THIS WAS A proper battle in the first half and there’s no doubt that Leinster’s cause was helped by the visitors playing 30 minutes of the game with 14 men, but Leo Cullen’s side eased their way to a dominant win in the end.
A seven-try bonus-point win means Leinster have definitely topped Pool 2 of the Champions Cup and will probably go into the knock-out stages as one of the top two seeds overall, which would ensure home advantage in the Round of 16, quarter-finals, and semi-finals.
But they will almost certainly have to wait until the last pool-stage game between Sale and Toulon tomorrow to be sure of that.
For now, they can reflect on a highly entertaining meeting with Premiership leaders Bath, whose Finn Russell-inspired attack caused them major problems in the opening 40 minutes.
This season, Jacques Nienaber’s defence had only conceded 20 points or more twice before tonight. So in that sense, keeping Bath scoreless in the second half would have been pleasing.
Leinster showed their quality in the second half. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
Bath loosehead prop Beno Obano had a night to forget as he was yellow-carded for a high tackle late in the first half, then shown red after getting his second yellow for a scrum penalty with a quarter of the game left.
Leinster made a wobbly start in front of a crowd of 40,195 people as this fired-up Bath side scored two tries in the opening eight minutes and though the hosts responded quickly with a brace of Robbie Henshaw scores, they trailed 21-19 at the break after conceding again on the stroke of half time.
A massive impact from RG Snyman and Caelan Doris helped Leinster to kick on in the second 40 minutes but even with a haul of seven tries, they might have a few frustrations about a number of other missed opportunities and handling errors in attack.
Still, 18 match points from a possible 20 in the pool stages, with wins over Bristol, Clermont, La Rochelle, and now Bath, is impressive stuff and Leinster have given themselves an excellent chance of a top-two seeding for the knock-out stages
Henshaw was named player of the match after his two-try effort this evening, while fullback Hugo Keenan impressed on his return, RG grabbed a brace with apparent ease, Andrew Porter and Rabah Slimani shone in a superb collective scrum display, and Joe McCarthy was abrasive. Out-half Sam Prendergast had some lovely touches in the second half, Jordie Barrett was class, and Garry Ringrose grew into the game on the right wing.
As Leinster now head into the Champions Cup knock-outs with high hopes of ending heir wait for a title, Johann van Graan’s Bath drop down into the Challenge Cup Round of 16
Alfie Barbeary celebrates his opening try. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
The English side came out of the blocks superbly, with Russell’s brilliant short kick-off won back by wing Ruaridh McConnochie to launch an irresistible opening salvo. Russell’s beautiful pass allowed flanker Ted Hill to make massive inroads down the left and though Keenan halted him, number eight Alfie Barbeary thundered onto the ball on the next phase to score through James Ryan’s tackle. Russell converted from wide left.
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Russell nearly grabbed their second when strong Bath defence saw Jamie Osborne offload loosely, but Prendergast managed to race back and nudge the ball over his own tryline, which only meant a five-metre scrum for the Premiership side.
They scored on first phase as Russell drew in Henshaw and passed to fullback Tom de Glanville, who broke through Osborne’s tackle effort. Russell tacked on the two from wide right and Bath were in dreamland at 14-0.
It took Leinster three minutes to finally wake up as Henshaw grabbed his first after a classy Jamison Gibson-Park pass sent Keenan running into space down the right before his inside pass to Henshaw, who finished muscularly.
Leinster were now piling on the pressure as Barrett nearly scored in the right corner shortly after. Bath seemed to have survived that but a Jack Conan turnover penalty allowed Leinster to kick to touch five metres out.
They nearly scored with a clever lineout play at the front but gained penalty advantage and then finished, Barrett’s clever front-door pass sending Henshaw over for another powerful try. Prendergast converted this one and Leinster were back within two points.
What followed was a rather bizarre 15-minute passage in which Bath seemed determined to give Leinster chances to take control – kicking out on the full, missing touch, breakdown and scrum penalties, and late hits.
But Leinster were wasteful, resourcing their attacking breakdown poorly to concede several turnovers, making questionable decisions like a Prendergast tapped penalty, and through simple knock-ons like one from Josh van der Flier under the Bath posts.
But they did eventually get over for their third in the 37th minute just after Bath prop Beno Obano was shown a yellow card for his high tackle on Gibson-Park, with Conan carrying explosively off a five-metre scrum and getting up to barge over just two phases later.
