Leinster's performance of Franklin's Gardens should have carried a government health warning. For those of a nervous disposition and that constituted the province's tiny but vocal band of supporters, the seven and a half minutes of injury time was simply excruciating.
Matt Williams charges' stared down five successive penalties, the last of which was no more than six metres from the Leinster line. They did so with a skeleton staff as firstly Gary Halpin and then Shane Horgan were sent to the sin bin by referee Clayton Thomas for deliberate infringements in the shadow of the Leinster posts.
When Matt Dawson tapped the ball from the final penalty, the seminal moment in Leinster's season had arrived. The spectre of the Connacht defeat loomed large and the 13 players stretched thinly along the goal line seemed wholly inadequate: but as they had done throughout the injury time Leinster's defence refused to buckle.
Led by replacements Leo Cullen and Peter Smyth, successive Northampton ball carriers were gang tackled, until finally a fumble was forced allowing Thomas the option to conclude affairs. The reaction of the Leinster players to the whistle bespoke the emotion; for once this season Leinster had finished on the right side of a tight, competitive encounter. Leinster captain, Liam Toland who had an outstanding game and deservedly picked up the accolade of man of the match, conceded that he felt something approaching despair as he stood on the line awaiting Northampton's final surge. "I couldn't get the Connacht game out of my mind. I thought, 'oh please, not again.
"I looked at Matt Dawson and saw that a couple of the forwards were offering suggestions for the tap penalty. I could see it in his face that he wasn't sure what to do - I've been there myself - and that gave me a glimmer of hope. The tackling, particularly in injury time was magnificent, guys like Leo Cullen, Gary Halpin and Victor Costello were outstanding.
"On occasions like that you are looking for players to stand up, to step forward and take responsibility and they did that here. We achieved something special today." Toland admitted that the legacy of poor place kicking that has haunted Leinster this season looked set to scupper another afternoon of perspiration.
Eddie Hekenui missed two straight forward penalties early on but did show character when he posted a similar strike, ironically the most difficult of the three, in the second half. Leinster made mistakes but as Northampton coach John Steele would generously concede afterwards, "they showed that doggedness and character that is typical of Irish sides."
Coach Matt Williams spoke of a watershed for Leinster rugby, the instillation of belief that the province can win away from home in Europe. He was understandably proud of his charges and cited the quality of the rugby they have played in their last three matches. "They (the players) are still learning how to win and they have found qualities inside that they didn't think they had.
"There were a few nerves and we tried to score off first phase, instead of working the opportunities. We deserved not to lose." Costello and Toland were outstanding in a fine back-row effort that incorporated the diverse qualities of Trevor Brennan and Eric Miller, the latter making a big impact on his arrival in the second half.
Indeed the quality of display from the replacements was exemplary. Shane Horgan took an unbelievable amount of punishment but his partnership with Brian O'Driscoll, the latter getting ever closer to the levels he can achieve, should be translated to an international stage. Denis Hickie took his try well while Gordon D'Arcy and Girvan Dempsey excelled defensively.
Northampton, shorn of several top players, presented a one dimensional approach, driving ball through a 15 metre corridor either side of ruck and maul. The decision to take a tap penalty and not a scrum when Leinster were reduced to 13 men beggared belief. Allan Bateman will return for next Friday night's game and Steele offered a verbal undertaking to play his best available team for the remainder of the competition. Having conceded a rather soft try, Leinster's retort was a try of the highest quality, manifest in Horgan's beautifully delivered short pass, O'Driscoll's intelligent angle and cut-out pass to Hickie who glided to the corner. If they can reduce the number of errors and take the place-kicking opportunities then there are no boundaries to what this Leinster team can achieve.
Scoring sequence: 8 mins: Webster try, 5-0; 34: Hickie try, 5-5; 41: Dempsey penalty, 5-8. Half-time: 5-8. 46: O'Meara drop goal; 65: Hekenui penalty, 5-14; 69: Dawson penalty, 814.
NORTHAMPTON: I Vass; S Webster, L Martin, M Allen, B Cohen; A Hepher, M Dawson; G Pagel, S Thompson, M Stewart; J Phillips, O Brouzet; R Hunter, P Lam (capt), B Pountney. Replacements: G Seely for Lam 48 mins; S Brotherstone for Thompson 66 mins.
LEINSTER: G Dempsey; D Hickie, B O'Driscoll, S Horgan, G D'Arcy; E Hekenui, B O'Meara; R Corrigan, S Byrne, E Byrne; R Casey, M O'Kelly; T Brennan, V Costello, L Toland (capt). Replacements: L Cullen for Casey half-time; G Halpin for E Byrne 50 mins; E Miller for Brennan 55 mins; P Smyth for S Byrne 66 mins.
SIN BINNED: T Brennan (Leinster) 45-55 mins; G Halpin (Leinster) 84th min; S Horgan (Leinster) 85th min.
Referee: C Thomas (Wales).
