We’ll have lots more reaction from Ciarán Kennedy in Croke Park over the course of the afternoon and evening.

But for now: it’s over to you, Munster.

Thanks for joining us.

Before we go, it should be noted for posterity that Josh van der Flier is the very deserving Player of the Match.

Official attendance at Croke Park today was 55,627.

FULL TIME: Leinster 62-0 Harlequins

TRY FOR LEINSTER! Leinster 62-0 Harlequins (Lowe, 79′)

And one more for good measure — Lowe decides that he’s not quite done yet and weaves through the wide open space left by the Quins defence to run his second, and Leinster’s 10th, in under the posts.

TRY FOR LEINSTER! Leinster 55-0 Harlequins (Lowe, 77′)

It’s all far too easy for Leinster as James Lowe gets in on the act for Leinster’s ninth of an utterly ruthless afternoon. Quins try to play the ball away from the back of their own ruck, but Tadhg Furlong does enough to disrupt it, and from there, Lowe is able to run it in with ease in the corner.

75 mins — YELLOW CARD! Quins are doing to 13 for the next few minutes, and will finish the game out with 14 at best. Referee Pierre Brousset allows play to continue for quite a while, but when he brings it back, it’s for a clear tackle off the ball by Jamie Benson on Jordie Barrett. Yellow all day.

TRY FOR LEINSTER! Leinster 50-0 Harlequins (Byrne, 72′)

Leinster are showing no signs of letting up, and every one of the second-half replacements has entered the fray determined to make their own individual impact.

It’s Ross Byrne who finishes this one after some neat hands and quick offloading with Lowe, Barrett, and Conan all moving it along quickly before Byrne scores in the corner.

The conversion’s far from easy but he holds his nerve over that one too.

68 mins – Leinster 43-0 Harlequins: Here comes Jordie Barrett again! Leinster bulldoze through a Harlequins ruck and Caelan Doris pounces on the ball on the other side. Barrett breaks, and when he’s stopped a few yards short, Max Deegan does brilliantly to keep possession. Quins turn it over — illegally — and are probably a bit fortunate not to see another man sent to the bin.

65 mins — PENALTY TRY FOR LEINSTER! Leinster 43-0 Harlequins

Champagne rugby from Leinster, and after that TMO review, it gets the try that it deserves.

It starts with the most delicate dink from Jordie Barrett, who regathers it himself on the other side and breaks into space. Gus McCarthy is denied a try only by an ankle tap and when the play is recycled, Prendergast looks to send Max Deegan over. Luke Northmore tries to intercept it, and knocks it on — and after a review, it’s deemed to be deliberate, a yellow card, and a penalty try.

66 mins – Leinster could be in for a penalty try here… we’re going to the TMO.

64 mins — Leinster 36-0 Harlequins: Gus McCarthy and Tadhg Furlong combine to dump Danny Care over the sideline. Unceremonious doesn’t even come close to it. To Care’s credit, he bounces back to his feet with a smile on his face.

Leinster substitutions: Porter, Sheehan and Snyman all go off; Boyle, McCarthy and Baird are on — and you suspect there are a few more coming.

TRY FOR LEINSTER! Leinster 36-0 Harlequins (Sheehan, 58′)

Prendergast kicks the penalty to the corner, Snyman claims the lineout, and Dan Sheehan drives straight through the centre to score Leinster’s sixth of the day.

Leo Cullen’s about to start emptying the bench.

57 mins — Leinster 31-0 Harlequins: Penalty advantage coming to Leinster, and Prendergast shapes as if to kick crossfield, thinks twice about it, and just drops the ball before picking it up again. Leinster will take that penalty so…

55 mins — Leinster 31-0 Harlequins: Snyman pops the ball out of the lineout maul, and then McCarthy chooses to go down the blindside where he’s outnumbered three to one and wrestled in to touch.

54 mins — Leinster 31-0 Harlequins: Leinster win a scrum penalty in their own half as Lamositele goes down under pressure. Prendergast tries to squeeze every last inch out of his kick to touch… and judges it to perfection, dropping over the covering defender’s head and in to touch a few feet short of the line.

53 mins – James Lowe spots an opportunity for a 50:22, but the wind catches it a little bit more than he’d have liked and carries it in-goal and dead.

51 mins — Leinster substitution: As if Quins didn’t have enough to worry about, Jordie Barrett is on for Garry Ringrose.

Gibson-Park has also made way for Luke McGrath, and Tadhg Furlong is on for Rabah Slimani.

