Cheika Not Too Disheartened

Leinster coach Michael Cheika

Leinster coach Michael Cheika was not too disheartened after watching his side go down 22-19 to Bath in their opening Heineken Cup Pool 5 fixture at the RDS.

The Australian insisted his men are “not giving up” on qualification for the knockout stages of European rugby’s elite competition despite the deflating manner of Saturday evening’s loss.

Bath centre Olly Barkley landed four penalties and converted man-of-the-match Andrew Beattie’s second-half try while a huge drop goal from fly-half Chris Malone on 71 minutes proved the killer blow.

Having begun so well with captain Felipe Contepomi notching a full house of points in little over 18 minutes, Leinster’s late rush for a match-clinching try proved in vain.

“I think that a lot of people tonight would have seen the passion of this Leinster side,” said Cheika. “We’ve still got five games to play in the pool – we’ve got to win them all but we’re not giving up.

“We’ve a tough trip to Glasgow next Sunday to pick ourselves up for. It’s up to us to improve on the technical aspects of our play for next week.”

With injuries to Brian O’Driscoll (shoulder), Denis Hickie (fibula), Christian Warner (knee) and Guy Easterby (broken jaw) robbing Leinster of some key players, Cheika remained pleased with the efforts of his patched-up side.

“I was pleased with the younger players who will learn a lot from the experience of playing in such a pressurised game. Felipe (Contepomi) too is a real leader for us and he does that by actions more than words.”

Contepomi finished with 19 points but tireless Bath flanker Beattie grabbed the man-of-the-match award.

Andrew Beattie, who scored a crucial try, set up Malone’s drop goal and grabbed a vital turnover when the Bath line was under threat in injury-time, said: “It wasn’t the prettiest of games but we’re delighted with the win and we would have taken that score line before kick-off.

“Leinster obviously beat us twice last year so we wanted to put that right and an away win is a great start to the pool for us.”