Glasgow Warriors 20, Leinster 33

Glasgow Warriors stumbled yet again this afternoon. Their prospects of going beyond the pools stage of the Heineken Cup were wiped away by defeat by Leinster at Hughenden.

It was their seventh defeat in eight games this season, and in two Heineken matches in successive weekends they have garnered not even a losing bonus point. Perhaps they deserved one in Bourgoin nine days ago, and perhaps they merit one today. But handicaps hanging round the collective necks were too great for them to overturn in even a stirring final quarter.

First, Glasgow were fully not up in European gear until Graeme Beveridge’s quickly tapped penalty and thrust into the Leinster 22 set up the position for the first of Graeme Morrison’s two tries. Before then three golden chances had produced only a Dan Parks penalty goal.

Secondly, Parks missed no fewer than six goal kicks out of seven whereas Felipe Contepomi had five successes from the same number of attempts. The total loss to Glasgow was 16 points – the aggregate difference was 12.

True, that would not have been enough to overturn the final margin. But if Parks had kicked all of his first-half goals Glasgow would have been 14 points clear after little more than half an hour. Psychologically, that would have been uplifting for Glasgow. They would have been controlling the game instead of chasing it.

Glasgow had their chances in the first quarter of an hour. Morrison picked up lose ball on halfway and run into the opposition 22, which led to the first penalty that Parks missed, from 35 metres. Contepomi then struck a penalty from 40-plus metres.

But Glasgow came again. Colin Shaw broke the opposition wide open with John Barclay in eager support, but what should have been the latter’s scoring pass was knocked on by Graydon Staniforth. Tim Barker, following the Morrison and Shaw examples cut clear, and his fellow lock, Craig Hamilton, set up the position from which Parks kicked a 30-metre penalty goal. The scores were level after quarter of an hour.

Leinster, however, regained the lead in 19 minutes after Contepomi had sliced through, and though the supporting Bernard Jackman was down by John Beattie the visitors had done enough to create an overlap on the right. Kieran Lewis scored, though he was only one of three who could have had the try. Contepomi missed the conversion from wide out.

Eight minutes later Beveridge’s quick thinking opened the route for him to run from halfway into the Leinster 22. Quickly rucked possession was spun to the right for Morrison to score.

If Parks had kicked the conversion Glasgow would have been leading 10-8 after 27 minutes. But his kick drifted across the face of the posts, and in the next six minutes he missed two penalties as well. One was admittedly from close to halfway, but the other was inside the 22.

As a consequence, instead of being eight points up running up to the interval Glasgow were that number down at half-time. Contepomi showed Parks how it should be done with a penalty goal from halfway, and he struck another telling kicking in first-half injury time, this one a long punt deep into the home 22. Glasgow cleared the first danger, but Leinster drove the ensuing lineout from the 22-metre line almost to the goal-line for Ciaran Potts to plunge over. Contepomi again missed the conversion from close to the right touchline, but Leinster had an eight-point going into the interval.

Glasgow were fired up for the start of the second half, and the exemplary Beattie’s scrummage pick-up and drive fired a prolonged assault on the Leinster line. Henderson and Morrison had a go at the line in unison. So did Scott Lawson and Barker. Twice Glasgow opted from scrums instead of penalty kicks, and Keith Gleeson could well have been sent to the sin-bin for lying over a close-range tackle. By then the frequency of Leinster infringements were close to being persistent.

Eventually, though, Glasgow found the way through. It was Morrison again who finished off from a scrum-based attack that swung initially right before switching to the left.

From not far wide of the posts Parks missed the conversion, and after 53 minutes he failed with another penalty. That one struck a post, but the ball deflected the wrong way.

Between those misses Graydon Staniforth attempted a drop goal from five metres inside the Glasgow half. That shot was only just short and wide, and it also may have been a request for him to take over as place-kicker.

After an hour it was Colin Gregor who replaced Parks at stand-off as well as kicker, though the game had gone by the time he converted Henderson’s late try. By then, though, Leinster were safe after Contepomi had kicked a third penalty goal and converted tries by himself and Gordon D’Arcy, all within the space of quarter of an hour.

Leinster might have started that onslaught in 54 minutes with a try instead of a penalty goal, but the video referee ruled otherwise. Contepomi then cut through for his own try off a maul in the home 22, and D’Arcy chipped over the defensive line for his score.

Gregor Hayter and Sam Pinder were key contributors to the lead-up to Henderson’s try. It was too little too late, and by then the Glasgow support had become totally bemused by Chris White’s interpretation of who was the greater sinner with the ball trapped on the ground after a tackle. Too often the decision did not go in Glasgow’s favour, as when, after just after the hour, Morrison, Barker, and Pinder all went close. At one ruck in that assault James Heaslip was clearly over the top, denying Glasgow, as Gleeson had done soon after the interval, but White gave no penalty far less showing a yellow card.

At that stage Leinster were 13 points ahead. But even a penalty then in the visitors’ 22 could have started to tip the balance.

Glasgow Leinster – Graydon Staniforth; Hefin O’Hare, Graeme Morrison, Andrew Henderson, Colin Shaw; Dan Parks (captain), Graeme Beveridge; Kevin Tkachuk, Scott Lawson, Lee Harrison, Tim Barker, Craig Hamilton, Paul Dearlove, John Beattie, John Barclay. Substitutes – Gregor Hayter for Dearlove (50 minutes), Stuart Corsar for Tkachuk (50), Dan Turner for Hamilton (54), Sam Pinder for Beveridge (59), Colin Gregor for Parks (62), Steve Swindall for Barclay (68). Not used – Fergus Thomson.
Tries, Morrison (2), Henderson; conversion, Gregor; penalty goal, Parks.

Leinster – Girvan Dempsey; Kieran Lewis, Gordon D’Arcy, Shane Horgan, Robert Kearney; Felipe Contepomi (captain), Brian O’Riordan; Reggie Corrigan, Bernard Jackman, Emmett Byrne, Bryce Williams, Malcolm O’Kelly, Ciaran Potts, James Heaslip, Keith Gleeson. Substitutes – Brian Blaney for Jackman (half-time), Cameron Jowitt for Potts (46), Ben Gissing for Williams (50), Brian O’Meara for O’Riordan (66), Ronan McCormack for Corrigan (74). Not used – Eoghan Hickey, John Hepworth.
Tries, Lewis, Potts, Contepomi, D’Arcy; conversions, Contepomi (2); penalty goals, Contepomi (3).

This article was posted on 30-Oct-2005, 20:27 by Hugh Barrow.