TRY FOR LEINSTER! Leinster 31-0 Harlequins (Ringrose, 48′)

This is getting ugly quickly for Quins — if it was a boxing match, the corner would have thrown in the towel at this stage.

It’s another lovely flowing backline move as Lowe finds Keenan, who ships it on to Van der Flier, who in turn throws a smashing pass to Ringrose who has drifted out on to the wing. He only has one thing on his mind from there, and he’s in for Leinster’s fifth of what has been an incredibly comfortable afternoon.

TRY FOR LEINSTER! Leinster 24-0 Harlequins (Van der Flier, 46′)

Van der Flier gets the try that his performance has deserved. Snyman climbs highest to secure a lineout easily and transfers to Van der Flier, who has Dan Sheehan latched on to the back of him for moral and physical support. There’s no stopping them.

No change in the decision — goalline dropout for Quins.

The TMO is having a long look at this one…

44 mins — Leinster 19-0 Harlequins: Leinster probe and probe in attack, but Harlequins manage to hold them at bay, and then hold them up over the line. Breathe.

42 mins — Leinster 19-0 Harlequins: Dan Sheehan puts the Quins attack under immediate pressure, and the ball goes to ground.

SECOND HALF: Marcus Smith gets us underway — can Harlequins fight their way back into this one?

Here’s a look at those Leinster first-half tries:

Leinster 5-0 Harlequins
First blood to Leinster as Prendergast crashes over
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— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) April 5, 2025

Leinster 12-0 Harlequins
McCarthy touches down to stretch the lead after good work from Gibson-Park and Van der Flier
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— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) April 5, 2025

Leinster 19-0 Harlequins
Osborne finishes another flowing move and the hosts have one foot in the quarters after less than half an hour
📱 Updates: https://t.co/1gVZGdSXEz
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— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) April 5, 2025

HALF TIME: Leinster 19-0 Harlequins

40 mins — Leinster 19-0 Harlequins: Final play of the half from Quins and Luke Northmore makes a good carry before he’s brought down by Leinster. The play is a little bit too intricate to handle the Leinster pressure and eventually Nick David knocks it on to bring an end to the half.

38 mins — Leinster 19-0 Harlequins: Slimani knocks the ball on — Leinster’s 10th handling error of this opening first half — to give Harlequins a chance to clear their lines. They win the scrum penalty — and again, it’s Slimani who is pinged by Pierre Brousset.

37 mins — Leinster 19-0 Harlequins: Marcus Smith fires a short-range pass at Alex Dombrandt, who doesn’t have much chance of holding on to it, and Caelan Doris boots the loose ball forward. Ringrose is first on the scene to keep Quins under immediate pressure.

34 mins — Leinster 19-0 Harlequins: Whatever respite Quins got there is quickly lost as Danny Care kicks the ball out on the full.

From the lineout, Sam Prendergast spills it forwards under no pressure.

Quins put-in to the scrum.

34 mins — Leinster 19-0 Harlequins: Quins breathe a sigh of relief as another promising Leinster attack ends when Hugo Keenan is pinged for a breakdown penalty.

28 mins – Porter is gone off for a HIA, and Danny Care is on at scrum-half.

28 mins – Worrying scenes here as Quins scrum-half Will Porter receives what appears to be serious medical treatment. He was caught by Osborne’s boot as he tried to make a last ditch tackle. 

TRY FOR LEINSTER! Leinster 19-0 Harlequins (Osborne, 27′)

Magnificent flowing rugby from Leinster which starts deep in their own half with a lightning counter-attack. Gibson-Park pounces on a loose ball and finds Ringrose, who chews up the yards. He flings the ball out wide to Osborne, who pops it back inside to Van der Flier on his shoulder, and then loops around to take the return again and run in to score. 

24 mins — Leinster 12-0 Harlequins: Marcus Smith puts boot to ball twice, and Jamie Osborne and Sam Prendergast pluck both out of the Drumcondra sky. The latter is followed by another huge carry from Van der Flier who is having a huge influence in the opening 25 minutes.

23 mins — Leinster 12-0 Harlequins: Worrying moment for Quins and Danny Smith, as Oscar Beard takes a minute to shake off a heavy hit. We’ll restart with a Quins lineout on the half-way line.

TRY FOR LEINSTER! Leinster 12-0 Harlequins (McCarthy, 17′)

Harlequins are caught napping and Leinster put them to the sword. Josh van der Flier carries deep into Quins territory before Halfpenny just about gets enough of his ankle to drag him down. The attacks come in waves and Cunningham-South hesitates rather than scoop up a Leinster grubber, allowing Caelan Doris to pounce it first. On the next phase, Joe McCarthy finds a gap in the line and runs it in under the posts.

