February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
The most bizarre result was Leinster’s overwhelming 53-7 victory over French side Bourgoin at the RDS in Dublin. Bourgoin happen to be one of the strongest clubs in France, and it seemed that the stereotype of French representatives not traveling well had been buried long ago, yet Bourgoin’s performance could only be best described as pitiful.
Surrounded by their own supporters, this bipolar outfit will no doubt be a much more demanding proposition for the return game on Saturday, but last weekend they didn’t seem to be even present in body.
Once Leinster worked it out – and that took about 10 minutes – that Bourgoin’s resistance was paper thin, they ran in seven tries and with a little more composure, the total could have been 10. It was 27-0 at the interval, the rest was simply an exhibition.
“That’s the best the team has played since I’ve been in charge, but we have to be playing like that on a more consistent basis,” said the coach Michael Cheika. “That’s why I’m not over the moon. When I see a display like that five or six times in a row, then I will be.”
At least Leinster didn’t go into their shell once the game was won, and they continued to attack right until the end. With out-half Felipe Contepomi orchestrating matters behind the scrum, 19-year-old wing Robert Kearney caught the eye with two tries, while another emerging player, No. 8 Jamie Heaslip, was also particularly impressive.
The tries came from Kearney with two, Contepomi, Keith Gleeson, Gordon D’Arcy, Heaslip and sub Cameron Jowitt, while Contepomi added six conversions and two penalties for a personal tally of 23 points. Leinster are now in second place in the qualifying pool, three points behind leaders Bath.
If Munster didn’t have it quite so easy against Welsh club the Newport Gwent Dragons, they could still have won more comfortably. The final score of 24-8 yielded just two tries, and with a little more ambition, the winners could have pressed for the two additional tries that would have given them a vital bonus point.
Still, it was an away game that Munster simply had to win to stay in contention, and their achieved their aim with something to spare. Dominant in the forward exchanges, they were 17 points in front heading into the break, and even if the Dragons provided more resistance in the second half, the result was never in doubt.
“We had to play with a little bit of structure, and while it’s not the way you want to play necessarily, you don’t want to play into the opposition’s hands by playing a very loose type of game,” said coach Declan Kidney.
The impressive Ronan O’Gara kicked three early penalties and Denis Leamy scored a try after Mossie Lawlor had opened the winners’ tally with a drop goal. If the dynamic David Wallace wasn’t as evident during the second half, Munster still had enough authority to create a second try for Marcus Horan, which O’Gara converted to make the game safe.
Ulster meanwhile earned a valuable 19-10 win in Belfast over English club Saracens with try by Rory Best one minute from the end the decisive score.
The wet conditions prevented Ulster’s talented backs from making an impact on the game, and instead for much of the time it was Saracens’ powerful pack that was the dominant factor. They led by 7-3 at the interval and with Ulster leading by just 12-10 going into the closing stages, the result was on a knife edge.
A clever kick into Saracens’ territory by sub scrum-half Isaac Boss was superbly chased down by Tommy Bowe who managed to regain the ball and find Best for the winning try. To rub salt in Saracens’ wounds, David Humphreys’ magnificent conversion deprived the visitors of a bonus point.
Ulster have failed to reach the knockout phase since they won the tournament in 1999, but if they can get the better of the Saracens in the return game in London on Saturday, they will edge closer to the quarter-finals.
In the European Challenge Cup, Connacht suffered a 30-20 defeat against Worcester, but are not of the running for a place in the last eight if they win the return game in Galway against the same opponents.
Connacht had tries by Chris Keane and Matt Mostyn, and were looking good to record a bonus point when Worcester’s Drew Hickey raced over a for a try in the seventh minute of injury time.