February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Leinster weren’t first out of the blocks, but they were quickest. True, Swansea were about as useful as an ashtray on a motorcycle, but they had to be put away all the same. That particular errand took Leinster all of 40 minutes, a first-half performance of style and verve turning out to be more than enough to administer a hiding. Brain O’Driscoll yawned his way to two tries, Gordon D’Arcy nipped over for three and it was a miracle that the 37-3 halftime scoreline didn’t mushroom to anything more emphatic than the 51-10 we ended up with.
That was on Saturday night. Earlier in the day, Munster lollopped around Thomond Park with a little of their old majesty, taking Perpignan, 30-21. The day was just a tad nervy and Munster never really managed to open the throttle convincingly. A couple of times they looked like a boat just about to pull out of the harbor, but a minor mistake here, a silly error there and they were snapped back to shore as if somebody had forgotten to untie the rope. There were tries for Alan Quinlan, John Hayes and John Kelly, but there was never really any flourish from Munster. No matter. Saturday was a day for substance; they style can come later.
Ulster kicked off the weekend in a little style on Friday night with a 23-9 win over Cardiff at Ravenhill. On a bitter Belfast night, there was nothing remotely pretty about they way Ulster put their first two points on the European Cup board. It was a night for heft and hustle. James Topping and Bryn Cunningham shivered on the wings as the big boys threw themselves about up front and it was no surprise when a prop, Justin Fitzpatrick took the man of the match award. Not pretty, but pretty effective.
And finally to Connacht. Already winning 26-12 from the first leg of their European Challenge Shield tie against French side Mont de Marsan, they trotted to a handy 47-29 win at Crowley Park also on Saturday. With flanker Johnny O’Connor in tremendous galloping form and Eric Elwood picture perfect with the boot, this was as facile a win as Connacht are likely to come across this year. They now go forward to meet another French side, Narbonne. The tie will again be a home and away affair, with the games taking place in early December.