THE FULL-TIME whistle in Galway last night didn’t bring the kind of finality that we’re used to in Champions Cup knock-out rugby.
Leinster had just won away from home against their inter-provincial rivals but couldn’t celebrate a job that’s only perhaps two-thirds done. Connacht had just lost at home in their first-ever knock-out game in the competition but couldn’t wallow in any kind of self-pity.
It wasn’t even like the final whistle was a flick-of-the-switch moment where everyone started to think about the second leg of this Round of 16 tie. Those thoughts had been creeping in during the second half of last night’s 26-21 win for Leinster.
It all ended with Leinster taking a five-point advantage forward to their home leg at the Aviva Stadium and while they are strong favourites to seal progress into the quarter-finals on Good Friday, it’s certainly not over yet.
Hence the rather unusual feelings when Karl Dickson brought last night’s battle to a close.
“They haven’t been in that situation before,” said Leinster boss Leo Cullen afterwards.
“We knew that would be the case going into the game, even at the end it’s not like the team behind has to chase the game to try and win it, because they know there is another 80 minutes to go after the final whistle.
“That was always going to be the case, it would always feel a little bit unusual. It’s very much game on.”
The hope is that next weekend serves up just as many thrills as last night, which included a brilliant early Connacht try, two sumptuous scores in response from Leinster, a yellow card for the visitors, a momentum-shifting score for the hosts, then Leinster seeing out their win, with lots of tense moments throughout.
Leinster weren’t quite as good as they had been against Munster a week previously in the URC, but then Connacht threw a fair bit more at them than had been the case on that occasion.
On the whole, Cullen and co. should be pleased to come away with a five-point buffer for the second leg.
“We had a little bit of a slow start but that had lots to do with Connacht,” said Cullen.
“They got possession early and pulled us around, played through us, and got in for their try. It gets the atmosphere going. I thought our guys fought back well, some good control and scores in the first half.
“When Jamison [Gibson-Park] gets yellow carded, we lose a little bit of control of the game, down to 14 men, and when it’s your nine it’s always quite difficult and Connacht get in for a try as well.
“In the last 15 minutes we play in the right areas, but don’t really capitalise on the territory and possession we have. We got the kick at the end to go five points into the lead.
“It was a good contest, two Irish teams going hard at it in front of a full house. You could see the crowd, the influence and the pressure that was there, which was a good experience for our fellas to play in.”
Cullen was happy to report that his players came through relatively unscathed in terms of injuries and they may even welcome a few more internationals back from injury for next weekend.
It’s a big ask for Connacht to travel to Dublin and produce an upset, but they took some encouragement from last night even amidst their disappointment.
Captain Jack Carty says he and his team-mates have belief in their ability to deliver something special on the road.
“It’s always been there,” said Carty. “The important thing for us is that Leinster did get two scores ahead there and maybe previously we would have tried to think outside the box and do different things that wouldn’t be what we are about.
“That was one of the few games this year where we stuck to what we were doing and chipped into their lead and managed to pull it back. There were a few opportunities we left behind us.”
