Leinster 25 Bath 11
This was a hugely uplifting performance for Irish rugby.
All his own doing but Leinster coach Leo Cullen has almost instantly created a competitive environment that is comparable to anything the three time European champions have had in the past.
Garry Ringrose showed more glimpses of his phenomenal ability but on this night names like James Tracy, Peter Dooley and Ross Molony also rang out around Ballsbridge.
This provided proof that, above all else, a production line of talent exists to guide Leinster through this toughest of seasons since professional rugby bedded into this country.
Dropping any of them for the journey to Wasps will be genuinely difficult.
The British and Irish Cup has clearly served its recent two-time champions well. By taking the opening 40 minutes in splendid isolation the recent Academy graduates, and three players still listed as part of Peter Smyth’s newly inherited centre of excellence, produced a collective performance of direct, highly-structured attacking rugby.
The RDS crowd reciprocated. As did foreign recruits Ben Te'o, Isa Nacewa and a comfortable looking Zane Kirchner at fullback.
It seemed certain to be a one score game at the turn when Jonathan Joseph, the dangerous counter-running English centre, grabbed Te’o intended pass to Kirchner to gallop 20 metres up the left touchline before a sumptuous inside grubber all but gifted a try for Bath number eight Leroy Houston.
Dave Kearney saved the day. The replay confirmed as much. Inches. Bath coach Mike Ford must have been livid at half-time, trailing 12-3 to the Leinster kids.
But they earned every single point. Tracy looked exactly what he is; the product of several years understudying both Sean Cronin and Richardt Strauss. When he wasn't stealing ball he was flipping a no-look pass or carrying hard over the gainline.
It was 3-0 inside eight minutes after Te'o burst past George Ford fed Kirchner who put the impressively efficient Luke McGrath into open country. Rob Webber cynically failed to roll away so Madigan opened his latest place kicking masterclass.
Tracy was denied a brilliant try on 20 minutes. Mike McCarthy, as disruptive and physical as ever, combined with Tracy to put Nacewa up the touchline before the reliable hands of Tadhg Furlong kept the move alive. Dooley then Josh van der Flier carried hard and straight as everything but the score came off this assault on Bath's notably bigger men.
The key was how Leinster moved them about the pitch, playing at a ferociously rapid pace.
The crowd duly came alive. It was the Leinster rugby they had grown accustomed to but rarely since under Matt O’Connor’s regime.
Ringrose began with glimpses of his natural evasive, gliding style.
One concern is how gingerly he rises after being grappled and twisted in gang tackles.
Ford did level matters but Leinster simply reloaded with Madigan going six, nine and 12 off the foundation of Molony’s really impressive lineout work and Bath’s impulse to rush offside.
Pascal Gauzere had enough of Dominic Day’s behaviour, duly sin-binning the lock on 35 minutes.
Then came Joseph’s sniping breakout but the half ended with Madigan disappearing down the tunnel before his touchline penalty flew through the posts.
Francois Louw didn’t return for the second half, the Bath captain and Springbok flanker shipped a heavy knock.
There were plenty of them going around. Ringrose felt the full impact of a marginally late Matt Banahan shoulder after the latest example of magnificently balanced running from the 20 year old.
Everyone can see it now; that rare gift of a quality footballer, he who senses the space before it even exists. The attack was sparked by Luke McGrath tearing possession from a Bath forward’s grasp deep in his own 22. The Leinster backline quickly moved it wide left with Ringrose taking contract. Yet when they spread it the opposite direction there was Ringrose, again, demanding the ball. He moved laterally away from two attempted tackles before straightening the line in the wide right channel then sending Nacewa on a 40 metre dash up the wing.
As Ringrose tenderly regained his feet, Madigan’s fifth from six penalty attempts made it 15-3.
Cullen felt it prudent, just six minutes into the second half, to replace the entire frontrow and send Tom Denton in for a battered looking McCarthy.
The frontline frontrow of Sean Cronin, Jack McGrath and Marty Moore went straight to work, twisting a penalty out of a disintegrating Bath eight.
But the lack of tries during this fertile period kept the door open for Bath. They forced their way over via Houston a few phases after van der Flier was lucky not to be yellow carded for an early tackle on Chris Cook.
At least Seanie O’Brien had entered the fray. Within seconds he almost started a brawl with the entire English pack. Then he made three typically gruesome carriers, along with a straight dart by Nacewa, to offer Cronin the chance to rumble the last three or so metres.
Madigan made it 22-8.
Rhys Priestland, in for a disappointing Ford, made it 22-11 after Te’o somehow avoided a sin-binning for flipping Joseph beyond the horizontal.
The Ringrose show wasn’t over. He sparked cockles and mussels in the rain after collaring and standing up Tom Homer deep in the Bath 22.
Te’o and the rest arrived.
It ended, interestingly, with Madigan landing another penalty despite the arrival of Johnny Sexton.
It was, after all, a game that highlighted the next generation. And the safe hands Leinster will be left in when the Six Nations takes the internationals away.
Scoring sequence - 7 mins: I Madigan pen, 3-0; 29 G Ford pen, 3-3; 34 mins: I Madigan pen, 6-3; 36 mins: I Madigan pen, 9-3; 40 mins: I Madigan pen, 12-3. Half-time. 46 mins: I Madigan pen, 15-3; 59 mins: L Houston try, 15-8; 62 mins: S Cronin try, 20-8; I Madigan con, 22-8; 67 mins: R Priestland pen, 22-11; 75 mins: I Madigan pen, 25-11.
Leinster: Z Kirchner; I Nacewa (capt), G Ringrose, B Te'o, D Kearney; I Madigan, L McGrath; P Dooley, J Tracy, T Furlong; R Molony, M McCarthy; R Ruddock, J van der Flier, J Murphy. Replacements: S Cronin for J Tracy, J McGrath for P Dooley, M Moore for T Furlong, T Denton for M McCarthy (all 46 mins), S O'Brien for J Murphy (59 mins), E Reddan for L McGrath (66 mins), N Reid for Z Kirchner (67 mins), J Sexton for I Nacewa (74 mins).
Bath: A Watson; S Rokoduguni, J Joseph, K Eastmond, M Banahan; G Ford, C Cook; M Lahiff, R Webber, D Wilson; S Hooper (capt), D Day; M Garvey, F Louw (capt), L Houston. Replacements: R Batty for R Webber
(30-36 mins, half-time), H Thomas for D Wilson, D Denton for F Louw (both half-time), N Auterac for M Lahiff (51 mins), C Ewels for D Day
(53 mins), T Homer for A Watson (64 mins), J Evans for C Cook, R Priestland for G Ford (both 66 mins).
Referee: Pascal Gauzere (France).
