Leinser stage an extraordinary comeback to lift the European Cup.
Well, there was I at half time sitting in my shroud of smugness as the game had unfolded pretty much as I’d predicted earlier in the day! Northampton had powered their way to a 22 – 6 half time lead, dominating all aspects of the game, and look set to win this one at a canter.
Smug, but desperately disappointed as our Mexican cousins, for so long the team of the season, didn’t deserve to go out like this. I was getting flash backs, or should I say flash forwards, of them getting mashed by the Turnips next Saturday, for what would surely be a soul destroying end to their season, and it wouldn’t end there! The repercussions would reverberate through to the World Cup with Ireland getting humped by the USA in the opening round in a vision so vivid I could see the [even smugger] grin on O’Sullivan’s face as he conducted his post match interview.
Yep, the cataclysmic fallout from this game would be earth shattering for Irish Rugby, it really would be their day of Rapture, but what the hell, at least I’d got my prediction right!
Northampton had powered into their first half lead with tries from Dowson, Foden, and Hartley with Myler taking time out from controlling the game, to add two conversions and a penalty. The English side were dominating all aspects of play and their scrum was phenomenal. Leaving aside my natural empathy for the Ladyboys, I must admit I was purring with delight at scrum time as the much maligned restart looked to regain its rightful place as the most potent attacking weapon on the field. A potent weapon of such dominance that it provided Northampton with an almost unlimited supply of go forward ball.
Tonga’uiha, Hartley and Mujati were giving Healy, Strauss and Ross the spanking of their life and it looked like there would be no respite as Mercey came on for the binned Mujati and continued to serve the Leinster front row their asses for his ten minute stint.
As the clock ticked down to half time there simply looked no way back for Leinster, sure they might make a bit of a comeback, towards the end of the second half as Northampton tired, but by that stage the English side would be out of sight.
Northampton’s dominance of the first half made Leinster’s second half performance all the more remarkable and the Dublin outfit can now take their rightful place as the European team of the season.
Leinster’s out half Johnny Sexton received all the plaudits for the extraordinary reversal, bagging a 28 point haul made up of two tries, three conversions and four penalties to add to Nathan Hines decisive try, but my praise goes to the pack who turned the game on it’s head with the complete turnabout of their first half capitulation. What was a huge weakness became a great strength and Leinster on the front foot were a different animal producing the greatest display of total rugby since Larne V’s total destruction of an international stacked Dutch side, The Hague, in 1994. Yep, it was that good!
Heaslip and O’Brien became potent attacking forces punching holes for O’Driscoll, Sexton and Nacewa to exploit as first Reddan and then Boss upped the tempo of the game. Even the hapless D’Arcy, a forlorn figure in the first half, looked like the cutting centre of old coming close to adding a try of his own.
Northampton had no answer in the face of such onslaught, their plight encapsulated on the face of a bruised and bloody Wilson late in the game, and it’s hard not to feel some sympathy for them after two such thorough workings over in the last two weeks.
Leinster on the other hand, having been crowned the Champions of Europe, must now face Munster next weekend to see if they are the best team in Ireland!
I suspect they are – now how’s that for a prediction?
Leinster (6) 33. Tries: Sexton (2), Hines Cons: Sexton (3) Pens: Sexton (4)
Northampton (22) 22. Tries: Dowson, Foden, Hartley Cons: Myler (2) Pens: Myler
Leinster: Nacewa; Horgan, O’Driscoll, D’Arcy, Fitzgerald; Sexton, Reddan; Healy, Strauss, Ross, Cullen (capt), Hines, McLaughlin, O’Brien, Heaslip. Replacements: Harris-Wrigh , H Van der Merwe, Wright, Toner, Jennings, Boss, Madigan, McFadden.
Northampton: Foden; Ashton, Clarke, Downey, Diggin; Myler, Dickson; Tonga’uiha, Hartley (capt), Mujati, Lawes, Day, Clark, Dowson, Wilson. Replacements: Sharman, Waller, Mercey, Sorenson, Easter, Commins, Geraghty, Ansbro.
Referee: Romain Poite (France)
Attendance: 72,456
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5 Responses to “Heineken Cup: Leinster 33 Northampton 22”
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I said after the Ulster leinster game I feared for the leinster scrum if the saints were allowed to “bore” in the scrum which they did with the full blessing of monsewer Poite in the first 40 minutes . Exactly what happen at half time they did not continue in the same vain is a matter of speculation. Maybe Cullen’s words of indignation after the third scummage penalty against leinster in the first half had an effect ? Similarly leinster may have benefited from the fact their were fewer scrums in the second half and they had forced the Saints to play the game going backwards . A big heavy bully pack never play or look good running towards their own goal line
I will confess a certain sympathy for the Saints on Sextons second try which was achieved with a well executed crossing/ blocking by Heaslip. That said, of course, the real joy was to hear the English pundits eat the humble pie and to see the total dismay on the faces of the Saints players.
Of course the English press will make the usual excuses of a hard season- the game the week before Irish teams built round foreign players etc and while they continue to do so fail to recognise that what is actually wrong is the nature of the game they play which is based on big packs/ slow ball/ and the neglect of creative back play –
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Apart from that doyen of rugby hacks ie ”John at the FRU” , I think Liam Toland ( Irish Times) provides some of the best analyses of matches. Eg this article on Leinster’s secomd half revival on Saturday.
Ross turns tide for Leinster to get out of tight spot
writes LIAM TOLAND
AS I stood 12 rows from the touchline on the half-way line I realised I was no longer a fan but a living participant in a match that had me exhausted emotionally and physically. Elbow’s One Day Like This had played and the players had returned to their sanctuary. I wanted to stand there on my own allowing the emotions flow through me and simply “be”.
