RUGBY COLUMN – OCTOBER 17
By Daire Walsh
THEY were forced to hold off a late surge from Montpellier at the RDS on Saturday afternoon, but Leo Cullen’s Leinster ultimately secured a bonus-point victory in their opening game of this season’s European Rugby Champions Cup.
Athy’s Joey Carbery was amongst the scorers for the Blues, and though it was a much tighter affair than their meeting in the same venue nine months ago, they find themselves in pole position in Pool Three ahead of their away encounter against Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun Stadium this Friday evening.
Leinster already had to contend without the likes of Jamie Heaslip and Rob Kearney because of injury, while Jonathan Sexton and Sean O’Brien were also ruled in the day leading up to their seasonal European bow.
Former Wallabies star Scott Fardy was another late withdrawal for personal reasons, and this presented the highly-rated James Ryan with an opportunity to impress in a pack that also included Kill native James Tracy. There was also a spot for Adam Byrne in the back-three alongside Carbery and Barry Daly, with club skipper Isa Nacewa joining Robbie Henshaw in the Leinster midfield.
Nacewa has also been sidelined in recent weeks, and just four minutes before the interval in the Ballsbridge venue, he was forced with an ankle injury. However, Leinster had already established a 12-point by the time was replaced, thanks to tries from Carbery and Josh van der Flier in the 18th and 26th minutes respectively.
Yet, despite committing a number errors throughout the course of the opening period, Montpellier finally opened their account with a Nemani Nadolo touch down. This score was supplemented by a bonus strike from ex-Ulster scrum-half Ruan Pienaar – which meant that Leinster’s lead had been reduced to five points (12-7) by the interval.
Leinster were posing a significant attacking threat in front of a 15,995-strong crowd, though, and Henshaw crossed over in spectacular style just three minutes after the restart. This five-pointer was followed by a Ross Byrne conversion, but although they looked set to push at this stage, Montpellier responded once again through Nadolo.
This set-up a tension-filled final-quarter, and despite claiming their bonus score through the patient Daly 12 minutes from time, a Pienaar penalty kept the Top 14 outfit in touch. They had chances to at least force a draw from their trip to Dublin, but with Suncroft’s Fergus McFadden making a late appearance in place of Daly, Leinster eventually held out for a 24-17 triumph.
There was also a strong Kildare contingent in the Leinster ‘A’ squad for their British & Irish Cup opener against Doncaster Knights on Saturday, which ended in a 41-17 victory for the Blues. Jimmy O’Brien (Eadestown) was selected at outside centre by head coach Noel McNamara, and he was joined in the match-day squad by Will Connors (Donadea) and Jeremy Loughman (Athy).
Loughman registered a second-half try, and with Max Deegan (two), Peter Dooley and Jordan Larmour also crossing over, it was a productive encounter at Castle Park.