Sweet Revenge For Heroic Leinster

In front of a world record crowd for a club rugby game, Leinster blasted their way into the Heineken Cup final for the first time – wrecking the double dreams of defending champions Munster in the process – as they painted Croke Park blue with a stunning 25-6 win.

HEINEKEN CUP SEMI-FINAL: Saturday, May 2

MUNSTER 6 LEINSTER 25, Croke Park

Scorers: Munster: Pens: Ronan O’Gara 2
Leinster: Tries: Gordon D’Arcy, Luke Fitzgerald, Brian O’Driscoll; Cons: Jonathan Sexton 2; Pen: Jonathan Sexton; Drop: Felipe Contepomi

Gaining some revenge for their ‘Black Sunday’ semi-final defeat from three years ago, Gordon D’Arcy, Luke Fitzgerald and man-of-the-match Brian O’Driscoll scored the tries which set up Leinster’s first win over their arch rivals in three meetings this season.

But Leinster’s awe-inspiring victory was founded on a ferocious defensive performance to which Munster – the odds-on favourites, defending European champions and Magners League champions – had no answer.

So Michael Cheika’s men, who had lost their last three Heineken Cup semi-finals, will carry Ireland’s hopes to Murrayfield on May 23 to face Leicester Tigers in a potentially-explosive final.

Tigers beat the Cardiff Blues in a dramatic and historic penalty shoot-out in the second semi-final at the Millennium Stadium on Sunday.

The sides were locked level at 26-26 after normal time and two periods of extra-time and the English side, who included Irish duo Geordan Murphy and Johne Murphy, prevailed 7-6 in the shoot-out thanks to a clinching kick from number 8 Jordan Crane.

Munster were hot favourites for Saturday’s showdown on Jones’s Road but Leinster were fired by thoughts of revenge.

They were outplayed by Munster at the same stage of the competition three years ago and collapsed to a 30-6 defeat at Lansdowne Road.

But Leinster have developed a steeliness since 2006. They proved it in a bruising 6-5 quarter-final victory at Harlequins and proved it again in front of the red and blue masses at Croke Park.

Leinster refused to be cowed by the size of the occasion or the quality of the opposition. Munster had scored 15 tries in their previous three European games, but they scored none against Cheika’s super-charged side.

The crackling atmosphere inside Croke Park was paused for a minute’s silence in memory of the late Dr Karl Mullen, who captained Ireland to their first Grand Slam in 1948 and led the 1950 Lions in New Zealand and Australia.

Then came a kick-off that had been anticipated the length and breadth of the country.

2009 Lions captain Paul O’Connell and his Ireland second row colleague Leo Cullen led Ireland’s red and blue tribes into a pulsating battle.

Shane Horgan returned on the wing after Rob Kearney was ruled out with the mumps while experienced Munsterman Peter Stringer started in place of injured scrum half Tomas O’Leary.

Munster threatened early after O’Driscoll’s clearance was blocked down and then the defending champions almost picked their way through after an electric break from Keith Earls, who ran onto Lifiemi Mafi’s offload and raced from halfway deep into Leinster territory.

Earls was eventually dragged down five metres out and when Munster transferred quick ball wide to Ian Dowling, Rocky Elsom was lying in wait to nail the winger and Leinster secured the turnover.

Felipe Contepomi, famously ruffled in that 2006 semi-final defeat, had a point to prove.

The Argentinian made two powerful early runs and despite a shanked clearance and wayward long range penalty, he nudged Leinster ahead with a coolly-taken drop goal.

O’Gara responded almost immediately with a penalty after Leinster loosehead Cian Healy had been sin-binned for taking out Dowling off the ball.

Leinster were unbowed. Their defensive pressure, epitomised by Elsom, was intense and they were finding holes in the Munster line.

The Wallaby flanker crashed onto an inside ball and drew a penalty from the stretched defence but Contepomi suffered an apparent knee injury in the same passage of play.

