Champions Cup Round of 16: Leinster 36 Leicester Tigers 22
Victory supersedes all other considerations in knock-out rugby, but the Leinster coaches and players won’t be oblivious to the shortcomings of what was a scruffy performance at times against a game Leicester Tigers side that caused their hosts sufficient discomfort to make the review an occasionally painful watch.
Leo Cullen’s charges welcome La Rochelle to Dublin next Saturday evening (5.30) for a quarter-final tussle and the latest instalment in the Champions Cup rugby’s most vibrant current rivalry. Les Maritimes overcame a 16-point deficit to ride out the storm in Cape Town and Ronan O’Gara’s European kingpins would love to double down on last year’s final win at the Aviva Stadium.
Leinster’s pool victory at the Stade Marcel Deflandre in December broke a sequence of defeats but there is more of a gut check jeopardy wise when teams must go all-in, in that win-or-bust showdown.
The fitful quality and periodically distracted nature of Leinster’s performance against the Tigers, reinforced the maxim that the devil in the detail starts with the basics before moving on to more elaborate patterns.
Set-piece issues, a failure to slow down Leicester’s ruck speed, coming off second best aerially and in the kicking game in general, losing too many gainline collisions, all had knock-on effects that enabled the visitors to enjoy far more possession and territory than they might have anticipated. And they caused problems, especially when getting the ball to the edges.
Some of Leinster’s tackling wasn’t robust enough, the defending sometimes lacked cohesion and trust to a point, which the Tigers exploited and might have done so to an even greater extent with more accurate handling.
Cullen acknowledged: “It’s doing the basics well, making sure we exit well, don’t put yourself under unnecessary pressure. That’s what big knock-out games are about, executing the basics under pressure, so we need to make sure we execute the basics better than we did at times.”
The outlook is far from gloomy, some of Leinster’s attacking play was first class, nuanced and underpinned by an intelligent appreciation of exploiting space. Jamison Gibson-Park was a principal figure in those moments, both an enabler and a finisher. He had a magnificent game, his rugby acuity elevating the team’s attack.
Three tries were a fitting reward, containing many of the aforementioned virtues, running good trail-lines, working the short-side and like all great players being in the correct place at the right time. Jamie Osborne was another high-profile catalyst in his team’s best attacking moments.
Joe McCarthy, Dan Sheehan, Robbie Henshaw, and Hugo Keenan also stood tall, but few escaped the general malaise. Leinster absorbed the concession of an early try to Handre Pollard, the catalyst for which was a break and offload by the excellent former Munster prop James Cronin, who had a fine game, to forge a 15-7 lead.
Gibson-Park finished off McCarthy’s midfield gallop complete with a well-timed inside pass and then the scrumhalf worked a short-side exchange of passes with Sheehan to scoot over for a second try.
Pollard kicked a penalty before Gibson-Park completed the hat-trick inside the half-hour, Henshaw’s disguised pass put Osborne through a gap, and he linked with his scrumhalf whose sidestep sent the remaining cover to the Dodder as he crossed under the posts untouched.
Leinster’s spotty discipline and handling errors continued post interval as James Lowe was dispatched to the sinbin during which time Cronin grabbed a try at the back of a lineout maul.
Henshaw’s intercept try and another for Jack Conan ensured that there were no palpitations among the 40,000 spectators, even when Tigers replacement hooker Charlie Clare benefited from a Leinster lineout malfunction.
Leinster won’t get too bogged down by overly dwelling on the blemishes and instead may focus on attitude, concentration, and application as important performance tenets for next weekend. Cullen said of the La Rochelle clash. “It’s on the day. The same the previous days [when we played La Rochelle], there was very little between the teams.
“We had leads in both of those finals which we weren’t able to hold on to, that is some game management and young players have been through that experience.
“Players are two years on now they have had that experience, and in playing with Ireland during the Six Nations or the World Cup. It’s just making sure everyone adds their bit to the mix. It will be on the day with two sets of incredibly motivated players doing the best for their clubs and wanting to put on a big performance.
“It’s great that there is lots of intrigue around the battle. They’ll be saying all the good things they try to do, and we will try to play to our strengths as well. We’ll have a good exchange hopefully.”
SCORING SEQUENCE – 4 mins: Pollard try, con, 0-7; 8: R Byrne pen, 3-7; 12: Gibson-Park try, R Byrne con, 10-7; 23: Gibson-Park try, 15-7; 28: Pollard penalty, 15-10; 29: Gibson-Park try, R Byrne con, 22-10. Half-time: 22-10. 45: Cronin try, 22-15; 49: Henshaw try, R Byrne con, 29-15; 71: Conan try, H Byrne con, 36-15; 75: Clare try, Pollard con, 36-22.
LEINSTER: H Keenan; J Larmour, R Henshaw, J Osborne, J Lowe; R Byrne, J Gibson-Park; A Porter, D Sheehan, T Furlong; R Molony, J McCarthy; R Baird, J Van der Flier, C Doris.
Replacements: C Healy for Porter (46 mins); R Kelleher for Sheehan, M Ala’alatoa for Furlong, J Conan for van der Flier (all 52); J Jenkins for McCarthy (61); C Frawley for Keenan (65); H Byrne for R Byrne (67); B Murphy for Gibson-Park (72); Porter for Healy (77).
Yellow card: Lowe (45 mins).
LEICESTER: J Shillcock; F Steward, D Kelly, S Kata, O Hassell-Collins; H Pollard, J van Poortvliet; J Cronin, J Montoya (capt), D Cole; H Wells, K Hatherell; H Liebenberg, O Cracknell, J Wiese.
Replacements: F van Wyk for Cronin (51 mins); W Hurd for Cole (56); T Whiteley for Van Poortvliet, P Cokanasiga for Kelly (both 67); F Carnduff for Hatherell, E Ilione for Cracknell (both 70); C Clare for Montoya, M Brown for Steward (both 73).
Referee: P Brousset (France).
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