If Leinster coach Leo Cullen did irony it would have been when Ben Te'o was announced as man of the match against Ospreys. The former rugby league player has been moulded and crafted by Leinster just enough for him to up and leave Ireland for a better financial deal with Worcester.
More polished now, the English club are likely to get more out of the Australian than Leinster did. But after a game where momentum swung a number of times as the Leinster defence held, Te’o was unequivocal about the reasons why he is leaving Dublin at the end of the season.
The 29-year-old does, though, see the future as bright with Robbie Henshaw coming in and the quality of Garry Ringrose emerging week by week.
“It was a big decision for me at my age now,” said Te’o. “Rugby league was pulling at me pretty hard. I was thinking maybe it was time to go back. Give it another crack over there.
“That was the first thing, deciding between codes. When I made my decision I was going to stay in rugby (union) then I had to decide about hemispheres. Was I going to go back to Australia and play down there in Super Rugby or was I going to stay up here.
“That’s when it probably turned to a financial decision. Obviously there’s a lot more money in the northern hemisphere. I’m English-qualified, why not go over there and have a real crack, go test myself.
“I was close to staying here but at the end of the day the money is good over there. I got a good offer. I’m getting older now. I’ve got to start banking it you know.”
Scramble
Ian Madigan
kicked five out of six on a tricky kicking day with a cold breeze cutting across the RDS, with Dan Leavy scoring Leinster’s only try in the best move of the day.
Madigan triggered it when he broke centrally and off loaded to the supporting Fergus McFadden. The winger ate up the ground and, as the Ospreys defence tried to scramble to cover, he gave it to Leavy on his right shoulder, who galloped through untouched. Overall it was a good day for Leavy.
Sam Davies also had his kicking boots and for a while at the end it appeared that Leinster might be harshly punished for not scoring more in the first half as Ospreys pressed the territory.
Dan Baker scored Ospreys’ only try midway through the second half when he punched through a stretched Leinster defence, shifting the momentum towards the Welsh side.
It was 19-16 going into the final stretch and despite pressure from Ospreys, the Leinster defence held firm with Te’o adding his considerable strength to that endeavour too.
Undoubtedly Leinster will miss Te’o’s physical presence in the centre and with Ringrose outside him, the two cut very dissimilar figures in terms of their style, Te’o a strong ball carrier, Ringrose a stepping elusive runner.
But with Henshaw arriving Leinster will be filling the hole with a better player than the Australian. That, at least is what the refreshingly candid Te’o believes.
“I’m very pleased they picked up Henshaw,” he said. “I know he has a good relationship with a lot of the guys. He’s a world-class player. I can see a very good partnership for the future between him and Garry. There’s a quality guy coming in so I’m happy and I’m sure the future is strong.
“I think we’re different players. I’d have to say he (Henshaw) was a complete player. I’m still learning the game, different attributes. He’s obviously at a higher level than me. They’re getting in some quality.”
Positive
Right now Leinster are in a good place and just a few points short of first placed Connacht.
Cullen’s view was that a few small things didn’t go their way but the team was “not too far away” and created enough to feel positive even if they didn’t finish off as well as they would have liked. “I think there was a number of momentum shifts in the game,” said the Leinster coach. “There were little things, little inaccuracies but we’re not far away so I thought we created a lot of really good play.
“I thought we knocked off on a couple of occasions. Ospreys did punish us on a few occasions.
“We scrambled back well. There’s definitely plenty to look at from the game.”
Leinster have a break now, time enough for the knocks on Ringrose, Mick Kearney, who was concussed, and Mike Ross, who went down for a while in the first half, to refresh, although Joe Schmidt will be needing Ross.
Leinster next play Glasgow Warriors in Scotstoun on March 17th.
