Leinster needed a last-minute penalty from Fergus McFadden to snatch a 16-13 win over the Scarlets at the RDS on Friday.
McFadden scores all of Leinster's points as they stay top of the RaboDirect table.
Scarlets played their part in a thrilling contest, but in the end their indiscipline cost them right at the death.
The away side got off to a good start here, and indeed took the lead after five minutes as Stephen Jones landed a penalty. It didn't take Leinster long to respond though, and they found themselves level minutes later, McFadden on target for the home side.
Both teams then kicked away needless ball for the next ten minutes, with both struggling to build any momentum in the contest.
Leinster thought they had a try midway through the half, only for the TMO to rule it out.
Scarlets seemed to get a lift from that decision against Leinster, and the Welsh side took the lead soon after with Dan Newton finishing off a wonderful Scarlets move. Jones added the extras to give them a 10-3 lead.
McFadden had a chance to get Leinster closer, but missed a penalty chance. Indeed, the hosts had a series of chances to restore parity before the break, but couldn't get through a resilient Scarlet's defence, with the score staying the same at half time.
The home side came out a different team after the restart, and scored a try after just two minutes.
McFadden danced past a few Scarlets' defenders to dive over, and added the extras to leave it at ten points apiece.
The visitors responded well though, and after going close to another try themselves, Dan Newton slotted over a penalty to restore the away lead.
McFadden didn't waste much time in bringing the home side back in it though, and going into the final quarter, the sides were locked at 13-13.
Both sides had chances for winning scores, but as the last minutes approached, it looked like a draw was on the cards.
That was until McFadden stepped up with the very last kick of the game to give Leinster the win.
The scorers
For Leinster:
Try: McFadden
Con: McFadden
Pens: McFadden 3
For Scarlets:
Try: Newton
Con: S. Jones
Pens: S. Jones, Newton
Leinster: 15 Isa Nacewa, 14 David Kearney, 13 Eoin O'Malley, 12 Fergus McFadden, 11 Fionn Carr, 10 Ian Madigan, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Rhys Ruddock, 7 Shane Jennings, 6 Kevin McLaughlin (c), 5 Devin Toner, 4 Damian Browne, 3 Jamie Hagan, 2 Sean Cronin, 1 Jack McGrath.
Replacements: 16 Richardt Strauss, 17 Heinke van der Merwe, 18 Nathan White, 19 Leo Auva'a, 20 Dominic Ryan, 21 Isaac Boss, 22 Noel Reid, 23 Brendan Macken.
Scarlets: 15 Dan Newton, 14 Liam Williams, 13 Gareth Maule (c), 12 Scott Williams, 11 Andy Fenby, 10 Stephen Jones, 1 Rhodri Jones, 2 Emyr Phillips, 3 Deacon Manu, 4 Sione Timani, 5 Dominic Day, 6 Josh Turnbull, 7 Johnathan Edwards, 8 Kieran Murphy
Replacements: 16 Craig Hawkins, 17 Phil John, 18 Peter Edwards, 19 Damian Welch, 20 Ben Morgan, 21 Liam Davies, 22 Adam Warren, 23 Viliame Iongi.
Venue: RDS
Referee Nigel Owens (WRU)
Comments
crunchfit says...
Regarding the match, can't say I noticed too many offsides but there was a pretty damn blatant intentional knock-on on the Scarlets line which was otherwise a definite try for Leinster. Last time I checked that's a yellow card.
And Scarlets collapsed the maul when it was a metre or two from the line and moving forward with ease. Pretty sure that is also a yellow card.
Very frustrating match to watch. Leinster's defensive line was all over the place and they kicked the ball too much (and the kicks were pretty bad a lot of the time). And there were a lot of knock-ons.
Posted 14:26 20th February 2012
crunchfit says...
@BackingLeinster
Berquist was originally 2nd choice, but that changed quite a while ago. It's been Madigan for quite a while now and he's been doing a great job. A bit of improvement in defense and perhaps a bit more speed regarding decision making, but he has been improving rapidly this season. He's a completely different player to last year.
Posted 14:23 20th February 2012
adamk says...
@BackingLeinster In fairness Madigan's game management has come on leaps and bounds this season. Berqy has already announced he'll be leaving Leinster at the end of this season, and honestly wouldn't be troubling Madigan for the number 2 position at fly half. His kicking from hand has gotten great, and he wasn't far behind Isa for MoTM against Treviso last week.
I think he's a solid fly half and is still developing, and yet is already the third best fly half in Ireland (I'd take him over Humphries on most days)
Posted 01:10 20th February 2012
damo says...
Here is the voice of reason, scarlets were excellent on attack and defence, Leinster didn't get going really, better team won due ot the simple fact the ref didn't do much wrong, Scarlets weren't offside constantly either, and all in all it was a good game!
Posted 11:19 19th February 2012
jimbosim says...
Simple really - Scarlets deserved more than a losing bonus point, defence was excellent and up very quickly which exposed Leinster. At no time where the line off side. Leinster where constantly over the top, off their feet and in from the side. so i guess makes the game fair except the result?
Posted 18:33 18th February 2012
Leinstergicker says...
@J_HDK Owens refused to ref the breakdown. There were a series of ferocious Leinster attacks in the second half that were basically killed by Scarlets lying on the wrong side. Never heard so many boos during a match in the RDS. They were constantly offside and he just let it go.
Posted 13:31 18th February 2012
BackingLeinster says...
@liam2me firstly Leinster are Heinenken cup champions because they win their games, that means not leaving behind points from penalties. Secondly although Madigan is turning into a good player, he's not a great fly half. Thats why they brought in Berquist. McKinley was much better in the position but unfortunately he lost an eye and had to retire. Personally i think Madigan could make a good scrum half but they wont even look at playing him there until berquist is back.
Posted 10:58 18th February 2012
7ton says...
J_HDK
Many sides from all countries appear to be offside on many occassions. If it is not just how it looks from the camera angle then maybe the ref is too busy concentrating on the breakdown to notice otherwise one would have to wonder if he is ignoring it like the crooked feed to the scrum.
Posted 08:55 18th February 2012
adamk says...
@liam2me How's that trollin' working out for ya?
Posted 23:16 17th February 2012
liam2me says...
Why do Leinster not have their starting 10s take the kicks as they are developing? Contepomi always kicked ahead of Sexton now McFadden ahead of Madigan. It's no wonder Sexton can't kick when the pressure is on for Ireland.
Posted 22:05 17th February 2012
J_HDK says...
Lucky escape. Very uncharacteristic poor handling by leinster. Always a relief to come away with the win when performing below par. Great kick from mcfadden under pressure at the end.
maybe it's just how it looks on tv but all welsh sides seem to be permanently offside in defence every time the ball is freed from the ruck.
Posted 21:57 17th February 2012