Leinster restore some pride

That'll do for starters. Having notified their fellow Celts of their intentions for the coming season, Leinster served notice to the rest of European rugby by ruthlessly disecting the inaugural winners of the Heineken Cup and the reigning French champions, and then destroying them with a final flourish.

Granted, Toulouse came back at them after the break, and 40-10 - a record Cup win - was perhaps taking liberties. Leinster, as ever, were inclined to live on their nerves, obliging a sizeable Donnybrook crowd to do likewise, but the outcome was never really in doubt, even as Toulouse pressed ceaselessly before Leinster rubbed it in with an injury time double whammy which for skill won't be topped by anyone, anywhere this season. Whatever else, Dublin's Azzurri won't be dull this season.

As good as anything on the night though was their defending, for it must have been close to half their workload, and Toulouse swung from the hip after trailing 26-3 at the break.

Leinster did become a little ragged briefly before their final flourish, but that merely served to remind you how well they kept their shape generally.

Keith Gleeson is a boon for their continuity game, but he also came up with three or four huge defensive plays, and is assuredly edging ever closer to the Irish squad. Nonetheless, it was another Australian-born solution to their other problem position of recent years, Nathan Spooner, who was chosen as man of the match. Aside from a near perfect place-kicking display, the twice capped Wallaby remained a calming influence in the second-half rearguard action, when in the past Leinster might have lost their composure.

To his credit, Shane Horgan put the brickbats aside and really grew into the match, including making a couple of astonishing plays off the deck, while Brian O'Driscoll and, at the end, Gordon D'Arcy provided a real cutting edge in taking Leinster's tally to 39 tries in eight games this season.

Leinster's lineout was a constant source of variation and a constant source of attack, whether off the middle or off the tail, where Victor Costello was used effectively. And once again it was the uncelebrated artisans up front who really took the game to their visitors, enabling the back row to have a huge influence.

That there would be an almost predictable transformation in the mentality of Ireland's internationals when they donned their provincial jerseys this weekend didn't take long to materialise. About three seconds to be precise, as Malcolm O'Kelly led the chase to Nathan Spooner's breeze-assisted kick-off to gather on the gallop as only he can.

Although Horgan unfortunately spilled the ball when taking the recycle up the middle, the tone had been set. Leinster were up for this one in a big way, and healthily confident with it.

The tone was also set when Eric Miller was employed as the target runner off quick lineout ball to take Leinster over the gain line, and some good continuity over six phases lured Toulouse offside for Spooner to open the scoring.

Leinster were possibly guilty of trying to force the pass a little too much in their anxiety to press home their advantage, but Spooner steadied them some with three more penalties.

Isitoto Maka was proving a bit of a handful in the back row, however, and after intercepting an attempted chip and catch by Girvan Dempsey, the former All Black led a charge upfield which ended in a classy drop goal by the talented Nicolas Jeanjean.

Horgan it was who made the inroads for the crucial first try, bursting clear and off-loading for Dempsey. Though he was collared just short, Gleeson, Leo Cullen, Shane Byrne and co blew bodies out at the ruck for O'Driscoll to wriggle and jump over ala an American football running back.

Better followed when O'Driscoll was launched up the middle from Costello's ball off the tail and off the top of the line. O'Kelly took a stunning line on his inside shoulder to gallop into and through Jeanjean, and then reached for the line one-handed. Spooner's conversions made it 26-3.

Even that scoreline isn't anywhere near unassailable in this day age, and Toulouse came out a couple of minutes before Leinster for the resumption and scored a cracking, classic French try. Cedric Desbrosse made the initial yardage off a lineout, before Xavier Garbajosa, Andrea Lo Cicero and Christian Labit punched further holes on the opposite flank. Back then it came to the right via David Aucagne's long skip pass for Jeanjean to put Michel Marfaing over for his 21st try in this competition. It became scratchy for a while, but to complete an impressive night in impressive fashion, Leinster decided to go downfield and put the match to bed after an infusion off the bench from their tyros.

Horgan gathered a desperate clearance about 40 metres out. Casey set it up through the middle, Gordon D'Arcy straightened the line wider out and Hickie weaved his spell for O'Driscoll to gather the offload with an excellent support run and score his second try.

The boy's class, but even better followed, a late expression of skill when the subs join the fray. D'Arcy was chief catalyst and finisher after Gavin Hickie, Dempsey and Ben Willis offloaded for the winger to joyously romp home 30 metres out. Almost worth the admission money alone.

SCORING SEQUENCE: 9 mins: Spooner pen 3-0; 13: Spooner pen 6-0; 27: Spooner pen 9-0; 29: Spooner pen 12-0; 33: Jeanjean drop goal 12-3; 34: O'Driscoll try, Spooner con 19-3; 40: O'Kelly try, Spooner con 26-3; (half-time 26-3); 47: Marfaing try, Aucagne con 26-10; 80: O'Driscoll try, Spooner con 33-10; 84: D'Arcy 40-10.

LEINSTER: G Dempsey; D Hickie, B O'Driscoll, S Horgan, G D'Arcy; N Spooner, B O'Meara; R Corrigan (capt), S Byrne, E Byrne, L Cullen, M O'Kelly, E Miller, V Costello, K Gleeson. Replacements: A Magro for Horgan (49-53 mins), T Brennan for Costello (67 mins), B Casey for Cullen (74 mins), R Corrigan for Coyle, A Magro for Hickie (both 81 mins), G Hickie for S Byrne, B Willis for O'Meara (both 82 mins).

TOULOUSE: N Jeanjean; C Heymans, C Desbrosse, X Garbajosa, M Marfaing; D Aucagne, J Fillol; F Tournaire, Y Bru, A Lo Cicero, H Miorin, F Pelous (capt), J Bouilhou, I Maka, C Labi. Replacements: B Lecouls for Lo Cicero, S Dispagne for Labit (both 52 mins), F Michalak for Fillol (56 mins), F Belot for Miorin (57 mins), F Maka for Bouilhou (63 mins), W Servat for Bru (71 mins).

Referee: S Lander (England).