19-12 ahead and with a one-man advantage, Leinster really should have led at the interval but they were stung again by Bath’s excellent attack in the 40th minute, Russell’s classy pass sending Lawrence on a linebreak outside Osborne before he flicked the ball away to de Glanville for his second.
Russell landed another excellent conversion from out on the right and Leinster had lots of work to do as they trailed 21-19 at half time.
Bath scored their third try just before half time. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
They had a frustrating start to the second half with Bath still down to 14, Henshaw knocking the ball on cold after Barrett had made big ground from a scrum near the halfway line.
In the next passage, their phase-play made big inroads and Barrett appeared to have cracked them only to throw a long offload when a short one to Keenan might have been on. A couple of phases later, Prendergast’s pass was loose and Max Ojomoh pounced for a Bath turnover to signal their return to 15 men.
Cullen sent on captain Caelan Doris and RG Snyman looking for some much-needed momentum and they brought exactly that.
Doris offered some punch in the carry and it was Snyman who unlocked the Bath defence as his sublime offload in their 22 found Prendergast, who brilliantly flicked the ball away to Gibson-Park. Ringrose went close in the right corner and when Leinster passed back infield, Snyman smashed at the Bath defence and reached out a long lever to dot down.
That was the try-scoring bonus point and Prendergast’s conversion left Leinster 26-21 ahead, yet they almost instantly invited Bath into their territory as Prendergast was turned over on kick return.
But Ringrose ended Barbeary with a monstrous turnover tackle and when Bath got a second chance with a scrum free-kick, Spencer failed to touch the ball before passing and Leinster won a penalty at the ensuing scrum.
Another penalty followed at the very next scrum and Obano was shown his second yellow card, leaving Bath down to 14 players for the final quarter.
That red card signalled game over as Leinster cruised over for their fifth try from the resulting lineout attack, with a superb play from Prendergast key. He dummied a kick and then beat three Bath defenders close to the ruck before offloading to Henshaw. On the next phase, Gibson-Park calmly picked out Ringrose to step past the last defender.
Prendergast’s final act before being replaced by Ross Byrne was to add the conversion for 33-21, while former Leinster lock Ross Molony got an excellent round of applause as he was subbed off, only to return a minute later to cover a HIA.
Leinster were in the mood now and Gibson-Park grabbed their next score after Keenan competed strongly in the air under a Barrett bomb. The ball came loose, Gibson-Park flashed onto the scraps and scorched away from 40 metres out, beating Russell on his way.
A smart lineout play allowed Snyman to grab his second in the 76th minute, the big South African finishing strongly after Cian Healy made progress. Byrne converted for a second time and now Leinster play the waiting game to see who they will face next.
Conversions: Sam Prendergast [4 from 5], Ross Byrne [2 from 2]
Bath scorers:
Tries: Alfie Barbeary, Tom de Glanville [2]
Conversions: Finn Russell [3 from 3]
LEINSTER: Hugo Keenan (Jimmy O’Brien ’74); Garry Ringrose, Robbie Henshaw, Jordie Barrett, Jamie Osborne; Sam Prendergast (Ross Byrne ’62), Jamison Gibson-Park (blood – Luke McGrath ’35 to ’40, permanent ’72); Andrew Porter (Cian Healy ’72), Rónan Kelleher (Gus McCarthy ’62), Rabah Slimani (Thomas Clarkson ’62); Joe McCarthy, James Ryan (RG Snyman ’45); Max Deegan (Caelan Doris ’45), Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan (captain).
BATH: Tom de Glanville; Joe Cokanasiga, Ollie Lawrence, Max Ojomoh (Orlando Bailey ’64), Ruaridh McConnochie (Josh Bayliss ’66) ; Finn Russell (HIA – Orlando Bailey ’15 to ’27), Ben Spencer (captain) (Louis Schreuder ’74); Beno Obano (yellow card’ 35) (red card ’60), Niall Annett (Tom Dunn ’55), Will Stuart (Thomas du Toit ’49); Quinn Roux (Charlie Ewels ’51 (HIA – Ross Molony ’64 to ’74)), Ross Molony (Francois van Wyk ’63); Ted Hill, Miles Reid (Ruaridh McConnochie ’74), Alfie Barbeary (Francois van Wyk ’35 to ’45) (Jaco Coetzee ’62).
