Heineken Cup

The Ireland captain (pictured) latched on to a superb pass out of the tackle from Shane Horgan after some slick handling by the Leinster backs to go over in the corner and set up a potential showdown at London Irish next week.

The five-point performance puts pressure on the Exiles, who downed Leinster in Dublin on the opening weekend of the tournament, when they travel to Scarlets on Sunday.

Leinster head Pool 6 on 20 points, five clear of their Irish rivals, and a win for the Exiles over Scarlets will set up a thrilling group decider at the Madejski Stadium next Saturday.

Brive were winless in the tournament going into the match and missing England internationals Riki Flutey and Andy Goode, but the French side were more than able opponents as they refused to let Leinster develop any momentum until late in the game.

Neither side were able to find their rhythm in a scrappy first half although Leinster had their scoring chances, only to be thwarted by a resolute Brive defence lead by forgotten England centre Jamie Noon and former Wales flanker Alix Popham.

Indeed, Leinster looked rusty due to the postponement of two Celtic League fixtures and were unable to touch down in the first half, and it was only a penalty try for constant infringing at a five-metre scrum by the Brive pack that separated the two sides on the scoreboard at the interval.

The second half was a much-improved affair as both sides contributed to a contest in which Leinster were never able to pull away until the closing stages of the game.

Ireland fly-half Jonathan Sexton made it 10-0 to Leinster with his only penalty of the match soon after the break, and wing Isa Nacewa was then worked into the corner two minutes later after a burst from Rob Kearney and some slick passing from Gordon D'Arcy and flanker Kevin McLaughlin.

Nacewa's try made it 15-0 to Leinster, but the visitors refused to lie down and hit back on the hour when lock Retief Uys burst over from a lineout near the home side's try-line.

Seven minutes later Leinster grabbed their third try when D'Arcy broke a tackle in midfield after an attacking position set up by number eight and man-of-the-match Jamie Heaslip.

With a bonus-point in their sights, Leinster threw caution to the wind in the last 10 minutes, but in doing so left themselves open to Brive counter attacks and the French side took advantage with a well-worked try from full-back Scott Spedding after a strong run out of defence by replacement wing Viliame Waqaceduadua.

That made the score 22-10 and left Leinster with one final chance of snatching a bonus point. The ball was spread wide from a scrum and after Kearney had hit the line at pace, Horgan was given some space on the right flank.

But rather than taking on the defence on the outside, the powerful wing cut inside and took out three defenders before flipping the ball out of the tackle to O'Driscoll on the loop as Leinster saved their best for last.