Early tries by Maama Molitika and Nick Macleod had set Dai Young’s men on their way to what would have been a crucial victory in the race for the title but Leinster fought back in the second period.
Tries by Michael Berne and Luke Fitzgerald after the break and 14 points from the boot of Felipe Contepomi clinched the win. The Argentinean fly half showed ultra cool composure to sink their title rivals at the Royal Dublin Showground.
It was a huge blow for the Blues who lose valuable ground in the race for the Magners crown. Young’s men were boosted for the trip to Dublin by the inclusion of Dragons stars Tom James, Robin Sowden-Taylor and Jamie Roberts, fresh from his international debut against Scotland at the Millennium Stadium.
The hosts lined up without talisman Brian O’Driscoll but the statistics didn’t bode well for Young’s title contenders. They had lost their previous two matches in the league and were on the wrong end of the result in the 30-19 reverse fixture at the Arms Park back in September.
And they faced a huge test as only the Llanelli Scarlets have recorded a win on Leinster soil this season.
But the Blues began brightly and got off to a dream start when Molitika powered over after three minutes. The Tongan flanker broke through the home defence to finish off an excellent series of driving phases and possession.
Ben Blair extended the lead with the extras as the home crowd were silenced, and the Blues were in dreamland eight minutes later when Macleod burst through to double the try count.
A brilliant break by centre Jamie Robinson supplied Sowden-Taylor who found the fly half in space, the 24-year-old spotted a gap and glided through it with consummate ease to score under the posts. Blair added the extras to give the Blues an impressive 14-point lead.
Contepomi finally got Leinster on the scoreboard on 21 minutes with a close-range penalty. The hosts upped the tempo and centre Berne got them back into the match on 34 minutes when he touched down in the left corner from Shane Horgan’s pass.
Ireland star Horgan showed no signs of rustiness on his return from his rib injury and put his hand up for a recall for the Six Nations clash against Scotland next Saturday. Contepomi converted to bring Leinster back to 14-10 before Blair reaffirmed the Blues seven-point lead on the stroke of half-time with a sweetly-struck penalty from 45 metres.
The Blues seemed to lack concentration at the beginning of the second period and were guilty of conceding several soft penalties. But he made no mistake two minutes later with his second successful penalty through the posts after Sowden-Taylor was caught offside.
Leinster piled on the pressure but they were halted by a fantastic thumping tackle by man-mountain Molitika on Chris Whitaker. But then he was yellow-carded after 53 minutes for persistent infringing. Contepomi took full advantage and brought Leinster to within a point with his third penalty.
But the Blues defence, led by captain marvel Xavier Rush, proved a tough nut to crack during the period with 14 men and only conceded those three points before Molitika returned to the fray.
Then Contepomi put the home side into the lead with 13 minutes remaining with his fourth penalty. Blair missed the chance to win the crucial match on 72 minutes as his penalty attempt fell just short. But the Blues were sunk when Fitzgerald gathered his own chip and chase to score in injury time to hand Leinster a double over the Welsh region this season.
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