Heineken Cup - Leinster kings of Europe

Eurosport - Sun, 24 May 11:42:00 2009

Leinster capped an outstanding year for Irish rugby by claiming a first Heineken Cup with a 19-16 win over English champions Leicester at Murrayfield.

RUGBY Leinster Heineken Cup Champions 2009 - 0

Stand-in flyhalf Jonny Sexton proved the difference as he showed no nerves in slotting over a 30-metre penalty with 10 minutes remaining to split the two evenly matches teams.

Leinster's success, the third Irish province to lift the trophy after Ulster and Munster, followed a first Grand Slam for Ireland in 61 years in March and the selection of a national record 14 players in the original British & Irish Lions squad.

The result was tough on Leicester who were aiming for a record equalling third triumph in the competition and had recovered after a surprisingly sluggish start to lead by seven points in the second half.

Irish captain Brian O'Driscoll gave Leinster a seventh minute lead when he dropped a goal from in front of the posts after early pressure, but Leicester's French scrumhalf Julien Dupuy replied with a penalty two minutes later.

Sexton, proving an able replacement for the injured Argentine international Felipe Contepomi, looked assured with his kicking and rifled a drop goal over from halfway after 18 minutes to regain the lead.

Leinster's confidence grew with Sexton adding a penalty to extend their lead to 9-3 as they dominated territory and possession.

But canny Leicester, eight times English champions, forced Leinster onto the back foot after a clean break by England centre Dan Hipkiss and tighthead prop Stan Wright was shown a yellow card in the 33rd minute for desperately tackling flyhalf Sam Vesty without the ball.

Dupuy kicked the resulting penalty at the start of what proved to be a costly 10 minutes for the Irish side.

Leicester made the most of their numerical advantage and after heavy pressure on the Leinster line flanker Ben Woods crashed through two tackles to score the game's opening try a minute before halftime.

Dupuy converted and against the run of play Leicester went in 13-9 in front.

More indiscipline at the start of the second half cost Leinster when prop Cian Healy needlessly gave away a penalty at a ruck and Dupuy slotted over his third penalty, the 13th point Leicester had scored in Wright's absence.

But when Leinster were restored to 15 men they began working through the phases and number eight Jamie Heaslip stretched over from the back of a ruck in the 50th minute after Australian Rocky Elsom and O'Driscoll had gone close.

Leicester then gave away a penalty and petulant back chat resulted in referee Nigel Owens penalising them a further 10 metres. Although Sexton could not convert, he made amends with another penalty, the decisive kick, 10 minutes from time.

Reuters

Comment 9 - 28 of 28

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  1. What a fantastic game, well done Leinster.....Syd,­ Australia

    From Breaker, on Sun 24 May 11:46PM

  2. From an Ulster supporter here, a massive congrats to­ all Leinster fans and the team, i have just arrived­ back to Northern Ireland today from Edinburgh and you­ guys made that one hell of a final.

    The Leinster fans­ are a credit to the team and the province in general­ and never stopped from an hour before kick off in the­ ground to an hour and more after.

    Rose street in­ Edinburgh will never be the same again after you guys­ were done with it :)

    and a pleasure to see supporters­ from all 4 provinces backing Leinster.

    all in all a­ BIG BIG thanks to you guys and bloody well done.

    From glenn, on Sun 24 May 9:32PM

  3. Great Day for Leinster and Irish Rugby Now do the­ Business in South Africa

    From a Leinster Girl

    From carmelk, on Sun 24 May 3:21PM

  4. result wasnt harsh on leicester at all they never­ looked threatening save for about 15 mins at the end of­ the first and start of the second half, when leinster­ had a man off the field anyway. good match, but­ leinster deserved it this year!!!

    From fergus.oherlihy, on Sun 24 May 3:03PM

  5. Elsom was absolutly immense, was he not man on the­ match in the last three cup games, guins, munster and­ the final. O'driscoll been fantastic this season.­ Fitzgerald in the last two games iv seen him play(final­ and munster) has been outstanding too. I wasnt too­ happy when i saw his name in the lions squad as I never­ rated him that highly, but he has really pace and gets­ over the gain lineeverytime, have to say i am a fan of­ him now. So happy to see leinster win!! froma scotsman

