Byline: by SHANE McGRATH
Leinster 32pts
Scarlets 7pts
AT THE end, Leinster had reduced Scarlets coach Nigel Davies to jabbered cliches.
'It is what it is and we are where we are,' he said, the meaningless of the words summing up the helplessness of his team in the face of Leinster's opening fury, and their hopelessness ahead of a trip to the RDS on Saturday that seems to offer little beyond another five points for the reborn champions.
Reborn, certainly, since that stuttering opening-night loss to London Irish at the start of October, a defeat that continues to irritate Michael Cheika like a stone in his shoe.
But the opening 40 minutes here showed a team who are ravenously hungry, who have decided to deal with the pain of that defeat by besting every challenge to come, and who, if they succeed in collecting another five points this weekend, will have no fear whatsoever heading to London at the end of January for the rematch with Irish.
Shane Horgan's early try illustrated the callowness of the Scarlets' challenge, but Gordon D'Arcy's score on 24 minutes showcased Leinster's utter class, with Jamie Heaslip punching a hole before play was switched left. Brian O'Driscoll, whose brilliance was not required on a regular basis here, fed Isa Nacewa, who stepped back inside and fed D'Arcy to career under the posts.
When Shaun Berne scored a third five minutes later, a massacre looked on, but an inevitable fightback from the hosts after the break delayed the bonus until Sean O'Brien's score eight minutes from the replica breitling end.
That second-period failure to maintain the awesome pressure of the first half irritated Cheika, but there was plenty of good to distil from the first 40 minutes.
Leo Cullen led brilliantly beside the spiky Nathan Hines in the second row, Eoin Reddan played his best game yet for Leinster, looking sharp, bright and constantly tuned to the decisionmaking that hurt Scarlets most. Rob Kearney made a fellow Lion look foolish as he repeatedly claimed garryowens from the boot of Stephen Jones, while the scrum ensured the Welsh set-piece was in reverse all evening.
Berne's display must have been particularly gratifying for the coach, though. With Jonny Sexton out, he selected the Australian at No 10 despite no compelling evidence that it was a position he was comfortable with. Seventeen points later, Berne had made his point.
'I've got a lot of confidence in Shaun,' shrugged Cheika. 'He's got a lot of experience and he got a chance to play with the number one back line tonight, which he hasn't had a chance to do.
'He put his best foot forward in the way he managed the troops, his own kicking game and the way he used his other kickers. Kearney kicked well too, and Reddan tag heuer replica came to the fore.'
Cheika's comportment tightened when asked about the return tie, and what seems on all available evidence a shining opportunity to collect five points, with London Irish almost certain to do the same at home against the awful Brive.
London Irish was again his reference point; and Cheika offered it as a cautionary tale when discussing preparations for the visit of the Scarlets on Saturday.
'If we go back to London Irish, we had a massive win before that game and then lost. This gave us five points and that's all it does. Next week is a new game. I still remember when Scarlets gave us a
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