O'Driscoll's one-armed bandit pays out in gold

Leinster 19 Leicester 16

(GETTY)

The British and Irish Lions know what it is to have a fully fit Brian O'Driscoll sprinkling his gold dust around the place: it may have been eight long years ago, but the try he put past the Wallabies on a riotous night in Brisbane remains gloriously fresh in the memory, indelibly imprinted on the mind's eye. The Lions have also felt the loss of him. Those who believe the 2005 series in New Zealand tilted decisively towards the All Blacks the moment Tana Umaga and Keven Mealamu got ugly with the Irishman in the opening minutes of the opening Test are not far wrong.

Imagine, then, the intense discomfort – perhaps even the horror – felt by this year's South Africa-bound pride when, some 68 minutes into a tourniquet-tight Heineken Cup final, O'Driscoll attempted to volley away a dangerous little chip by the Leicester scrum-half Julien Dupuy, connected with nothing but fresh Scottish air, landed awkwardly on the point of his fragile right shoulder and stayed down, writhing like a ham actor on a WWF undercard. It was a grim moment, not least because O'Driscoll never acts.

Even had he left the field there and then, Ian McGeechan and the rest of the Lions hierarchy would now be fretting over their prize centre's immediate prospects vis-à-vis the forthcoming business with the Springboks. He did not leave the field. Instead, he took up positions that gave him an outside chance of staying out of harm's way until the pain eased, first at full-back and then on the left wing, his arm dangling uselessly by his side.

And what happened when the contest finally caught up with him, as it was bound to do? He set his jaw and tore headlong into the Leicester tacklers, wrong-footing and discombobulating them to such effect that he won a penalty for his side – a penalty Johnny Sexton kicked, just about, to win both the match and the title for the Dubliners.

"We've become pretty used to Brian doing that sort of thing," said Michael Cheika, the Leinster coach, in the ho-hum manner of a man who witnesses these minor miracles on an hourly basis. "He manages himself so well, he knew exactly what he needed to do out there. There was no question of him leaving the field in a match of that magnitude, with the scores level at 16-apiece. Equally, there was no question of me calling him off. If I'd tried it, he'd have given me the Ronaldo treatment."

Cheika's wise decision not to poke his nose in meant O'Driscoll could save his vitriol for those who, following the team's narrow loss to the Frenchmen of Castres in a pool match shortly before Christmas, reached for mockery and ridicule as their weapons of choice. The term "ladyboys" was used in Leinster's connection, which did not amuse the national captain one little bit.

As he remarked on Saturday night: "We haven't forgotten the things – very distasteful things – that were said in certain quarters back in December. Today is sweet and we'll celebrate this amongst ourselves, and with the die-hards who have supported us all the way through. We know who they are.

"Other people will suddenly want to come along for the ride, but the people we cherish are those who are always there for us."

O'Driscoll said many more generous things in the course of this address, recalling the efforts of those who gave everything of themselves on behalf of the province when things were not quite so saccharine on the European front – the Denis Hickies and Reggie Corrigans and Victor Costellos – and placing Rocky Elsom, the rumbustious Wallaby flanker who turned in another mammoth performance here, among the very best players he had ever operated alongside. But the overriding impression was of a man still smarting from perceived injustices and seeking closure, whatever the cost. It could be that the Springboks will really cop it next month.

By which time, Elsom will be back in his native Australia, preparing to resume his career at international level. The big Melburnian is under contract to Leinster for a little while yet, but the Wallaby hierarchy has made it very clear that they want him home, and while Cheika, another Australian, insists there are still talks to be had – "He'd be a massive loss to us, and we won't give in easily," he said – there is a widespread assumption that when the title is defended next season, Elsom will not be among the defenders.

There will be no grudges, for on Saturday he did as much as anyone, and more than most, to bring Leinster's 14-year pursuit of this trophy to a conclusion. He made a rare old mess of Leicester's line-out, he was strong on the charge – one second-half stampede left such substantial figures as Tom Croft and Alesana Tuilagi eating grass – and utterly ruthless in the tackle. There was every reason to suppose Elsom would tire in the last 10 minutes, but it was he who drove the Tigers into a flurry of late errors that ensured they would not threaten to overturn the three-point advantage secured by Sexton's boot.

Talking of Sexton, a 23-year-old fill-in for the incapacitated Felipe Contepomi, it is difficult to recall a more assured performance from a young player called upon to manage a game of this importance.

Inspired by O'Driscoll's early drop goal, he landed one of his own from the best part of 60 metres, added three more points with a penalty before the interval, converted Jamie Heaslip's close-range try on 50 minutes and generally had himself a ball. The match-winning kick was not the finest he will ever strike, but they all count. He is some prospect, and with Contepomi heading for a spell on the Cote d'Azur next season, there is every chance of regular top-level exposure and an assault on Ronan O'Gara's place in the Test team.

Leicester lost with good grace, but then, they had little obvious cause for complaint. Ben Woods' try, the product of some powerful running from the excellent Dan Hipkiss and a clever option from Sam Vesty, was far from the worst, but the mechanics of their game seemed out of sync somehow.

It would be stretching a point to suggest that O'Driscoll beat them on his own, a limb short, but it cannot be denied that when this long European campaign reached its climax, the English champions had no one quite as good to call upon.

Scorers: Leinster: Try Heaslip; Conversion Sexton; Penalties Sexton 2; Drop goals O'Driscoll, Sexton. Leicester: Try Woods. Conversion Dupuy. Penalties Dupuy 3.

Leinster: I Nacewa; S Horgan, B O'Driscoll, G D'Arcy, L Fitzgerald (R Kearney, 75); J Sexton, C Whitaker; C Healy (R McCormack, 64-69), B Jackman (J Fogarty, 58), S Wright, L Cullen (capt), M O'Kelly, R Elsom, S Jennings (McCormack, 38-43), J Heaslip.

Leicester: G Murphy (capt, M Smith, 47); S Hamilton, A Erinle, D Hipkiss, A Tuilagi; S Vesty, J Dupuy (H Ellis, 80); M Ayerza, G Chuter (B Kayser, 57), M Castrogiovanni (J White, 55), T Croft, B Kay, C Newby, B Woods (L Moody, 63), J Crane (L Deacon, 31).

Referee: N Owens (Wales).