Leinster 14-13 Harlequins
IT MAY NOT have been an ugly win, but it wasn’t one you would be bragging about to your friends years later. This isn’t the swashbuckling, incisive Leinster of old but the current crop were still good enough to see off a Harlequins side full of game-breakers.
But only just.
Leinster almost got through the game on muscle-memory alone – there wasn’t much spark in attack to get the revellers onto their feet but Leinster have survived enough close European encounters to know how to get the job done.
The mantra from Matt O’Connor and the players this week was basically – a win is our priority, but we want a performance to go with it.
On that front, not a whole lot changed as although Leinster got the four points, errors in attack – especially at the breakdown on their own ball – held them back and almost cost them the game.
But the fact that Quins left the Aviva with a point is significant and Leinster now have a tough battle to get that home quarter-final date in April.
The opening exchanges summed up a lot of Leinster’s problems on the night.
They owned the ball for the first 15 minutes and spent so much time in the Quins half they should have thrown a few Euros to Conor O’Shea for rent.
But Quins ability to deny Leinster was admirable – although Matt O’Connor would have been livid that Luke Wallace and Nick Easter were able to disrupt so much prime Leinster possession.
Three times the visitors were able to poach the ball when Leinster were deep in the Harlequins 22 – on the second occasion it was after Jimmy Gopperth went for the corner rather than the posts and struck the ball to within inches of the tryline.
But as was a feature of the opening half, Leinster’s inability to successfully clear out rucks in a timely fashion allowed Quins to force turnovers.
Quins had a chance to take the lead first though, after Jamie Heaslip insisted on snagging Danny Care at a ruck ten yards in from the touchline despite Romain Poite’s insistence that the ball was not out.
Out-half Tim Swiel – whose kicking was spotty at The Stoop – had another nightmare effort. His kicking style looks like a low golf shot and if he was on the course he would have been bellowing ‘FORE’.
Another effort from in front of the posts just before the half produced similar results, and Swiel’s wild kicks must have knocked his team’s confidence massively.
After turning down one shot at the posts and then Madigan striking them with his first effort, the centre finally produced the first points after the visitors were pinged for not rolling away.
Moments later, a Zane Kirchner kick was carried into touch near the line, and after Quins knocked on from the lineout, Leinster had a platform from which to end their try drought.
They wheeled the scrum to perfection meaning Luke Wallace was unable to stop Jamie Heaslip from popping the ball to Isaac Boss to cross unopposed in the corner.
Another Madigan three-pointer capped what was a mixed half for the home side.
The breakdown was a mess but the centre partnership that produced a huge amount of hyperbole beforehand – mouth-watering! – linked well. Madigan was flying around the pitch firing laser beam miss passes while Luke Fitzgerald’s marvellous footwork had the Quins defence panicking throughout.
And Dominic Ryan must have been a frustrated spectator last weekend because within the first ten minutes he had already shoved two Quins players.
But although Leinster led 11-0 at the break, Quins had actually made more line breaks. Matt Hopper scorched through Leinster’s midfield at one stage while Danny Care met his quota of threatening snipes.
And Quins’ attacking threat continued in the opening moments of the second half. Joe Marler somehow found a buyer for his dummy and raced into the Leinster 22. The move finished with Mike Brown touching down under the posts but after a visit to the TMO, a knock-on was spotted in the build-up and Leinster survived.
At another scrum moments later, Leinster were penalised and Swiel finally ended his torrid time from the tee.
That didn’t serve as a sufficient warning to Leinster and Quins pulled within one after Mike Brown’s try. Hopper made another burst through the Leinster defence and after being hauled down just short, the Quins backs were able to work the ball out to Brown who dived over in the corner.
Harlequins continued to boss proceedings and Jack McGrath was put under immense pressure at the scrum, where he was penalised on a number of occasions before eventually being replaced by Michael Bent.
And the away side were given a chance to take the lead with 15 minutes to go after the TMO ruled that Devin Toner had tackled a man without the ball. Swiel banished his early game woes with another successful effort.
The onus was on Leinster to turn things around – they hadn’t scored in almost a half an hour – and they did, through the industriousness of sub Eoin Reddan.
He sniped out of his 22 and then opted to take a quick tap from the halfway line, which sparked a sweeping move that ended with Sean Cronin barging into the Quins 22.
Nick Easter illegally ripped the ball away and Madigan put Leinster back in front.
There was then a very elongated stoppage and Poite pondered, mulled and considered video footage of a scuffle between the teams. Quins lock Charlie Matthews was sent to the bin for hands near the eyes and Leinster were able to wind down the clock near their line and keep their hopes of a home quarter-final alive.
