MATCH SUMMARY Leinster 32 Tries: Horgan 2, Miller, Gissing Con: O'Meara 3 Pens: O'Meara 2 Biarritz 6 Pen: Yachvili Dg: Yachvili

Leinster 32-6 Biarritz

Two tries from Shane Horgan helped Leinster open their Heineken Cup campaign with a handsome victory over Biarritz at Lansdowne Road.

Horgan's double and further tries from Ben Gissing and Eric Miller allowed last season's semi-finalists to notch a bonus point in Pool Three.

Biarritz were totally outclassed and made too many fundamental errors with their only points coming from the boot of scrum-half Dimitri Yachvili.

Leinster controlled the first half into a stiff breeze when they turned around 15-3 to the good.

With number eight Victor Costello having one of those days in which his driving runs gained yards, Leinster were mostly on the front foot.

O'Meara slotted over a penalty in the second minute after Costello and the impressive Eric Miller had initially made ground.

Biarritz only began to get their backs motoring at the start of the second quarter, and after some pressure scrum-half Yachvili slithered over a drop goal from close range.

Seven minutes later, though, Horgan grabbed his first try with neat piece of footballing skills.

We just ground them down, and it was not easy for them to come back at us Shane Horgan.

The ball was moved wide on the left, and the big centre feathered through a neat kick and followed up to outpace the speedy Philippe Bernat-Salles for the touchdown.

With Biarritz number eight Oliver Nauroy in the sin-bin, Leinster charged further ahead with Horgan's breakaway effort in the 32nd minute.

He intercepted during a Biarritz attack in his own half and sprinted clear to go in under the posts for O'Meara to convert.

''I enjoyed that,'' said Horgan. ''All the Irish boys spoke this week about being back in the Leinster set-up again.

''It's something different from the Irish set-up and it was great to open up with a victory.

"We just ground them down, and it was not easy for them to come back at us when they had the wind in their faces.''

Leinster continued where they left off in the first half with their third try in the 47th minute when Miller pounced on a wayward Biarritz throw to steam over.

Yachvili landed a penalty in the 51st just before Brian O'Driscoll was sin-binned for prevented ball emerging from a ruck.

That was a very bad performance from us Biarritz coach Patrice Lagisquet

However, in that 10-minute spell, Leinster went further ahead with another O'Meara penalty.

Leinster, now in full flow, grabbed their bonus point when second-row Gissing rumbled over from a line-out close to the Biarritz line.

Biarritz coach Patrice Lagisquet, the former French wing, said his side just made too many mistakes.

''''We lost too much possession in the scrums and line-outs," he said. "You cannot do that at this level.

''We were not really prepared for the way in which Leinster hit us. We have lost our first game, and it is not going to be easy now.''

Leinster Lions: G Dempsey, J McWeeney, B O'Driscoll, S Horgan, G D'Arcy, C Warner, B O'Meara, R Corrigan (capt), S Byrne, P Coyle, M O'Kelly, B Gissing, E Miller, K Gleeson, V Costello. Replacements: E Byrne, G Hickie, D Dillon, S Jennings, B O'Riordan, D Quinlan, B Burke.

Biarritz: N Brusque; P Bernat-Salles, G Bousses, M Stcherbina, P Bidabe; J Peyrelongue, D Yachvili; P Balan , J-M Gonzalez, D Avril, D Couzinet, J Thion, O Tonita, O Nauroy, C Milheres.
Replacements: D Menieu, M Fitzgerald, H Manent, M Baget, L Mazas, J Marlu, Gobelet.