Click here for my pre-match HarpinBoo recording “Sarries, Saffers & Savvy”
NB : Thanks to all who read this post & listened to the HarpinBoo...both got record hits for the blog from countries as diverse as Indonesia, Ukraine & Colombia.
Isn’t it amazing how the same sporting contest can be viewed so differently by different people?
Saracens coach Brendan Venter said in his post-match interview he thought his team were the better by far, and that the Heineken Cup referees were somehow conspiring against him.
After RTE’s presentation of the game’s highlights was over, Tom McGurk went straight to his panel of Brent “Magnificent” Pope and Donal “Tremenjus” Lenihan and asked them what was so wrong with Leinster that they had an 11-point lead cut to just 2.
At fulltime in Sinnots bar on Stephens Green, rugby blogger JL Pagano was pumping his fists in the air having seen his beloved province win on the road in the Heineken Cup rounding off an incredible three weeks that has turned their season on its head. Just goes to show!
Here’s how I saw the match...“London Bokke” had a massive home advantage but only put points on the board which we gave them. Leinster DID make mistakes but always showed the ability to make something happen out of nothing, and when it counted (ie our margin of error was reduced to zero) we called on our own advantage (ie 70+ more games in this great competition) to keep them at bay for THIRTY phases without conceding a penalty.
Sure, I’d be happier if we didn’t concede penalties at any stage, but it was always going to be a physical encounter in the forwards and risks had to be taken. When all was said and done, we came away from an English trip with four points, and I seem to recall exactly seven days earlier we were meant to be overjoyed by another Irish province doing so with just the one.
Maybe, just maybe, things would have been different had Hougaard been on the pitch at the end; his injury was a major blow to the home side. Throughout those last-gasp phases they were clearly outside of Goode’s drop goal range, but the fact remains, we kept them there. And if Venter thinks we WERE committing fouls in that time, I’d ask him why his own players weren’t pointing them out to the ref because it sure didn’t look like they were.
Compare the two tries that were scored. Sarries’ South African outhalf placed a perfect kick into the corner after one of our several breakdown transgressions. Saracens controlled the lineout and began pressing our line. Please note that this was the ONLY TIME they got so close for the entire 80 minutes. Then they had an overlap on the right wing, but if Isa had gone for the ball not the man after Hougaard’s high pass, it could easily have been seven points back down the other end.
Three weeks earlier, when Embra crossed for their first try against us at Murrayfield, they did so in such a way that I feared more would follow. At Wembley, even though the stakes were much higher, I had no such fears as Alex Goode was flinging the ball in the air like he had just clinched the cup itself.
Now look at Leinster’s try. The move started in our own half, after we retrieved our own Garryowen courtesy of Shaggy. With the quick-offload game in full flow our backline executed a move that would have been no different had the number 13 jersey been worn by our waterboy. And we even showed more than just the quick passing…Isa showed both perfect speed and fleet of foot on the touchline to get clear and Jonny10 was no way sure of scoring when he got the ball and used impressive pace & strength to get there.
And though it was a team effort, how fitting it was that Sexton touched the ball down (pic). Having gone on national radio during the week and said how eager he was to resume his kicking duties, he responded to the self-imposed pressure by kicking everything from the tee…the missed drop goal towards the end was ill-advised but his only no-no on the day; he was well worth the MotM accolade Sky gave him.
Naturally the place kick that was key was the one that converted the try. Never in any doubt from the second it left his boot, it may have only provided two points, but what was the winning margin at the end? Given the way Leinster’s fortunes have improved so dramatically since he came on in the 55th minute at the Aviva, surely Sexton now has the inside track for starting against the other, more official team of South Africans in November.
Of course it wasn’t only our outhalf who impressed on the day. Kearney was back to his best under the high ball, Shaggy has clearly tamed the demons that haunted him last year, and our backrow was more than a match for the considerable challenge presented by the Saracens pack.
If there was a black mark to be handed out it would be for Richardt Strauss, for the couple of dodgy darts that cost us serious territory and of course the yellow card offense which came RIGHT after a last chance warning from the ref. If Fogarty is available next week maybe it’s time to give him a rest but if not we’ll need him against Cronin for sure.
But that’s the only real negative I can take from this game, whatever Messrs McGurk & Venter may say. If you had offered me this position for Leinster after the Embra match I’d have taken your arm off, so you can thank Joe Schmidt and all his team for saving your limb.
******
Elsewhere in Europe, Munster fans will feel order is restored after their demolition of Toulon, and no doubt the fact that Dr Phil was one of the vanquished made it all the sweeter. Peter Stringer proved just how invaluable he is to such an extent that you’re left wondering if O’Leary will walk back into any colour 9 jersey when he’s fit again. Key result of the weekend for me, however, was in Biarritz. Ulster’s hammering down there despite arriving unbeaten served as a warning to the other Irish provinces…both must still travel to France in their pools, and Leinster must do so twice, so there’s still much work to be done. Though Connacht will be happy with their Amlin win, I have a feeling coach Elwood will be focused on repeating last year’s win over Leinster at the Showgrounds next Saturday. And finally, congrats to the Leinster A side for their win in Newport to start their B&I campaign, sounds like Andrew Conway and Ian Madigan had good outings.