I’ve been to many occasions in the past such as Lansdowne Road in 1991 and Gordon Hamilton’s try in the corner against Australia, or even Croke Park and Clare’s massive second win in three years in 1997 but nothing compares to the Millennium Stadium on Saturday night, or as Elbow sang, “Oh, anyway, it’s looking like a beautiful day.”
The Leinster lap of honour was long past and Northampton’s James Downey strolled past with his colleagues. Deep down I felt for him and his Irish team-mate Roger Wilson. Downey looked shell-shocked and I know at 30 his long-winding journey would have made Saturday a massive victory.
But something struck me that even deeper in his soul he would have given anything to be in the blue of Leinster amongst his brethren. It has been a long time since I was in a dressingroom and longer still since the Leinster dressingroom. Leo Cullen’s, Gordon D’Arcy’s, Brian O’Driscoll’s and Shane Horgan’s journeys date back to then, but there is no comparison to that era. Everything Europe could throw at this team was thrown and nothing could quell their quest for glory. Magnificent.
I’m not sure if it was Rocky III or IV but what Mike “Rocky Balboa” Ross achieved at scrum time was extraordinary in both the physical and the mental to intellectualise his way out of a hammering. From the off Northampton had several tricks from their front three and their back three. The scrum was to be a powerful determining factor of the game. I had felt Northampton might dominate but only just. Either way their assets outside the scrum were sufficiently limited to cause little scoreboard damage. It appeared to me that Soane Tonga’uiha and Dylan Hartley were intent on giving their number eight Wilson every advantage by targeting Ross. The importance of Ross’ hit and bind was crucial.
On the face of it Ross was unable to lock Tonga’uiha into position using his head and right arm therefore allowing the giant Samoan the latitude to move. The Northampton loosehead was able to lower the height to suit himself, swivel his bottom out with his powerful head and shoulders targeting Ross’ inside shoulder and chest. On the call Tonga’uiha was heading for Richardt Strauss and powering upwards through Ross.
Meanwhile Hartley was maximising the pain Ross was under, which brings the solution into focus. Scrummaging is a unit skill and a horrible chain reaction can occur elsewhere in the unit, but it is always the tighthead who gets hammered. The extent of Strauss’s injury may not have assisted Ross when he needed him and Cian Healy had his hands full.
Ross needed his frontrow mates like never before but he also wanted his mates further out to stop dropping the ball. There were 18 scrums, the majority in the first half when the Northampton blood was up and energy tanks full. This system requires the Northampton backrow to be violently committed, as Tonga’uiha’s body position can take him away from his secondrow.
Half-time came and went and the next scrum was to be crucial. Muscle does have a memory but Ross’ intelligence went beyond that. He now entered the scrum anticipating the Tonga’uiha system and did much to nullify it by dropping his shoulder and targeting Hartley, twisting his body inwards, old-school style and extremely wearing; a huge physical sacrifice. Tonga’uiha was tiring and crucially their backrow, buoyed by the first half made the fatal error – they nodded off, quit scrummaging and depowered Tonga’uiha.
The role of the scrum is obviously to restart the game but the more subtle role is one of team morale. Northampton built their 22 points on the scrum dominance, but in doing so they also tested Leinster’s resolve and when Leinster made changes to neutralise them Northampton were rudderless and powerless.
To that first half where the Saints were on fire. Their first-up tackles were ferocious, electing to hammer the Leinster ball carrier, providing ample turnovers in Leinster’s attempt for multi-phase rugby. Again Northampton kept numbers to a minimum at the breakdown which gave Leinster glimpses of light through Romain Poite’s whistle and great steals.
If the Saints defence was ferocious Leinster’s was unusual. For some reason they elected to employ a very aggressive 45-degree angled drift ignoring Saints outhalf Stephen Myler in anticipation of their back three attack. I counted nine missed tackles on Leinster inside shoulders in the first half. Four of them occurred on the way to Northampton’s opening try.
Myler made hay while Leinster figured out the evolving tactics. So much went down his channel in this period, including himself. It was high-tempo, precise, but basic cup stuff and the Saints were flying. But again the breakdown gave Leinster a way back in. Wilson made a great break off a 12th-minute scrum to be pulled down by Heaslip for Seán O’Brien to gain a powerful turnover and Leinster’s first points.
More was to follow on 23 minutes with a brilliant off-the-top lineout from Cullen with the play of the day. The brilliant Eoin Reddan switched with Horgan and off he went before finding O’Brien with O’Driscoll flying on to his shoulder. O’Driscoll had struggled to find his pace in defence but his lines were still there. An omen for the second half perhaps?
Man-of-the-match Jonny Sexton cranked it up in the second half and all it took was 16 minutes and 30 seconds to redress the failings and gain advantage. But Ross, Healy and Strauss deserve to share the spoils. Strauss was stuck to the ball which thankfully Cullen achieved from a late loose pass. Shane Jennings was on to bring balance to the backrow, freeing O’Brien to batter some Saints.
The Leinster tempo was up, running, limited scrums, hard running onto the ball – Strauss take a bow (33 metres v Hartley’s four). As the Saints captain strolled off the park with 12 minutes left my mind turned to the old school and the delight it brings to think of what Cullen, D’Arcy, O’Driscoll and Horgan, Jennings, Johnny O’Hagan, Jason Cowman, Professor Tanner, Emmet Farrell and many more have achieved in blue of Leinster.
Europe threw everything at you alright.
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Bit too wordy for my liking.
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Did you need to get out the dictionary for the big words?
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Ha! Welcome back Tighty – your cutting wit has been missed!
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