Beattie's killing touch leaves Dublin desperate

Leinster 19 Bath

Leinster eschewed the opportunity to stage this tie at Lansdowne Road, opting instead for the Royal Dublin Showground not too far from their undersized Donnybrook ground. The thinking was that the crowd would have a more stirring effect in the confines of this equine arena than in the echoing vastness of the national stadium. The teams met just over a year ago at Lansdowne Road, a match won by the Irish side but made memorable whenGordon D'Arcy suffered the groin injury which disrupted his Lions' tour.

Bath went behind within four minutes to a Felipe Contepomi drop goal and at that stage the Argentinian international was manipulating the West Country side like a puppet master. He put up several high kicks and on one occasion David Bory made a pig's ear of a Garryowen ,knocking on as he attempted to gather it. That led indirectly to Leinster winning a scrum from which Contepomi cut through the slack Bath cover for a try which he converted. Bath punctuated the Leinster dominance with a couple of Olly Barkley penalties but that was as close Bath came to unsettling them and breaching their lines before the break.

It took two locks to show that Leinster's defence could be unpicked. Danny Grewcock thundered down the right before being pulled up just short of the line. When the ball was recycled his second-row partner, Steve Borthwick, got even closer, under the posts. Leinster conceded a penalty and their hooker David Blaney was sin-binned. But instead of opting for three easy points, Bath's fly-half Chris Malone chipped to the left corner. Up popped James Scaysbrook and fellow flanker Andy Beattie was credited with the touchdown. Barkley converted, but the lead was short-lived.

Bath conceded another penalty and Contepomi's kick went over via the left-hand upright. Leinster ratcheted up the intensity after that and when the Ireland lock Malcolm O'Kelly came on for his first rugby action since pulling out of the Lions' tour, Bath were hard pressed to keep the Irishmen at bay.

Two kicks in four minutes put the boot in Leinster hopes. First Barkley powered over a penalty from halfway, then Malone slotted a 45-metre drop goal, and although Contepomi countered with a 75th minute penalty, the Irish side just ran out of time.

Leinster: G Dempsey; K Lewis, G D'Arcy, S Horgan, R Kearney; F Contepomi, (capt), B O'Riordan; R Corrigan, B Blaney, E Burne, B Gissing, B Williams, C Potts, K Gleeson, J Heaslip.

Bath: L Best; D Bory, T Cheeseman, O Barkley, F Welsh; C Malone, M Wood; M Stevens, L Mears, D Bell, S Borthwick (capt), D Grewcock, A Beattie, J Scaysbrook, I Feaunati.

Referee: N Whitehouse (Wales).