RUGBY OPINION
By Daire Walsh
IAN Madigan’s kicking masterclass aided Leinster in the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, as the Guinness Pro12 title holders booked their place in the semi-final of the European Rugby Champions Cup with a narrow victory over Bath.
There was a sense throughout that Matt O’Connor’s charges were playing within themselves, although the presence of 11 international players certainly offered a more formidable look to the Blues’ starting line-up.
Kildare natives Fergus McFadden and Jamie Heaslip (the side’s captain on the day) were amongst those to receive the nod, while Leixlip’s Marty Moore replaced Mike Ross for the final half-hour of the action.
Yet, with former Ireland coach Mike Ford at the helm – and his son George featuring at out-half fresh from a productive Six Nations campaign – the Aviva Premiership outfit weren’t to be dismissed lightly.
A successful place-kick from the flamboyant Madigan did open the scoring with 13 minutes gone on the clock, but following earlier approach work by Horacio Agulla and Francois Louw, George Ford broke through for an excellent try.
However, after failing to find the target from his opening kick of the day, the normally-dependable number ten was also wide of the mark from a conversion on the right-hand side, and courtesy of four subsequent Madigan penalties, Leinster held a ten-point cushion (15-5) at the mid-way point in the Ballsbridge venue.
This placed the Blues in pole position to reach their first top-tier European semi-final since 2012, but when Ford provided the platform for Bath skipper Stuart Hooper to secure a 47th minute converted try, the game was back in the melting pot.
Another three-pointer from the excellent Madigan eased Leinster’s nerves, but galvanised by the introduction of ex-Ireland scrum-half Peter Stringer from the bench, Bath cut the deficit to three points (18-15) heading towards the closing stages.
As a result, the visitors felt that a semi-final spot was now in their sights, but it was Leinster who ultimately progressed to meet Toulon, who are chasing European honours for a third season in succession.
Elsewhere, there was mixed fortunes for the Kildare representatives on Ireland’s underage sides in the past week. Peter Howard of Cill Dara RFC was a member of the Ireland U18 Clubs squad that participated in the International Triangular Festival along with France and England.
Howard was part of the Irish back-three for their outstanding 18-10 triumph over the French last Wednesday, and was amongst the replacements for their narrow 13-11 reversal against their English counterparts three days later.
On the same day, Newbridge College’s Jimmy O’Brien made a cameo appearance in the Marcoussis, where France enjoyed a comprehensive success against Peter Malone’s Ireland U19s in the concluding part of a two-game series.
This was a disappointing result for the rising Irish stars, but there was plenty of positives to derive from their 13-10 win over the same opposition three days beforehand. O’Brien was the starting fly-half for this encounter, and even though Young Munster’s David O’Mahony contributed all of Ireland’s points, he played a significant role in an encouraging display.