Leinster's Felipe Contepomi was quick to dish out the plaudits to Gordon D'Arcy after the Ireland centre turned in a man of the match display in Saturday's Magners League victory over the Ospreys.

Leinster cut the gap between themselves and Ulster, at the top of the table, to just two points as they ran six sizzling tries past the understrength Welsh side. The Donnybrook demolition saw Rob Kearney and Brian O'Driscoll both bag a brace of tries, but it was D'Arcy who caught the eye the most.

The Wexford man began 2007 in the sort of form that would leave most rugby supporters salivating - running some excellent angles, taking the ball on at every opportunity, marking himself out as a defensive colossus and having a hand in three of the hosts' tries.

The province's Argentinian out-half Contepomi, who was making his return from the knee injury he sustained in November, had a very satisfactory comeback game, slotting over six kicks out of six for a 13-point haul.

But rekindling his 10-12 partnership with D'Arcy proved a delighted for the Pumas star.

He said: "I think Gordon's a great, great player - a pleasure to play with. He's one of those players who never gives up and always plays with a smile on his face.

"If you're a spectator you enjoy watching him and if you're a player, you enjoy playing with him because he makes things easier for myself as an out-half.

"I don't like to say if he's the best but he's definitely up there. He's different because he's played in other positions before. He's been brought from full-back to wing and now, as number 12, he's learnt his role. He's adding things to our game," Contepomi added.

"Now you have someone capable of playing at inside centre who is capable of striking the ball, being a playmaker or finishing a move. It's very difficult to find someone with all those skills in that position."

Leinster entertain Edinburgh in the Heineken Cup next weekend, and Michael Cheika's Pool 2 leaders will be all out to gain revenge on the Scots for October's 25-24 reversal at Murrayfield.

Cheika admitted: "Perhaps there is a bit of pay back from our defeat at Edinburgh in Round 2. We were very disappointed when we left there and the body language of the players told the whole story - we let ourselves down and we should have won that match and finished the job.

The team played well and there were a few outstanding performances against the Ospreys. Gordon was exceptional in defence and attack and we are lucky to have him.

Overall it's good for Gordon and Brian O'Driscoll to be running themselves into some good form before the Heineken Cup matches."

With the 2007 RBS 6 Nations championship less than a month away, Ireland fans would certainly agree.