It’s knock-out time. Mike Ford’s Bath side are in Dublin for perhaps the most hotly anticipated game of this European quarter-final weekend.
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Good afternoon, European rugby fans.
It’s been tough old job waiting for these games since January but come 3.15pm, the Champions Cup quarter finals will be under way.
Here’s some of the scenes from the road to Twickenham (which goes via the field at the Aviva Stadium).
Peter Stringer is in familiar territory. The 98-cap Ireland legend is hoping to inflict a little pain on his traditional provincial rival today.
Key to that hope will be this man, England out-half George Ford.
However, with Sean O’Brien back in blue Leinster will be a formidable opponent.
While you’re waiting on the kick-off, why not turn down the TV and have a read of Murray Kinsella’s big match preview.
Done with that? Here’s Jamie Heaslip raising the ghost of bloodgate and Bath’s Stuart Hooper who explains why open attacking rugby is much tougher than it looks.
If you’d rather take a look under the bonnet, Leinster’s captain also spoke to The42 about the nutritional preparation that goes in before a big game.
That’ll keep the nerves at bay until kick off.
Here’s the line-ups named by Matt O’Connor and Mike Ford yesterday.
Leinster
15. Rob Kearney
14. Fergus McFadden
13. Ben Te’o
12. Ian Madigan
11. Luke Fitzgerald
10. Jimmy Gopperth
9. Isaac Boss
1. Cian Healy
2. Sean Cronin
3. Mike Ross
4. Devin Toner
5. Mike McCarthy
6. Jordi Murphy
7. Sean O’Brien
8. Jamie Heaslip (captain)
Replacements:
16. Richardt Strauss
17. Jack McGrath
18. Marty Moore
19. Tom Denton
20. Dominic Ryan
21. Eoin Reddan
22. Gordon D’Arcy
23. Zane Kirchner
Bath
15. Anthony Watson
14. Horacio Agulla
13. Jonathan Joseph
12. Kyle Eastmond
11. Matt Banahan
10. George Ford
9. Micky Young
1. Paul James
2. Rob Webber
3. Kane Palma-Newport
4. Stuart Hooper (captain)
5. Dave Attwood
6. Carl Fearns
7. Francois Louw
8. Leroy Houston
Replacements:
16. Ross Batty
17. Nick Auterac
18 Max Lahiff
19. Matt Garvey
20. Alafoti Faosiliva
21. Peter Stringer
22. Sam Burgess
23. Tom Homer
Referee: Jerome Garces [France].
You can find omens anywhere you want to look for them, I guess.
BT Sport have flicked the switch on their condensed build-up to this huge fixture. They’ll give it almost 15 minutes of pre-match analysis and then we’re in full flow.
Among the gems that has given us time for so far are Craig Doyle explaining how you get a sense of being in Dublin and Lawrence Dallaglio saying it doesn’t get much bigger than this.
Maybe a curtailed window for pundits and presenters ain’t such a bad thing after all.
KICK-OFF: We’re under way on Lansdowne Road.
George Ford kicks the game off and Leinster get off to a solid start with Gopperth kicking long upfield.
Isaac Boss puts in to the first scrum of the game and Heaslip comes away with the ball despite Ross appearing to come under pressure.
Madigan kicks under pressure, it’s high and into the hands of Anthony Watson who makes a half break. But the move breaks down a phase or two later with a mis-placed pass.
Leinster picked up the knock-on and had a chance of a turnover counter, but after Heaslip spins the ball out wide, Madigan fizzes a pass to Gopperth and it’s forward.
Second scrum of the game and Bath hold the early advantage, Kane Palma-Newport getting the benefit of the referee’s whistle allowing Bath to set a platform in Leinster territory.
Nice shot of Jamie Heaslip inspiring the troops pre-match.
Leinster even up the scrum penalty count and Gopperth drills the kick into the 22.
It’s a great position, but Cronin’s throw is lost and Leinster have to start from deep after Young’s box kick.
Two big nearly moments from either side as, after a loose grubber, Matt Banahan makes a half break on his own 22 before the offload goes to ground.
Leinster regather and Boss picks out Teo on a direct line to a weak shoulder, but he’s held and loses possession attempting to force the offload.
That’s our first glimpse of Leinster on the attack, making ground in wide channels before trucking it up the middle when a little closer to the line.
Bath manage to slow the ball down though and Madigan has the chance to open the score.
Penalty! Leinster 3 Bath 0 (Madigan ’14)
He struck that a thousand times better than his last penalty for Ireland. Leinster lead after an entertaining 14 minutes.
Early chance to even it up for George Ford after Cronin is pinged for going off his feet at the breakdown.
Tough one for Ford… aaaand it drops a little short, a little left and Madigan will drop from 22.
Leinster look to run off the back of a scrum, but they go wide and flat and are not very effective as Kearney has the ball ripped from him.
Gopperth ends up having to kick and a break from Young sets Bath on the front foot, a phase later it was George Ford’s turn.
TRY! Leinster 3 Bath 5 (Ford ’20)
Magic from the England out-half, dummying a pass and cutting inside Toner and Murphy before his line leaves the cover sprawling.
He missed the conversion however. Off the post.
That is odd. Will Ford come to rue that miss?
Immediately from the restart, Leinster retake the lead after Fearns is called off his feet.
Penalty! Leinster 6 Bath 5 (Madigan ’25)
Oooh. We’re with the TMO after Anthony Watson took Rob Kearney out in the air. What will Garces do this time?
YELLOW CARD: Anthony Watson is in the bin as Garces views the replay with Kearney landing on his back.
