Leinster succumbed to the match fitness of Castres in a Pre-Season Friendly at Stade Pierre Fabre on Saturday evening.
The French club had already played three rounds of the Top-14, sitting pretty in third from two wins, while Leinster entered into their final hit-out before the beginning of the United Rugby Championship away to Glasgow on October 22nd.
The home side was hampered by the early loss of lock Ryno Pieterse to injury before Pierre Popelin popped them in front from a penalty in the third minute.
Leinster were slow to come to terms with the heat, estimated to be 29 degrees, from a strong sun until prop Rory McGuire snaffled a turnover from a Castres lineout.
This prompted better play from the Irish province, Ross Molony controlling the lineout and the maul moving bodies.
Still, Castres were quick to turn defence into an attack which was detonated by Tommy O’Brien’s terrific hit to blow up a three-on-one overlap.
It was a temporary reprieve as a muscular maul was illegally interrupted for the concession of a Castres penalty try before McGuire was binned for his part in the infringement.
This led to the introduction of tight-head Thomas Clarkson for wing O’Brien when the next scrum was signalled.
A Jordan Larmour intercept and Ciaran Frawley’s immaculate 50/22 kick provided relief from going down to 13 men.
Their character shone through when manufacturing a try for Jason Jenkins in the left corner for Sam Prendergast to convert for 10-7 in the 26th minute.
Castres were prevented from delivering on the advantage in territory by the scramble defence of Jenkins.
However, the weight of pressure was eventually turned into a second try from replacement Adrien Tafanel which out-half Popelin converted for 17-7 at the break.
Coach Leo Cullen resisted the temptation to make wholesale changes, bringing Harry Byrne, Ben Brownlee and Rob Russell into the backline, while leaving the forward pack unchanged
The last thing Leinster wanted to do was concede quickly. Yet, that is what happened when half-back Jeremy Fernandez punctured the defence for Popelin to add the extras in the 42nd minute.
This signalled a plethora of Leinster replacements to bring impact and a way back into a game that was getting away from them.
There was danger again until Will Connors picked up a turnover in the shadow of the posts and Robert Russell’s chase forced a Castres knock-on.
A scrum penalty generated by the fresh set of forwards was added to by out-half Byrne’s kick to the corner.
The impact of Russell was significant, especially in the air where the wing claimed three garryowens.
Leinster were unable to put the finishing touches to their approach play in the face of a motivated defence.
This was partly down to the slew of changes and the cobwebs that were slowly being blown away.
There was an improvement in the balance of the game as Leinster pressed the action without the accompanying end product required to pierce Castres.
The concession of penalties and knock-ons when hot on attack let the Frenchmen off the hook more than once.
It wasn’t all one-way traffic as Diarmuid Mangan closed the door in defence and Connors poached a penalty under Leinster’s posts.
A break in midfield by the industrious O’Brien turned the tide and educated pressure from the pack led to Luke McGrath diving in out wide from Harry Byrne’s sumptuous skip pass, the fly-half also converting.
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