LEINSTER SQUEEZE PAST THE OSPREYS
Little to cheer in game decided by place kicks
THIS was what you call winning ugly. Very ugly. It was a tortuous, laborious affair where the scoring was limited to just 10 kicked penalties and eventually fell Leinster’s way coming down the finishing straight.
The nine-all interval deadlock had moved onto a 12-all stalemate entering the final quarter before Leinster finally – mercifully – lifted proceedings above the desperately mediocre and just about did enough to exit deserving winners.
It was grim, but they got there in the end. The key moment arrived seven minutes from time.
Jimmy Gopperth, fresh from racing half the length of the field and nearly releasing the Sam Daviestackled Dominic Ryan following messy scrum possession, slotting the penalty that put the home side into a lead they weren’t to lose.
Ospreys will be kicking themselves over how it happened. Having won a penalty inside their own half, Davies failed to find touch and Zane Kirchner returned the kick with interest.
Then, at the ensuing lineout, replacement Ben Marshall’s hand poached Welsh ball tossed towards Tyler Ardron and they were next penalised for side entry as Leinster looked to counter.
At last, someone had taken a nudge towards the winning line, and Leinster confirmed the victory with a last-minute Gopperth effort from a scrum penalty where Jamie Hagan was the recipient of kudos.
As awful on the eye as this affair was, in many ways this was the perfect win for Leinster.
They will now relish the week’s work ahead on their UCD training pitch before getting a handle on Harlequins next Sunday when the Champions Cup resumes.
They were the better disciplined side here by a ratio of two to one. However, despite some encouraging individual displays from the likes of Jordi Murphy, Jack Conan, Dave Kearney and Fergus McFadden, their combined efforts got stuck at the ruck and the double figure number of possession turnovers around the park won’t have pleased them.
As for Ospreys, short seven players due to Wales hosting South Africa, what a blow consecutive weekends in Ireland can be.
They arrived in Belfast nine days ago unbeaten and leaders after seven rounds. Now, two games later, they have been turned over twice and lost their spot at the head of the table to Munster.
The narrative of the first half was rather uncomplicated, both sides landing three penalties apiece during exchanges that never rose above the mundane.
Offside allowed Davies put Ospreys ahead early on before Leinster struck back with three kicks from Ian Madigan, who was in the wars, falling awkwardly backwards over the heap that was the aftermath of Murphy and Gopperth double-teaming Davies, getting tackled high by Aisea Natoga and then not returning after the break. It was that sort of evening.
Nine-three on 22 minutes was a fair advantage but that was eroded before half-time as Ospreys built phases. Hearts momentarily skipped a beat when Hanno Dirksen slipped by Bryan Byrne and then Kirchner inside the 22, but that opening was wasted.
Again, it was that sort of evening. Davies, though, kicked penalties either side of an even better chance for the visitors to strike for an elusive try. Presented a close-in lineout, they attempted to maul their way over but Ryan lead the resistance and Kane Douglas applied the finishing touches to legally kill momentum and convince referee Marius Mitrea to signal a home put-in for the restarting scrum.
Leinster then needed TMO assistance two minutes into the second half, Alan Rogan calling forward Martin Roberts’ pass to the try-scoring Natoga after he gave Murphy the slip at the fringe of the scrum.
Gopperth and Davies went on to exchange penalties before Leinster, at long last, closed out a miserable match that will only be remembered for being dreadfully unentertaining. LEINSTER: Z Kirchner; D Fanning, F McFadden, I Madigan (G D’Arcy, half-time), D Kearney; J Gopperth, E Reddan; M Bent, B Byrne, T Furlong (J Hagan 65); T Denton (B Marshall, 35), K Douglas (J Murphy 66); D Ryan, J Murphy (R Ruddock, 55), J Conan. Scorers – Pens: Madigan 3, Gopperth 3. OSPREYS: D Evans; A Natoga, A Bishop, H Dirksen (J Matavesi 66), T Grabham (D Howells 62); S Davies, M Roberts; M Thomas (G Thomas 59, S Parry (Otten 59), D Arhip (C Griffiths 51), L Peers, T Ardron, J Bearman (R Bernardo 68), S Lewis (R Bernardo 31-35), D Baker (I Jones 30). Scorer – Pens: Davies 4. Referee: M Mitrea (FIR).