Leinster 19-15 Glasgow: Warriors fall at unhappy hunting ground

Leinster lost the try count but won the match by four points after seeing a 19-3 lead whittled down to almost nothing when Glasgow rattled up twelve points in the final five minutes.

“That was a huge effort,” said an exhausted skipper Al Kellock after the match. “We’ve got standards and I’ve talked about them all season. We’ve set a foundation at Glasgow, the work ethic, the aggression levels, the core of what your team is and that was clear to see tonight.”

“What we did tonight was make mistakes against the beat team in Europe and you can’t afford to do that. At one stage, just after the break, with the score at 9-3, I thought ‘if we score next this could be ours’. But what we asked for before the game was spirit and, if things had clicked for us and things had gone well, we’d have won that game.”

Their last hurrah was typical of this Warriors side, a brave but ultimately futile charge when the match had already been lost. Leinster stand-off Johnny Sexton walked away with four penalties, one conversion and the man-of-the-match award.

From the first minute of the match the home side were never headed and they always had control of proceedings. They were a little more physical in all positions and, in the end, that took its toll, albeit at a price. Gordon D’Arcy, Eoin OMalley and Cian Healy all limped out of the action and must be doubtful for next weekend’s Heineken Cup final against Ulster, whose players must have been rubbing their hands with glee as they witnessed the ferocity of this bone-crunching encounter. Several Glasgow players were below par but scrum-half Chris Cusiter had one of his best outings of what has been a challenging season. One scorching second-half break was vintage “Cus” and had people wondering where he has been all year.

Glasgow spent much of the first half in desperate, dogged defence of their line as Leinster sought, but failed to find, the killer blow. In the period before half time, 14-man Glasgow, with Alex Dunbar in the sin bin, held Leinster to one penalty when it seemed certain that the Dublin side must score a try. It was a brave effort but Glasgow’s attack couldn’t replicate those defensive heroics, at least not until it was too late.

Three Sexton penalties to one from Duncan Weir gave the home side a 9-3 half-time lead but Glasgow re-emerged determined to do something about that.

Weir had two penalties, one long-range effort, one simpler, both of which he missed. DTH Van Der Merwe then tore up the left touchline but failed to get a pass away to the supporting Stuart Hogg, whose frustration was there for all to see.

Sexton extended Leinster’s lead with his fourth penalty before Isa Nacewa put winger Dave Kearney in at the left-hand corner for Leinster’s only try.

Glasgow’s two late touchdowns from Dougie Hall and Hogg were a cry against the dying of the light.

The Warriors will now say farewell to two coaches, Sean Lineen and defence expert Gary Mercer who is being “let go”, despite his club boasting the best defensive record in the league in terms of tries conceded.

Gregor Townsend will usher in a new era as head coach next season with a host of new players, Newcastle lock Tim Swinston, former All Black Angus MacDonald, Samoan Viliami Ma’afu and Sean Lamont amongst others, as Glasgow look to make the step up from challengers to champions.

“The guys that are moving on, their effort has been unbelievable, to take us to the stage where we’re competing with the best team in Europe,” Kellock added. “Sean’s been a massive part of my career. He brought me here as captain for six years but we’ve got to make sure that the momentum of this season is used next year when Gregor comes in. He will be different to Sean, there’s no doubt about that, but I have every faith that he’ll be good.

“I believe that on the first day of next season we’ll have an even better squad than we do this season. We’ve got to keep pushing to better what we’ve done this season.”

Scorers: Leinster – Try: Kearney. Con: Sexton. Pen: Sexton (4). Glasgow – Try: Hall, Hogg. Con: Jackson. Pen: Weir.

Leinster: Nacewa; Kearney, O’Malley (Conway 49 min), D’Arcy (Madigan 21 min), McFadden; Sexton, Reddan; Healy (Van Der Merwe 51 min), Strauss (Cronin 57 min), Ross (White 65 min), Toner (Cullen 57 min), Thorn, O’Brien (McLaughlin 55 min), Jennings, Heaslip.

Glasgow: Hogg; Aramburu, Morrison (Murchie 65 min), Dunbar, Van Der Merwe; Weir (Jackson 57 min), Cusiter (Prygos 69 min); Grant (Welsh 66 min), McArthur (Hall 55 min), Cusak (Low 47 min), Gray (Ryder 57 min), Kellock, Harley (Beattie 77 min), Fusaro, Barclay.