Leinster grind out Glasgow win and turn focus to Scarlets challenge
In the wake of his side closing out their regular season campaign with a low-key eight-point victory over Glasgow Warriors at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, Leinster head coach Leo Cullen was already casting one eye on a forthcoming United Rugby Championship quarter-final against Scarlets.
Following results elsewhere across the weekend, it was determined that Leinster – who were already guaranteed top spot in the league standings heading into their clash with Glasgow – will face the Welsh region in the last-eight of the URC at the Aviva on May 31. Spearheaded by former Wales scrum-half Dwayne Peel (who also had a stint as an assistant coach at Ulster in the past), Scarlets are one of just two teams to have defeated the eastern province in this season's URC.
While it was a radically different Leinster side to the one that suffered a surprise European Champions Cup semi-final defeat to Northampton Saints seven days later, the Llanelli-based outfit recorded a deserved 35-22 bonus point win over the Blues at Parc y Scarlets as recently as April 26.
'They kick a lot. Their half backs are good in terms of controlling the game. It's making sure we don't get frustrated by that. Making sure we gain energy from them kicking the ball away, so that's not something we would get frustrated by. They are well coached,' Cullen acknowledged after Saturday's game.
'Dwayne Peel and Jared Payne, those two in particular have a very good understanding of the provinces from their time here with Ulster. We'll look back at some of those things where Scarlets exposed us at different stages. It will be a good challenge for us.'
It took almost 27 minutes before the deadlock was broken in a largely uneventful opening half on Saturday, but moments after having a score ruled out from a crossfield kick by Sam Prendergast - due to the fly-half not taking a penalty from the correct spot – Jimmy O'Brien was eventually released by his fellow Kildare native for a try in the left-corner.
Prendergast subsequently converted from the touchline as Leinster were forced to be content with a 7-0 interval lead. The Blues had received a set-back when Robbie Henshaw was replaced by Jamie Osborne with just under 22 minutes on the clock and Cullen revealed afterwards that he had picked up a bang on his knee.
Tadhg Furlong also remained on the bench for the duration of the game as he was nursing a niggle, but it is hoped both players will be available for the URC run-in.
Even though Prendergast extended the Leinster buffer with a 56th minute penalty, Glasgow were firmly in contention when George Horne crossed for a try moments after being introduced as a replacement.
This seemingly left the tie delicately poised moving into the final-quarter, but a late Ciaran Frawley penalty ultimately ensured the hosts claimed their 16th triumph of the current league campaign.
In stark contrast to their 52-0 demolition of the same opposition at the quarter-final stage of the European Champions Cup in the Aviva a little over a month ago, Leinster found it difficult to break down a stubborn Glasgow challenge on this occasion. While he will have been frustrated by elements of Saturday's performance, Cullen is hopeful his charges will benefit from this tight affair as they aim to get their hands on the URC trophy in the coming weeks.
'Sometimes it's better to have some of these tight games, isn't it? Some of these blow out games, I'm not sure what we have learned from a few of them. Listen, it was good that we had to figure things out today,' Cullen added.
Scorers for Leinster: Tries: J O'Brien Cons: S Prendergast Pens: S Prendergast, C Frawley.
Scorers for Glasgow Warriors: Tries: G Horne LEINSTER: H Keenan; T O'Brien, R Henshaw (J Osborne 22), J Barrett, J O'Brien; S Prendergast (C Frawley 61), F Gunne (L McGrath 51); A Porter (J Boyle 51), D Sheehan (R Kelleher 51), T Clarkson; RG Snyman, J Ryan (D Mangan 80); R Baird, S Penny, J Conan (M Deegan 61).
GLASGOW WARRIORS: K Rowe; S Cancelliere, H Jones, S Tuipulotu (T Jordan h-t), K Steyn; A Hastings, B Afshar (G Horne 55); J Bhatti (N McBeth 55), S Stephen (G Hiddleston 64), F Richardson (M Walker 55); J Oguntibeju (S Cummings 71), A Samuel (JP Du Preez 43); M Duncan (S McDowall 55), R Darge, E Ferrie.
Referee: B Whitehouse (WRU).
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