Heineken Cup Review - Northampton Saints 7 - 40 Leinster

The prediction game is a dangerous one to play.  I occasionally land on the money, and loudly crow on about it for weeks after it, but most of the time – especially in the Heineken Cup – I couldn’t predict tomorrow morning.  But I did feel a little confident about Saturday’s match between Northampton Saints and Leinster.  After all, both sides were looking in decent nick domestically, were both stuffed full of international stars and their last game – the 2011 final – was an absolute belter in which both sides showed real competition pedigree.  What other sensible projection could there be, aside from another bum-clenchingly close encounter?

Perhaps I, and everyone at Franklins Gardens, should have seen the ominous sign as experienced full back, James Wilson (who is also a very competent wing and centre), was forced to withdraw in the warm up, forcing Ken Pisi into the 15 shirt.  Now, don’t get me wrong, Pisi junior is a great little winger, but if anyone can remember the unfortunate experience his older brother George when forced to play in that position a couple of years ago, they would have known that the lack of experience at the back could be costly.  Perhaps nobody though realised how costly it would be, and how quickly it would prove to be so.

It took precisely one minute for Pisi to make his first balls up.  After taking a relatively simple catch from a testing high ball by Ian Madigan, the Samoan called the mark and promptly dropped the ball from the tap, gifting the men in blue a scrum.  It then got worse, far worse, for the Saints, as the ball was shipped to Brian O’Driscoll, who dabbed a delightful grubber behind the hosts’ defence.  Pisi failed to gather under pressure from Rob Kearney; Luke Fitzgerald did not, diving over in the corner.  A wonderful touchline conversion from Ian Madigan gave the Irishmen a 7 point lead.

It was a terrible start for the hosts, but it was a moment of trademark inspiration from the legendary O’Driscoll.  And after I’d loudly claimed before the game that it’s been a good couple of years since the great centre dominated a game and that he was probably ‘past it’, I was starting to feel a little silly.  But I felt like a complete buffoon just 5 minutes later when Leinster again laid siege to the Northampton line, hammering on the right through Sean O’Brien and Jamie Heaslip, before flinging it left where O’Driscoll outrageously flung the ball between his legs to Fitzgerald via Rob Kearney, who stepped passed Jamie Elliot to touch down for his second. 

Northampton were in disarray, and even their attacking game was failing against the wall of blue.  Luther Burrell was the sole yard-maker of note for the hosts, and with Pisi and George North guilty of knock-ons in promising situations, they simply get the momentum that is so key to their game.  Leinster, on the other hand, were utterly rampant.  After O’Brien and the magnificent Sean Cronin had once again smashed through tackles around the fringes, Rob Kearney drew in three defenders to give Heaslip a relaxing stroll to the line.

This certainly wasn’t in the script.  After Madigan’s conversion, it almost seemed inevitable that the 3-time champions would pick up the bonus point before half-time, and they duly delivered with Eoin Reddan selling a dummy by the breakdown after strong carrying by Mike Ross, skating past Elliot to claim his side’s 4^th try.  The score was 26 – 0 at halftime.  The fortress of Franklins Gardens had been well and truly sacked.

Perhaps the only crumb of comfort that Northampton could take into the break was that they couldn’t play any worse – lethargic and blunt in attack, porous and indecisive in defence.  Perhaps there was also the knowledge that the last time the two sides played each other, it was very much a game of 2 halves, with Leinster overcoming a seemingly impossible deficit – perhaps Saints could pull a role-reversal?

Er, no.  Not by a long way.  Leinster may have taken 20 minutes to add to their tally but they were still rampant in attack, if a tiny bit clumsy when it came to finishing – but that is seriously nitpicking.  Hooker Cronin’s superb arcing (yes, arcing) break looked to have lead to another Fitzgerald try, but the pass was forward, before Reddan knocked on with the line ahead of him when O’Driscoll burst through and Fitzgerald passed back inside.  And when the try did eventually come, it was no surprise that it came from the veteran centre, picking off an entirely predictable pass from Dominick Waldouck to dot down for try number 5.  Leinster could, and perhaps should, have had 50 points on the board by now – instead they had to 'settle' for 33 – 0 on the 60 minute mark.

Saints, to their credit, did show some semblance of a backbone as they clawed their way up to the Leinster line, largely thanks to some gutsy carries from Burrell, Courtney Lawes and Tom Wood.  Eventually the pressure yielded a yellow card for substitute hooker Michael Bent, and a cheeky try for Lee Dickson, who scrambled under a pile of bodies for what was really just a consolation score.  It was ballsy from Northampton, but they remained comprehensively outclassed for the remainder of the match, and it was the visitors who fittingly had the final word with Gordon D’Arcy and Zane Kirchner combining beautifully to pop Luke Fitzgerald in for his hat-trick.  The final score was 40 – 7 to the visitors.

This was a mesmeric, phenomenal and terrifyingly good display from Leinster.  It’s impossible to comment on Northampton’s performance because they were so comprehensively outclassed, but it isn’t an overstatement to say that this was a performance to remind Europe that they will stop at nothing to get their trophy back.  Note to self:  Leinster are still the real deal.  Brian O’Driscoll is still the main man.  Stop making predictions.

 

What else was happening in the Heineken Cup over the weekend?

Cardiff Blues 29 – 20 Glasgow Warriors:  Cardiff picked up a handy home win against Glasgow with young fly half Rhys Patchell scoring.

Castres 15 – 9 Ospreys:  The reigning French champions made heavy work of their game against the Ospreys but eventually picked up a home win that consigned the Welsh region to their 3^rd consecutive loss in the competition.

Clermont Auvergne 32 – 11 Llanelli Scarlets:  After a difficult first half, last season’s finalists showed their class against the Scarlets, claiming a bonus point win.

Exeter Chiefs 9 – 14 Toulon:  The Chiefs were resilient at home but eventually succumbed to the reigning champions, despite Jonny Wilkinson having a rare off day with the boot.

Zebre 10 – 39 Saracens:  Sarries cruised to an easy win against Minnows Zebre, claiming a bonus point win with Alex Goode and Chris Ashton particularly impressing.

Racing Metro 8 – 32 Harlequins:  Quins picked up another famous away win in France, scoring four tries to claim a bonus point and put away the Parisian powerhouses in Nantes.  Special mention to Charlie Walker for his first European try.

Ulster 48 – 0 Benetton Treviso:  Ulster remain in charge of their group with a comprehensive rout of Italian side Treviso at Ravenhill, picking up a bonus point in the process.

Munster 36 – 8 Perpignan:  A powerful display by the Limerick lot allowed Munster to claim a bonus point win against a lethargic Perpignan outfit at Thommond Park.

Edinburgh 12 – 23 Gloucester:  Gloucester picked up a surprising but very handy win away in Edinburgh as the hosts failed to take advantage of their visitors’ lack of form.

Leicester Tigers 41 – 32 Montpellier:  A bizarre, topsy turvy and madly entertaining game ended in the hosts’ favour, but both sides picked up try-bonus points.

Toulouse 14 – 16 Connacht:  In arguably the biggest result in the Heineken Cup’s history, Irish minnows Connacht claimed a spectacular win away at European giants Toulouse, completing a clean sweep for the Irish sides this weekend.