O'Driscoll keeps Leinster on track
Leinster and Ireland star Brian O’Driscoll scored a try in the last minutes of the match to help the Irish Province earn a bonus-point from their 27-10 Heineken Cup victory over Brive on Saturday night.
The win not puts all the pressure on London Irish in Pool Six. The English side are five points behind the defending champions and take on the Scarlets on Sunday afternoon in Wales.
Leo Cullen’s side led by just seven points at half time but, following some stern words at the break, ran in three second half scores to take the game away from their determined French opponents.
A frustrating first quarter of the match saw both sides miss chances to put points on the board. It was only after 23 minutes, through some magic from Leinster flyer Isa Nacewa, that the game came to life. The former Auckland star’s clever kick forced Brive to concede a five metre scrum, allowing the powerful Leinster pack the platform to put real pressure on their opponents.
They did exactly that, forcing one penalty too many for Andrew Small’s liking and winning a penalty try.
The hosts dominated the remainder of the half but Brive remained steadfast and went into the break just one score behind.
Ireland No.10 Jonny Sexton slotted three points early in the second period to give the hosts a 10-0 lead but it was Nacewa’s try which really broke the back of their opposition.
An expansive, free-flowing move saw the ball go through the hands and find the left wing in space to score.
The defeat made it five from five for the Top 14 side in the Heineken Cup this season but they did at least show some good resilience and scored two tries of their own on the night – the first coming on the hour mark from second row Retief Uys.
Gordan D’Arcy the struck for the home side. The Irish midfielder got the final touch but it came after a long period of sustained Leinster pressure inside the Brive half.
Brive fullback Scott Spedding showed good footwork for Brive’s second five pointer four minutes from time before, almost as expected, O’Driscoll stepped up in the last minute of the game. The Ireland captain scored in the left corner in the final minute and kept his side in a good position to secure a spot in the quarterfinals.
The scorers
For Leinster:
Tries: Penalty try, Nacewa, D’Arcy, O’Driscoll
Cons: Sexton 2
Pen: Sexton
For Brive:
Tries:Uys, Speeding
Leinster: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Shane Horgan, 13 Brian O’Driscoll, 12 Gordon D’Arcy, 11 Isa Nacewa, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Shane Jennings, 6 Kevin McLaughlin, 5 Nathan Hines, 4 Leo Cullen (c), 3 Stan Wright, 2 John Fogarty, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements: 16 Bernard Jackman, 17 Mike Ross, 18 CJ van der Linde, 19 Malcolm O’Kelly, 20 Sean O’Brien, 21 Paul O’Donohoe, 22 Shaun Berne, 23 Girvan Dempsey.
Brive: 15 Scott Spedding, 14 Nicolas Jeanjean, 13 Jamie Noon, 12 Lachlan Mackay, 11 Horacio Agulla, 10 Luciano Orquera, 9 Jean-Baptiste Pejoine, 8 Antoine Claassen, 7 Fabien Domingo, 6 Alix Popham, 5 Damien Browne, 4 Retief Uys, 3 Pascal Idieder, 2 Steve Thompson, 1 Pablo Henn.
Replacements: 16 Guillaume Ribes, 17 Petrisor Toderasc, 18 Christian Short, 19 Simon Azoulai, 20 Shaun Perry, 21 Viliame Waqaseduadua, 22 Régis Bianco, 23 Pat Barnard.
Venue: RDS
Referee: Andrew Small (England)