Jonathan Sexton came on and calmly slotted the penalty with his first touch to push Leinster ahead.

As Contepomi left, both Healy and Shane Jennings, who had been taken off to allow Ronan McCormack take Healy’s place in the scrum, both returned and Leinster’s tails were up.

The very effective Isa Nacewa, who slotted in for Kearney at full-back, burst onto a delightful inside ball from O’Driscoll and then floated a pass to D’Arcy, who stretched for the line to score after being grounded by Earls’ tackle.

It was Leinster’s first try in four European outings.

Sexton missed the conversion from wide out on the left and O’Gara landed a penalty to keep Munster in touch at the interval (11-6) but soon Leinster had their second try.

O’Driscoll was involved twice as Leinster worked the ball out to the left where Fitzgerald, who came in off the wing past Paul Warwick to score. Sexton’s conversion made it 18-6.

Munster reacted badly to the pressure. Twice they built prime attacking platforms inside Leinster’s 22 and both times failed to chisel any kind of opening.

As Munster smashed their collective heads against the defiant blue defensive wall, flanker Alan Quinlan was caught on camera apparently eye-gouging Leinster captain Cullen.

And Leinster then applied the sucker-punch. O’Driscoll popped up to intercept O’Gara’s midfield pass, which was intended for O’Connell, and the Ireland captain raced 70 metres to score under the posts.

Croke Park echoed not to the Fields of Athenry – an anthem so familiar now to these grand European occasions – but to the sound of ‘Molly Malone’.

A day of days for Leinster and an occasion that will be long remembered in the annals of Irish rugby.

TIME LINE: 4 minutes – Leinster penalty: missed by Felipe Contepomi – 0-0; 16 mins – Leinster drop goal: Felipe Contepomi – 0-3; 17 mins – Leinster sin-binning: Cian Healy (professional foul); 18 mins – Munster penalty: Ronan O’Gara – 3-3; 26 mins – Leinster penalty: Jonathan Sexton – 3-6; 31 mins – Leinster try: Gordon D’Arcy – 3-11; conversion: missed by Jonathan Sexton – 3-11; 37 mins – Munster penalty: Ronan O’Gara – 6-11; Half-time – Munster 6 Leinster 11; 44 mins – Leinster try: Luke Fitzgerald – 6-16; conversion: Jonathan Sexton – 6-18; 61 mins – Leinster try: Brian O’Driscoll – 6-23; conversion: Jonathan Sexton – 6-25; Full-time – Munster 6 Leinster 25

MUNSTER: Paul Warwick; Doug Howlett, Keith Earls, Lifeimi Mafi, Ian Dowling; Ronan O’Gara, Peter Stringer; Marcus Horan, Jerry Flannery, John Hayes, Donncha O’Callaghan, Paul O’Connell (capt), Alan Quinlan, David Wallace, Denis Leamy.

Replacements used: Barry Murphy for Warwick, Niall Ronan for Leamy (both 66 mins), Tony Buckley for Hayes (67), Denis Fogarty for Flannery (72), Mike Prendergast for Stringer, Mick O’Driscoll for O’Callaghan (both 74), Denis Hurley for Earls (77).

LEINSTER: Isa Nacewa; Shane Horgan, Brian O’Driscoll, Gordon D’Arcy, Luke Fitzgerald; Felipe Contepomi, Chris Whitaker; Cian Healy, Bernard Jackman, Stan Wright, Leo Cullen (capt), Malcolm O’Kelly, Rocky Elsom, Shane Jennings, Jamie Heaslip.

Replacements used: Ronan McCormack for Jennings (19-28 mins, temp sub), Jonathan Sexton for Contepomi (26, inj), Girvan Dempsey for O’Driscoll (38-39, blood sub), Girvan Dempsey for Fitzgerald (59, inj), John Fogarty for Jackman (63), Sean O’Brien for Jennings (74), Devin Toner for Cullen (80). Not used: Simon Keogh.

Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)