Amidst all the glory of Leinster's second Heineken Cup win and Northampton's feelings of despair, Michael Cheika has had a really bad weekend. First, his Stade side are pipped at the post by Quins to snatch his sides Heineken Cup spot. At half time in the following days final his team look assured of backing into the last spot in the tournament courtesy of a commanding Saints performance.
He then sees his spot taken again, this time with his old side producing such a masterful second half display that it either equals or eclipses what he achieved with the side. When your past accomplishments are diluted as well as your current being dashed, you are certainly having a mediocre weekend.
The turn of events from 39 minutes in the first half to 65 minutes in the second half have to be as shocking as any in the history of sport. This match was the classic upset. Until it wasn't. At half time the match looked identical to the 2007 final. London Wasps shock Leicester Tigers who at the time were an unstoppable juggernaut searching for the treble. The difference between the two outcomes is the half time team talk and the minutes that followed it. Leinster got the first score and Leicester didn't. Leinster became a great side and that Leicester side didn't.
It would be fascinating to hear Shane Jennings, who played in both games, tell the tale of two half times. It appears Jonny Sexton was the man that galvanised his team both on and off into a second half recovery.
The argument pre-match was whether the Northampton pack was the behemoth that the English media made them out to be. In the first half the answer was an emphatic yes. Often teams can get by with a creaking scrum because lets face it, the game isn't made up of just scrums. Problem for Leinster was they were committing enough handling errors that a lot of play was being started from the scrum. Their defence and attack was starting from retreated position so it was hard to launch meaningful attacks and to slow down Northampton's.
Tonga'uiha was rampant, and almost pancaked Mike Ross in one scrum that left the Leinster prop almost flat on his back. O'Brien and Heaslip dynamism was a non-issue in first half because the Leinster pack spent a lot of the half either going backwards or just making the gainline. Contrast the Leinster back row with the start of Clark and Dowson for Northampton. The opening try epitomised everything you want from your backrows. Clark taking the ball into contact, playing the linkman. Dowson trailing the ball like a shadow and waiting to receive the offload.
What at first appeared to be a blip turned into an onslaught, with Foden's rounding of O'Driscoll the highlight of a stellar first half for fullback. Leinster was perilously close to a breakthrough on two occasions. Had Strauss taken Horgan's offload the line was in view, and with his pace who knows. O'Driscoll linked well with O'Brien and Horgan before knocking on following a huge cover tackle by Foden.
Northampton prop Tom Mercey had the ultimate bittersweet afternoon and much like the lemon and sugar pancake, the bad is outweighed by the good. He was part of a seven-man scrum that won a penalty and a scrum against the head. But much like Theo Walcott's amazing run against Liverpool in the Champions League quarter final, his contribution, like Walcott's, will be overshadowed by the defeat that followed.
The elder statesmen in the Leinster side were the most culpable for the first half display. The second row and centre partnerships were sub par in the first half. D'Arcy was stripped of the ball in contact and was stepped by James Downey, who isn't exactly a strictly come dancing centre. Cullen looked shocked and awed when dealing with the ref at scrum time and it was Hynes's knock on from a routine catch that handed Northampton's third try right after Sexton had kicked Leinster back in the game. Worryingly for Northampton Tonga'uiha punctuated his dominant half with spells with the physio, foreshadowing his diminished second half performance.
Leinster's opening 25 minutes in the second half was like a condensed version of the 80 minute performance that we had expected from them. O'Brien was finally doing what O'Brien does, coming around the corner at the ruck and attacking the defence aggressively. Sexton grabbed the game and the backline moved far better with the quicker ruck ball while the higher pace and intensity yielded the yardage that Heaslip, O'Brien and Strauss are accustomed to making. Jennings freshened up the pack and was part of a big three-man hit that won Leinster a penalty.
It severely taxed the Northampton defence to stop the rumblings up the middle and with their backline drawn in Sexton skipped around the mismatched Tonga'uiha to start the comeback. It is hard to fault a Northampton player for how Leinster came back. They couldn't get their hands on the ball because Leinster recycled with such ruthlessness and speed.
Every Leinster player was getting their hands on the ball and contributing to attacks. Leinster's second try was from a Sexton wraparound that was aided by a blocking run by Heaslip. For those who think he should have be disciplined: Roger Wilson pulled Horgan down to similar effect in the build-up to Dowson's try. The incidents cancelled each other out.
The penalty Leinster won at the scrum to take the lead illustrated the turnaround. This time Healy, Strauss and Ross took their counterparts for a walk and Leinster took a lead that they would never relinquish.
The only explanation for Northampton's second half scrummaging is that they gassed themselves in the first half but Leinster's victory wasn't built on the scrum. That being said the first half destruction of what is basically Ireland's front row will leave all the supporters feeling ill at the thought of their World Cup prospects.
Northampton's second half was summed up when the camera flashed to their coach Jim Malinder and his staff. Their expressions were a mixture of shock, sadness and anger. When he had left his players he could probably taste the champagne. He looked like his champagne had been replaced with another liquid.
(Incidentally that was my second favourite coaches reaction. My number one was after France beat the All Blacks in the 2007 World Cup. Graham Henry and his assistants looked like the Eurovision producers in "Father Ted who know the crowd want to kill them after the choose My Lovely Horse to win: "We should probably leave through the back door. The crowd looks pretty ugly out there. )
Hynes vindicated his himself by barrelling over for the clincher and it was a great way to finish his brief but successful Leinster career. A great moment for the captain Cullen was in the build up to Hynes's try. An offload to him was left a few yards short but he launched himself at it like a Hollywood stuntman, complete with the barrel roll.
Cullen deserves credit for his second half. He was testy with the ref in the opening forty but was much more composed in the second half. Cullen is a great captain and even when he isn't involved in a match he should be always be a non-playing captain, Ryder Cup style. Contrast this to Hartley who had a very subdued second half, although he may have had a concussion in which case he gets a pass.
The determination of Leinster's second half effort was highlighted by Nacewa's huge cover hit on Ashton, which was similar to Foden's one earlier in the game. Credit to Foden who started the raid and if he wasn't starved of ball during the crucial 25 minutes Northampton probably would have one.
It was a phenomenally strange and exciting game and Leinster's reward is a crack at Munster and becoming the second team to do the double.
