The match in Cardiff may have seen Leinster get the win over Cardiff but by no means was it straight forward. Leinster started with all guns blazing, taking a quick penalty tap from Eoin Reddan saw Sean O'Brien seal the deal under the posts, Kearney silenced the Cardiff crowd once more by sliding over the line, two lovely tries that Sexton had no problem in converting and giving the away team an advantage of 14-0.
This was short lived however, Leigh Halfpenny's boot was on fire last night, he's a genetic freak when it comes to long range kicking abilities, and hammered over two penalties to change Leinster's early lead to 14-6.
Just before half-time Leinster got lucky with Halfpenny narrowly missing a mammoth of a kick, however, Dan Parks and his sideburns surprised a sleepy Leinster by slicing over a cheeky drop goal to narrow the score to 14-9. Leinster answered back with a penalty successfully kicked over by Sexton.
Gordon D'arcy hasn't had the best of times of late and last night was another blow for him with what appeared to be a smack to the ribs, he was taken off with our boy Isa put on as replacement. Penalties came to both sides with Sexton successfully slotting his over and thankfully to the Gods above Halfpenny missing some of his.
Sexton had to be taken off as a caution due to what appeared to be a leg injury but was later confirmed as cramp, better to be safe than sorry with two HC matches in the next two upcoming weeks.
The Blues reeled in the score to a one point gap with a try by Gethin Jenkins, to be honest I didn't agree with this one, from what I saw the TMO was inconclusive but then again Blues had been pushing Leinster to their limits, they dominated Leinster thereafter and I thought they may have had it for the winning, Halfpenny was given more opportunities and failed to use it to his advantage, McFadden gave Leinster a four point lead with a penalty awarded after Andrew Conway was impeded while chasing his own kick.
The final dying seconds saw Blues have advantage and it seemed the game could have been theirs until McFadden saved the day, resulting in a turnover that saw Kearney kick the ball out to let the final whistle blow with a fulltime score of 23-19, phew!
I always say a win is a win but Leinster seemed a little sluggish in their last two matches against Connacht and Blues, just hoping their blue magic is back in force this weekend! Until then, Cúige Laighéan Abú!
As we had a Welsh region this weekend, here's a Q and A with Osprey's lock Ian Gough
Name: Ian Gough
Nickname: Goffey , Van, Merv
Age: 35
Hometown: Cwmbran
Caps for Ospreys: 105
Caps for Wales: 64
School: llantarnam
What do you do for fun outside of rugby and training?
motorbikes, surfing, stand up paddle boarding , aerobatic flying and the odd game of squash
How did you get into rugby?
Was it because you were too clumsy for any other sport? ;)
All my mates played soccer but I wasn't that great to be fair! So one Sunday whilst bored my father says right you're going to play rugby , soccer kit in hand went along had my first game and boom that was it!
Who's the dimest player at the ospreys?
Well no ones too dim but Ian Evans does come up with some absolute classics at times, he borders on comedy genius but don't think he means it! (check out yantos yak!)
Gavin Henson, your thoughts??
great talent, too much is said about him , people should just let him play now and cut all this hype crap - when he puts a seasons worth of form together then we can comment
Who's the longest in the shower?
Luke charteris !!!
If you were granted three wishes what would they be?
Wish my plate is always full , glass is never empty and there's always a roof over my head - simple things for simple folk !
Best rugby moment?
Have many , any time we've won anything - leagues, cups , rep honours - 2008 grand slam sticks out though
Worst injury on the pitch? Give us all the gorey details!
Dislocated shoulder and popped ribs wasn't a pleasant experience , although James king having his ear ripped off last week beats my ones!
Worst injury off the pitch? (Clumsy!)
Ripped leg open with a stanley knife trying to cut carpet, almost took a finger off making a Dutch arrow with a Stanley knife - guess I should stay away from them eh!
Best prank you ever played on someone?
3 man lift on a mouthy mate whilst on a stag due in Amsterdam - needles to say he is still distraught
Best prank someone ever played on you?
Was working in Cardiff prison and my dad who was a warden at the time set it up for a prisoner to come in the room and start getting aggressive ! I was 17 and new pants were needed afterwards....
If you and Paddy Doherty the pikey were in a brawl, who would win?
Paddy - I'm a lover not a fighter!
Tell us a random fact about yourself?
Middle name is Mervyn after 70's welsh number 8 mervyn Davies
Funniest thing you've heard in a scrum or during a match?
Alun Wynn Jones chasing a kick running along side his opponent telling him how sexy his red boots looked!
