Leinster were left with the feeling that they threw away a game they could have easily won as late tries from Hefin O’Hare and Bernardo Stortoni saw Glasgow outlast the province for a 21-17 victory at Firhill on Friday night.
Glasgow v Leinster Match Photos
Although they have two games in hand on the leaders, Leinster now lie 13 points behind the table-topping Cardiff Blues after their second successive defeat.
There was an improvement in their overall play from last week’s heavy loss to Llanelli in Dublin, but they let their concentration slip for the crucial final minutes which allowed Glasgow to pinch the result.
The Scots did merit the win – they tried to force the issue the most, attacking off first and second phase ball and were rewarded when man of the match Stortoni sniped through to gather Scott Barrow’s cross-field kick and bag the clinching try.
Stung so badly by the Scarlets last week, Leinster were content to play the percentages and out-half Jonathan Sexton’s kicking haul of 12 points looked for a long time like it might be enough for the visitors to get back to winning ways.
This game was a slow burner and did not really open up until the final quarter. Sexton booted Leinster into an eighth-minute lead after a well-struck penalty goal, but there was little cutting edge in either side’s outside backs to thrill the small attendance.
Leinster doubled their lead in the 25th-minute when Sexton bisected the posts once again, but it was Glasgow who dictated the play leading up to half-time.
The Warriors got on the front foot thanks to some clever kicking from number 10 Colin Gregor, with one of his touch-finding kicks leading to a sustained spell of pressure near the Leinster try line.
Territorially, Sean Lineen’s charges were getting on top but they could not put the points on the scoreboard, with a Gregor drop goal proving their only score of the opening 40 minutes.
Gregor shaved the outside of a post with a penalty attempt, late in the first half, but Glasgow were straight back on the attack on the restart and soon crossed for their first try of the night.
The second half was six minutes’ old when young prop Moray Low squeezed over for his first league try.
Gregor’s conversion attempt was wide of the mark and Glasgow’s lead was short-lived. A triple substitution from Leinster, which saw Ireland World Cup lock Malcolm O’Kelly, talented young prop Cian Healy and experienced Ireland flanker Keith Gleeson, helped the visitors regain some control.
Sexton steered his third penalty through the uprights and the Leinster pack looked to turn the screw as they made some good yardage – they made 15 metres off a lineout maul – and set up Sexton for a nicely taken drop goal on the hour mark.
Gregor, at the second attempt, replied with a penalty to whittle Leinster’s lead down to 12-11 with just 20 minutes remaining.
The best move of the match from a Leinster point of view followed in the 69th-minute when a turnover in midfield saw the visitors forage forward and a break into the 22 from hooker Brian Blaney was finished off over the whitewash by the powerful Healy.
Sexton missed the conversion and two of Glasgow’s replacements, O’Hare and Barrow, soon turned the game back in their side’s favour.
Leinster’s grip on the game was loosening by the minute as O’Hare looked lively in possession and he cut through, taking a lovely pass from Stortoni, to grab an unconverted try in the 73rd-minute.
Barrow’s missed conversion meant Leinster were still clinging onto a 17-16 lead as the game headed towards injury-time. Would Boyne clubman Shane Horgan, who was making history by becoming the first player from a junior club to captain Leinster at senior level, be celebrating a debut win as his province’s skipper?
The answer was an unfortunate no as in a nail-biting climax, the Leinster defence caved in in the fifth-minute of injury-time when a cross-field kick from Barrow was gleefully gobbled up and touched down by Stortoni.
The defeat, only Leinster’s third in 12 league clashes with Glasgow, puts added emphasis on their Interprovincial derbies with Ulster (October 26) and Connacht (November 2), two games which will see the timely return of the province’s full World Cup contingent.
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