    From bmuirboy, on Sun 24 May 1:02PM

  6. Nice to see some decent comments , the matchcast was an­ insult to rugby , banter yes downright abuse no &­ it came from both sides . Well done to leinster it was­ fully deserved , Im gutted but credit where credits due­ its been a great season for Irish rugby & why not­ lap it up , seasons like this dont come around very­ often . When we beat Cardiff there supporters were a­ credit to rugby with there comments & we should­ also show Leinster the same respect . Well done now­ lets all get behind the Lions & give the Boks a­ good hiding

    From firstchoicepm, on Sun 24 May 12:23PM

  7. Leinster must try to keep Rocky Elsom there ...­ whatever it takes!
    His contribution was immense and it­ was the difference that gave Leinster the win .... he­ is not only the Man of the Match, he is Man of the­ Season!

    From Girl666, on Sun 24 May 11:00AM

  8. a great year for the irish congratulations to leinster­ they deserved it,and with the grand slam and magners­ league a great year all round for irish teams

    From dermot, on Sun 24 May 9:52AM

  9. Very good game, could have gone either way ... unsung­ Leinster pack was solid, and Sexton impressed, as did­ Fitzgerald in spurts ... and Hipkiss had a stormer for­ Leicester. Elsom was immense, got Leinster on the front­ foot and probably made the difference, shame he isnt­ eligible for the Lions!

    From john, on Sun 24 May 4:57AM

  10. From a Connacht man, I'm very very happy for­ Leinster, they deserve it. I was kinda of gettin sick­ of the Munster hype all this time when Leinster had a­ talented team as well. Today though, they proved they­ had that talent and I am delighted for them

    From Creaven91, on Sun 24 May 4:20AM

  11. How long before they create a winner of the Heinekin­ Cup and the Super 14 winner?

    Imagine it Leinster V­ Chiefs or Bulls, for World Club Champs say next month?­ Would suit both teams to host then, just before­ Southern Hemisphere Autumn tours.

    Thoughts?

    From Joe, on Sun 24 May 3:26AM

  12. :D complete euphoria :D thank you leinster Fantastic­ performance , showed true Irish heart!! leicester are a­ quality nd genuine side wit great talent so this is an­ amazing achievement!!:D well done! nd great to see all­ good comments . thats the quality of rugby!

    From Craig H, on Sun 24 May 12:00AM

  13. Well done to Leinster capping a superb 12 months for­ irish rugby. Not sure about Sexton tho, he had a­ fantastic 2 games(semis and final) but lets wait and­ see if he can maintain his form before declaring a­ sucessor for O Gara. Needs to improve his kicking. I­ really hope he is the answer though as O Gara does seem­ to be on the wane.

    Have to give some more dredit to­ Leinster, they have finally come out of the shadow of­ Munster. They've shown this year that they have the­ physicality and bottle to mix with the big boys. Elsom­ has just a rock and O Driscoll has been reborn this­ year. Cian Healy was also brill and he is also one for­ the future of Irish rugby.

    Well done again from a­ Munsterfan.

    From Colin, on Sat 23 May 11:30PM

  14. And o gara's replacement has just but found, and­ his name is jonny sexton, he was immense today. Much­ better attacking play than ronan and can kick too,­ amazing player, amazing game

    From bmuirboy, on Sat 23 May 10:26PM

  15. come on leinster

    From SimonO, on Sat 23 May 9:22PM

  16. Welcome to the Heineken Cup winners club Leinster. ­ Well deserved and well done.

    From Jim A, on Sat 23 May 9:06PM

  17. i m really happy lenster won well done lads

    From altin m, on Sat 23 May 8:59PM

  18. Leinster boys deserved it well done!
    But tigers to me­ were short on ideas and did not spread the ball to the­ wing(corner flag job)enough.We should have especillay­ in the second half stretch the opposition and find the­ gaps.Vesty did`nt have the best game.

    From PAUL, on Sat 23 May 8:31PM

  19. well done leinster another great day for irish rugby

    From decoreynolds, on Sat 23 May 8:21PM

  20. Well done to Leinster. They always had the talent but­ never managed to be consistent enough. But i think they­ have developed it immensely over the last two seasons­ and i doubt this will be the last time they lift­ silverware.What a fantastic display by sexton. No doubt­ Ireland has found its new out half.

    But all credit to­ the tigers also. They really turned around their season­ from a poor start, and no doubt they will be contenders­ again next season.

    From timdalyjnr, on Sat 23 May 8:20PM
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