), Swiel restored Quins’ lead after Garces applied a lengthy advantage, while Robshaw prevented serious damage when reading Gopperth’s pass to Cronin after the outhalf broke from deep when switching to the blind side.
Potent lineout
Swiel’s second kick out on the full led to a potent Leinster lineout maul, which was brought down for Madigan to level matters on half-time.
Leinster withstood a concerted bout of phases from Quins, Murphy winning a relieving penalty with a poach on Danny Care, before Leinster's lineout maul again yielded an unerringly struck three-pointer from Madigan.
“C’mon on you boys in blue” reverberated around the Stoop, as Leinster fans settled into a rhythm, perhaps recalling the way Madigan kicked them to victory in Castres.
Home side regrouped
That appeared to galvanise the home crowd and team alike, Marler opting for the corner rather than an equalising shot at goal.
Although Leinster drove Quins back on landing, the home side regrouped to inch forward and then went through the phases before Easter twisted his frame to touch adroitly, with Swiel converting.
Gordon D’Arcy soon hobbled off to be replaced by Zane Kirchener, with Darragh Fanning switching flanks and Fitzgerald coming into midfield in the reshuffle.
Fanning latched onto a wicked bounce from Rob Kearney’s kick ahead, but when Leinster went wide right a few phases later, Tikoirotuma read and intercepted Kearney’s attempted pass to Kirchener to race 80 metres for an intercept try and a 10-point turnover.
Leinster were in big trouble, and Matt O’Connor rang the changes with a triple replacement by bringing on Kane Douglas, Jack Conan and Isaac Boss for the quiet Mike McCarthy, Jordi Murphy and unusually off-colour Eoin Reddan – temporarily replaced early when groggy and not helped by poor quality ball.
Boss, especially, made a difference as two more Madigan penalties brought Leinster back to within three, but the replacement scrumhalf’s kick out on the full – admittedly after Leinster had gone down cul de sacs to leave him few options – proved particularly costly and, soon after, Care squeezed over a drop goal with a penalty advantage.
That was pretty much that.
HARLEQUINS: M Brown; M Yarde, M Hopper, G Lowe, A Tikoirotuma; N Evans, D Care; J Marler (c), D Ward, W Collier; C Matthews, G Robson; L Wallace, C Robshaw, N Easter. Replacements:T Swiel for Evans (13 mins), J Clifford for Wallace (63 mins), J Gray for Ward, K Sinckler for Collier (both 67 mins), T Casson for Hopper (71 mins), M Lambert for Marler (75 mins).
LEINSTER: R Kearney; D Fanning, G D'Arcy, I Madigan, L Fitzgerald; J Gopperth, E Reddan; J McGrath, S Cronin, M Ross; D Toner, M McCarthy; R Ruddock, J Murphy, J Heaslip (capt). Replacements: I Boss for Reddan (4-11 mins), Z Kirchner for D'Arcy (56 mins), K Douglas for McCarthy, J Conan for Murphy (both 61 mins), T Furlong for Ross (76 mins).
Referee: Jerome Garces (France).
