Leinster continued their excellent recent run of winning form with a 20-16 victory over the Ospreys in Friday night’s Magners League clash at the RDS…
Speaking after the game coach Michael Cheika said: "I didn’t have to say too much to the boys after the game. In the first half we were average at best. The Ospreys are a very good side and we know that we were probably lucky to be only six point behind at the break.
"They played with a big hard defence (against us) and I’d say that we could see them (the Ospreys) again before the end of the season with the way things are shaping up. We rested a couple of players tonight and could have a few more players to maybe come back next week. We’ll just wait and see."
An impressive display from visiting fly-half Dan Biggar, who converted his own try and kicked three penalties, had the visitors 16-10 ahead at the interval. Isa Nacewa had opened the scoring for Leinster with a breakaway try in the 12th minute after a spell of pressure by the Ospreys.
Fergus McFadden, who impressed throughout, kicked the conversion and Leinster led 7-0 before Biggar struck with penalties on 16 and 21 minutes and in the 33rd minute he touched down after spotting a gap in the Leinster defence.
His conversion pushed the visitors into a deserved interval lead, with his conversion and a further penalty extending the advantage to six points, but credit to Leinster who bounced back in the second half.
Shaun Berne accepted a clever inside pass from Paul O’Donohoe after a well-worked lineout to dart into score on 52 minutes. McFadden’s conversion under the posts was relatively straight-forward, while the Kildare man kicked his tenth points of the night in the 78th minute to help Leinster seal a deserved, if unspectacular, win.
LEINSTER SCORERS: I. Nacewa, S. Berne (1 try each), F. McFadden (2 penalties, 2 conversions)
OSPREYS SCORER: D. Biggar (1 try, 3 penalties, 1 conversion)
LEINSTER:
15: Girvan Dempsey
14: Shane Horgan
13: Fergus McFadden
12: Gordon D’Arcy
11: Isa Nacewa
10: Shaun Berne
9: Paul O’Donohoe
1: Cian Healy
2: John Fogarty
3: Mike Ross (Stan Wright, half time)
4: Leo Cullen CAPTAIN
5: Nathan Hines (Malcolm O’Kelly, half time)
6: Kevin McLaughlin (Stephen Keogh, 65-69)
7: Shane Jennings
8: Jamie Heaslip
REPLACEMENTSNOT USED: Richardt Strauss, Eoin O’Malley, Andrew Conway, Simon Keogh
OSPREYS:
15: Gareth Owen
14: Nikki Walker
13: Sonny Parker
12: Andrew Bishop
11: Shane Williams
10: Dan Biggar
9: Jamie Nutbrown
1: Paul James
2: Ed Shervington
3: Adam Jones
4: Ian Gough
5: Alun Wyn Jones
6: Jerry Collins CAPTAIN
7: Marty Holah
8: Filo Tiatia
REPLACEMENTS:
16: Scott Baldwin
17: Craig Mitchell
18: Ian Evans
19: Ryan Jones
20: Mike Phillips
21: James Hook
22: Tom Prydie
REFEREE: Alan Lewis (IRFU), ASSISTANT REFEREES: Simon McDowell (IRFU), Peter Roche (IRFU), 4th OFFICIAL: Brian Montayne (ARLB), 5th OFFICIAL: Danny Wallace (ARLB), TMO: Alan Rogan (IRFU)