Like any French team Brive have never been great on the road but they really do make opposition sweat. Brive kept the Heineken Cup Champions waiting until the 80th minute for that elusive 4th try which secured the bonus point, just like they had done to London Irish in the earlier rounds. Internationals dotted the French team with Alex Popham, who is currently trying to force his way back into Warren Gatlands mindset for Wales with the 6 Nations fast approaching and Steve Thompson the English World Cup winner hooker putting in solid performances.
Leinster started the game with arguably their strongest line-up clearly laying down a marker of intent as to how serious a threat they viewed their French rivals, this game was vitally important if the reigning Champs were to come even close to retaining their crown. Despite being at full strength with Shane Jennings and Johnny Sexton returning to the fold they never really got into their stride despite dominating both possession and territory for long periods of the game and they were made to fight tooth and nail for this hard fought bonus point.
Despite their domination Leinster went in at the break with only a bonus try 7-0 lead to show for their efforts after their pack had been knocking on the door with a series of five meter scrums before the ref finally awarded Leinster a deserved lead which Sexton duly converted. Following a Sexton penalty it was left to Isa Nacewa to add the finishing touches to a well worked backline move with the ever mercurial Brian O’Driscoll involved throughout. Despite a now comfortable 15-0 lead Brive refused to lie over and die with Retief Uys ploughing over to ensure the match as a contest at the very least stayed alive. Despite clawing a try back you felt it was only a matter of time before the Blues added a third try courtesy of Gordon D’Arcy in the 67th minute. Leinster lead 22-5 until Spedding added a second Brive try to make it 22-10.
With Leinster needing one more try to secure the bonus point win, ‘’Cometh the hour Cometh the Man’’ yet again Leinsters talisman for nearly the last decade Brian O’ Driscoll came to the fore latching on to Shane Horgans deftest of flicks to score in the corner with the last play of the game. This victory puts Leinster within touching distance of the Heineken Cup Quarter Finals as BOD and Co. look to add to last years triumph.
Munster will hardly find an easier game away from home in the Heineken Cup this season. 6 Tries guaranteed a bonus point victory over the hapless Italians in front of their home crowd. This victory puts them clear at the top of Pool One despite the Northampton Saints demolition of Perpignan on Sunday afternoon. If as expected Munster see off the Saints challenge next weekend in Thommond Park which as we know has been somewhat of a fortress for the Reds over the past few years they will have safely progressed to the quarter finals for yet another year as they bid to wrestle their title back from bitter rivals Leinster and win the competition for a 3rd time.
This victory was made all the more impressive when looking at the performance of pool rivals Northampton and Perpignan in Italy. Perpignan, the French Champions failed to win here on the opening week of the competition whilst Northampton failed to take the bonus point and only scraped home by 3 points. There were to be no such hiccups for Munster however with three tries in the opening 11 minutes effectively ending the tie as a contest from then on it was merely a matter of time before they secured that vital bonus point. They didn’t have to wait long as full-back Paul Warwick secured that elusive bonus point 6 minutes before half time.
Team Manager Shaun Payne the former Munster full back was full of praise for his charges following this fantastic performance signalling out the backs and especially Paul Warwick and young Irish international Keith Earls for special mention. However this was not merely an amazing performance by the back the forwards got in on the act too with both second row Donnacha O’Callaghan and his namesake Donnacha Ryan grabbing a try apiece in what was one of the Red Armies performance of the season.
The only concern for Munster head coach Tony McGahan will be the manner in which his side seemed to take the foot off the accelerator at the beginning of the second half and if a repeat of this happens next week in Thommond O’Connell and Co. will be severely punished by an ever improving Northampton side. That said this performance was one which clearly sent a signal of intent out to all those sides left in the competition that Munster are still a very serious threat to any side looking to win the Heineken Cup and it will take a serious performance to stop them marching onwards in search of a third Heineken Cup title.
Ulster progress to the quarter finals is less likely in order to ensure qualification they must pick up a bonus point victory against Bath next weekend and also hope Stade Francais leave with nothing from their trip to Edinburgh. It looks unlikely that they will emerge as best runners up due to a low points total and as such their best hope of continuing in European competition this season may lie in European Rugby’s second tier competition the Challenge Cup.
In the media of late their has been much talk of a potential Munster /Leinster Cup final and with both sides churning out performances like those seen at the weekend the possibility is a very real one as they have certainly been two of the form sides in Europe this season. Had such a possibility been uttered 5 seasons ago it would have been viewed as completely nonsensical but that clearly shows how far both these provinces have come over the last few years and how far Irish Rugby has come with such quality young Irish players on show at the weekend particularly, Keith Earls, Cian Healy, Rob Kearney, Sean O’Brien the future really is looking bright for the oval ball game on this island.