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Leinster finish strongly to run seven tries past 14-man Bath
Leinster 47
Bath 21
THIS WAS A proper battle in the first half and there’s no doubt that Leinster’s cause was helped by the visitors playing 30 minutes of the game with 14 men, but Leo Cullen’s side eased their way to a dominant win in the end.
A seven-try bonus-point win means Leinster have definitely topped Pool 2 of the Champions Cup and will probably go into the knock-out stages as one of the top two seeds overall, which would ensure home advantage in the Round of 16, quarter-finals, and semi-finals.
But they will almost certainly have to wait until the last pool-stage game between Sale and Toulon tomorrow to be sure of that.
For now, they can reflect on a highly entertaining meeting with Premiership leaders Bath, whose Finn Russell-inspired attack caused them major problems in the opening 40 minutes.
This season, Jacques Nienaber’s defence had only conceded 20 points or more twice before tonight. So in that sense, keeping Bath scoreless in the second half would have been pleasing.
Bath loosehead prop Beno Obano had a night to forget as he was yellow-carded for a high tackle late in the first half, then shown red after getting his second yellow for a scrum penalty with a quarter of the game left.
Leinster made a wobbly start in front of a crowd of 40,195 people as this fired-up Bath side scored two tries in the opening eight minutes and though the hosts responded quickly with a brace of Robbie Henshaw scores, they trailed 21-19 at the break after conceding again on the stroke of half time.
A massive impact from RG Snyman and Caelan Doris helped Leinster to kick on in the second 40 minutes but even with a haul of seven tries, they might have a few frustrations about a number of other missed opportunities and handling errors in attack.
Still, 18 match points from a possible 20 in the pool stages, with wins over Bristol, Clermont, La Rochelle, and now Bath, is impressive stuff and Leinster have given themselves an excellent chance of a top-two seeding for the knock-out stages
Henshaw was named player of the match after his two-try effort this evening, while fullback Hugo Keenan impressed on his return, RG grabbed a brace with apparent ease, Andrew Porter and Rabah Slimani shone in a superb collective scrum display, and Joe McCarthy was abrasive. Out-half Sam Prendergast had some lovely touches in the second half, Jordie Barrett was class, and Garry Ringrose grew into the game on the right wing.
As Leinster now head into the Champions Cup knock-outs with high hopes of ending heir wait for a title, Johann van Graan’s Bath drop down into the Challenge Cup Round of 16
The English side came out of the blocks superbly, with Russell’s brilliant short kick-off won back by wing Ruaridh McConnochie to launch an irresistible opening salvo. Russell’s beautiful pass allowed flanker Ted Hill to make massive inroads down the left and though Keenan halted him, number eight Alfie Barbeary thundered onto the ball on the next phase to score through James Ryan’s tackle. Russell converted from wide left.
Russell nearly grabbed their second when strong Bath defence saw Jamie Osborne offload loosely, but Prendergast managed to race back and nudge the ball over his own tryline, which only meant a five-metre scrum for the Premiership side.
They scored on first phase as Russell drew in Henshaw and passed to fullback Tom de Glanville, who broke through Osborne’s tackle effort. Russell tacked on the two from wide right and Bath were in dreamland at 14-0.
It took Leinster three minutes to finally wake up as Henshaw grabbed his first after a classy Jamison Gibson-Park pass sent Keenan running into space down the right before his inside pass to Henshaw, who finished muscularly.
Leinster were now piling on the pressure as Barrett nearly scored in the right corner shortly after. Bath seemed to have survived that but a Jack Conan turnover penalty allowed Leinster to kick to touch five metres out.
They nearly scored with a clever lineout play at the front but gained penalty advantage and then finished, Barrett’s clever front-door pass sending Henshaw over for another powerful try. Prendergast converted this one and Leinster were back within two points.
What followed was a rather bizarre 15-minute passage in which Bath seemed determined to give Leinster chances to take control – kicking out on the full, missing touch, breakdown and scrum penalties, and late hits.
But Leinster were wasteful, resourcing their attacking breakdown poorly to concede several turnovers, making questionable decisions like a Prendergast tapped penalty, and through simple knock-ons like one from Josh van der Flier under the Bath posts.
But they did eventually get over for their third in the 37th minute just after Bath prop Beno Obano was shown a yellow card for his high tackle on Gibson-Park, with Conan carrying explosively off a five-metre scrum and getting up to barge over just two phases later.