Boss does well to milk a penalty after a nice carry from Cronin and offload to O’Brien brings Bath in contesting the ruck.
Penalty! Leinster 9 Bath 5 (Madigan ’27)
A mid-match mail in from Oliver Curley who is looking forward to a return to the Blue Magic he remembers from the Leinster backline.
“It is not too many years ago we would have thought Bath superior in the pack and Leinster with the magical backs. With Sexton back Leinster can reclaim that.”
Cian Healy and Mike Ross getting the upper hand at scrum time now and force a penalty after forcing the Bath pack backwards.
Ian Madigan, just, squeezes another penalty in.
Penalty! Leinster 12 Bath 5 (Madigan ’34)
With the Watson sin bin almost over, Bath were clearly happy enough to concede ground in that last scrum. Louw was stood out in the backline leaving just seven men in the scrum.
PENALTY! Leinster 15 Bath 5 (Madigan ’38)
Gorgeous strike from Mad Dog, he’s in the groove now, sending the ball on a draw from right to left where it bisects the posts.
HALF-TIME: Leinster 15 Bath 5
Leinster head for the changing rooms with a roar flowing down from the stands after Fergus McFadden put in a tremendous hit to stop Bath’s progress on halfway.
Leinster players run off the field, showing how hungry they are for more of the same. Bath have to show a different sort of body language. Hooper gathers his 15 in a huddle and keeps them on the field for an extra minute to get an early spake in about what task they need to perform in the second 40.
Here’s that big hit from Fergus ‘The Enforcer’ McFadden
https://vine.co/v/Olw7O2uTK5T
The stats man cometh
And here comes the second half.
An incredibly painful start to the second period as Fergus McFadden is caught in the chin by Eastmond’s shoulder and he is out absolutely cold.
Thankfully, Ferg McFadden is back up and walking (not very steadily) off the field. Zane Kirchener will see out this game.
Close! Kirchener’s second touch of the ball almost ends in a try. He made the initial run after taking kick and after Leinster set up a solid base on the left wing, they spin wide and the Springbok gets the ball 10 metres from the whitewash but is bundled out.
After Kearney attempts a huge drop goal that trails off left, he then kicks straight into touch from his own half and Bath attack from a scrum 35 metres out.
TRY! Leinster 15 Bath 12 (Hooper ’47)
Carbon copy break from Ford getting inside Toner before finding the perfect offload to Cooper.
He makes the conversion too and this game is well and truly back on.
The 50 minute mark s the signal for Matt O’Connor to call Mike Ross ashore. Marty Moore is in the game and immediately wins a penalty on halfway with a fine scrum.
PENALTY! Leinster 18 Bath 12 (Madigan ’52)
Madigan can’t miss at the moment a tremendous effort to split the posts from there.
Here’s the tackle that ended Fergus McFadden’s day.
https://vine.co/v/OlwqUAeQ51x
Eoin Reddan and Jack McGrath take to the field for the final quarter.
The prop will look to bring more solidity to a solid pack while Reddan’s job is always to inject pace and the unpredictable.
Ian Madigan loses possession in attack, but Bath decline the low percentage option of attacking as Young kicks long up the touchline to pin Leinster to their 10-metre line.
Bath make their big play from the replacements. Sam Burgess replaces Eastmond in the centre.
Let’s see T’eo and him get it on.
Heart in mouth time for Leinster after a lovely dink in behind the Banahan from Reddan.
Watson took on the running option and jinked out of Heasliip’s range to release Ford who in turn passed to Agulla but his hands let him down before he hacks the ball upfield.
After a fairly hectic pace to this game, you sense the players are just running low on steam now. Bath’s latest attack is ponderous and ends with a shocking kick from Ford that sails 6-7 metres clear of the touchline.
Good news fans of Irish rugby legends. Here comes Peter Stringer.
The game has lost a bit of rhythm with the replacements, but a solid line-out from Bath gave Ford the platform to launch a huge kick into Leinster territory.
Reddan kicks to touch from 10 metres to almost halfway, but Bath won that exchange.
Marty Moore shows he’s handy around the field too as he forces a very important penalty in his own half allowing Gopperth to relieve pressure.
Gordon D’Arcy is on the sideline ready to replace a struggling Rob Kearney.
Meanwhile, Bath go on the attack moving all the way from their own 22 to Leinster’s 10 after a misplaced Strauss line-out.
Penalty! Leinster 18 Nath 15 (Ford ‘ 74)
Stringer appeals for a penalty off O’Brien and gets it. It’s a straightforward one for Ford.
Squeaky bum time.
Superb steal from Francois Louw on D’Arcy give Bath another line-out opportunity in Leinster’s half..
Bath probing for a vital opening here to even this game up. Burgess carries big but you can see him thinking about a risky offload.
A phase later the pass to Matt Banahan is forward. Leinster breathe a big sigh of relief.
What happens if we’re level at full-time? This.
Chance! Reddan is blocked down and the Aviva skips a beat as Gopperth races back to deny Bath a certain winner.
We’re in the final minute and Leinster are hanging on. The next penalty is crucial… and it goes Leinster’s way as Bath are pinged (harshly) for going in at the side.
FULL-TIME Leinster 18 Bath 15
Leinster are in the Champions Cup semi-finals.
Lawrence Dallaglio arguing that the penalty perhaps should have gone the other way and he may have a valid point. But it doesn’t matter, Leinster’s pack arguably deserved that slice of luck.
They will be away in the semi-final, facing either Toulon or Wasps in the final four.
That’s it from me, folks. Thanks for holding on for that tense finale. We’ll have all the reaction from the bowels of the Aviva Stadium including plenty of views on that crucial late refereeing call.
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