19-12 ahead and with a one-man advantage, Leinster really should have led at the interval but they were stung again by Bath’s excellent attack in the 40th minute, Russell’s classy pass sending Lawrence on a linebreak outside Osborne before he flicked the ball away to de Glanville for his second.
Russell landed another excellent conversion from out on the right and Leinster had lots of work to do as they trailed 21-19 at half time.
They had a frustrating start to the second half with Bath still down to 14, Henshaw knocking the ball on cold after Barrett had made big ground from a scrum near the halfway line.
In the next passage, their phase-play made big inroads and Barrett appeared to have cracked them only to throw a long offload when a short one to Keenan might have been on. A couple of phases later, Prendergast’s pass was loose and Max Ojomoh pounced for a Bath turnover to signal their return to 15 men.
Cullen sent on captain Caelan Doris and RG Snyman looking for some much-needed momentum and they brought exactly that.
Doris offered some punch in the carry and it was Snyman who unlocked the Bath defence as his sublime offload in their 22 found Prendergast, who brilliantly flicked the ball away to Gibson-Park. Ringrose went close in the right corner and when Leinster passed back infield, Snyman smashed at the Bath defence and reached out a long lever to dot down.
That was the try-scoring bonus point and Prendergast’s conversion left Leinster 26-21 ahead, yet they almost instantly invited Bath into their territory as Prendergast was turned over on kick return.
But Ringrose ended Barbeary with a monstrous turnover tackle and when Bath got a second chance with a scrum free-kick, Spencer failed to touch the ball before passing and Leinster won a penalty at the ensuing scrum.
Another penalty followed at the very next scrum and Obano was shown his second yellow card, leaving Bath down to 14 players for the final quarter.
That red card signalled game over as Leinster cruised over for their fifth try from the resulting lineout attack, with a superb play from Prendergast key. He dummied a kick and then beat three Bath defenders close to the ruck before offloading to Henshaw. On the next phase, Gibson-Park calmly picked out Ringrose to step past the last defender.
Prendergast’s final act before being replaced by Ross Byrne was to add the conversion for 33-21, while former Leinster lock Ross Molony got an excellent round of applause as he was subbed off, only to return a minute later to cover a HIA.
Leinster were in the mood now and Gibson-Park grabbed their next score after Keenan competed strongly in the air under a Barrett bomb. The ball came loose, Gibson-Park flashed onto the scraps and scorched away from 40 metres out, beating Russell on his way.
A smart lineout play allowed Snyman to grab his second in the 76th minute, the big South African finishing strongly after Cian Healy made progress. Byrne converted for a second time and now Leinster play the waiting game to see who they will face next.
Leinster scorers:
Tries: Robbie Henshaw [2], Jack Conan, RG Snyman [2], Garry Ringrose, Jamison Gibson-Park
Conversions: Sam Prendergast [4 from 5], Ross Byrne [2 from 2]
Bath scorers:
Tries: Alfie Barbeary, Tom de Glanville [2]
Conversions: Finn Russell [3 from 3]
LEINSTER: Hugo Keenan (Jimmy O’Brien ’74); Garry Ringrose, Robbie Henshaw, Jordie Barrett, Jamie Osborne; Sam Prendergast (Ross Byrne ’62), Jamison Gibson-Park (blood – Luke McGrath ’35 to ’40, permanent ’72); Andrew Porter (Cian Healy ’72), Rónan Kelleher (Gus McCarthy ’62), Rabah Slimani (Thomas Clarkson ’62); Joe McCarthy, James Ryan (RG Snyman ’45); Max Deegan (Caelan Doris ’45), Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan (captain).
BATH: Tom de Glanville; Joe Cokanasiga, Ollie Lawrence, Max Ojomoh (Orlando Bailey ’64), Ruaridh McConnochie (Josh Bayliss ’66) ; Finn Russell (HIA – Orlando Bailey ’15 to ’27), Ben Spencer (captain) (Louis Schreuder ’74); Beno Obano (yellow card’ 35) (red card ’60), Niall Annett (Tom Dunn ’55), Will Stuart (Thomas du Toit ’49); Quinn Roux (Charlie Ewels ’51 (HIA – Ross Molony ’64 to ’74)), Ross Molony (Francois van Wyk ’63); Ted Hill, Miles Reid (Ruaridh McConnochie ’74), Alfie Barbeary (Francois van Wyk ’35 to ’45) (Jaco Coetzee ’62).
Referee: Luc Ramos [France].
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bath Champions Cup Job Done Leinster Report