TRY FOR LEINSTER! Leinster 5-0 Harlequins (Prendergast, 15′)

Leinster are up and running as Sam Prendergast hits the line at pace and powers over for the game’s opening try.

It’s a smashing carry from Dan Sheehan to set things up, running over Leigh Halfpenny, and although the hooker is dragged down a yard or two short of the line, Gibson-Park pops the ball up, inviting Prendergast to arrive on to it like a train.

The conversion attempt is from well out on the right. Prendergast is on the clock and ends up snatching at it slightly, and it’s never on target.

14 mins — Leinster 0-0 Harlequins: There’s a bit of concern for Rabah Slimani who needed treatment ahead of that most recent passage of play. He’s still out there for now.

13 mins — Leinster 0-0 Harlequins: Good carries from Ringrose and then van der Flier, and Waghorne is pinged for not supporting his weight at the breakdown. Leinster go to touch, but they give a free-kick for a lineout infringement. Sloppy, and Quins kick away to touch.

10 mins — Leinster 0-0 Harlequins: Quins try to maul it over but they’re held up over the line by some solid Leinster defence.

From the resulting goalline dropout, Marcus Smith tries a very ambitious/ borderline irresponsible drop goal, but it comes up well short.

9 mins — Leinster 0-0 Harlequins: Quins are hammering away at the Leinster try line and  Jacques Nienaber’s defence holds firm until giving away another penalty. Smith goes to the corner again.

7 mins — Leinster 0-0 Harlequins: Hugo Keenan times his tackle on Will Evans to perfection, and when the ball pops up into the air, Jamie Osborne juggles it — and very nearly catches it. He must have been thinking about running that one back the length of the pitch. Knocked on, and Quins have the scrum again.

6 mins — Leinster 0-0 Harlequins: Leinster concede another penalty for sealing off at the breakdown and this time, Marcus Smith kicks it to touch deep into the Leinster 22. Great opportunity here for the visitors.

4 mins — Leinster 0-0 Harlequins: That was asking for a lot! Halfpenny has the accuracy alright from all of 55m out, but not the distance, and it dies a few yards short of the posts.

3 mins — Leinster 0-0 Harlequins: Big scrum penalty as referee Pierre Brousset deems the infringement to be on Leinster’s side. Quins have the wind at their back in this first half, and Dombrandt points to the posts. Halfpenny will be kicking from a few yards inside his own half.

2 mins — Leinster 0-0 Harlequins: Leinster are on the front foot straight away, and go to the front of the lineout with their first throw, and follow it up with a thumping first carry from RG Snyman. Sam Prendergast flings a lovely flat pass to James Lowe out wide, but the Quins defence has the answer to every early question.

Leinster knock it on — Quins scrum.

KICK OFF: Sam Prendergast kicks towards the Hill 16 end to get us underway in Croker.

The teams are just lining up in the Croke Park tunnel.

Leinster are 21-point favourites to book their place in next week’s quarter-finals — what do you think?

One of the more interesting subplots to this afternoon’s game is the meeting of two of the men vying to be in the mix for the Lions’ out-half position.

Here’s Ciarán Kennedy on Sam Prendergast v Marcus Smith:

Prendergast should have a good platform to run the Leinster attack and he’ll aim to use his strong kicking game to keep his team playing in the right areas of the pitch. Smith will likely have a different remit and could be fighting against the tide as he tries to use his game-breaking qualities to crack the Jacques Nienaber defence.

Orchestrating an unlikely Quins win in Dublin would certainly further his case in that intriguing Lions selection battle, but with Leinster naming a stacked team for this round of 16 clash, the stage looks set for Prendergast to shake off a frustrating end to his first Six Nations campaign.

TEAM NEWS: Plenty of familiar faces in the Quins 23 as well, and head coach Danny Smith has played a bit of a wildcard by moving England international Chandler Cunningham-South from his usual berth in the back row into the second row.

Alex Dombrandt returns to captain the visitors from number eight, while Leigh Halfpenny is in at full-back.

15. Leigh Halfpenny
14. Tyrone Green
13. Oscar Beard
12. Ben Waghorn
11. Nick David
10. Marcus Smith
9. Will Porter

1. Fin Baxter
2. Jack Walker
3. Titi Lamositele
4. Joe Launchbury
5. Chandler Cunningham-South
6. Jack Kenningham
7. Will Evans
8. Alex Dombrandt (capt)

Replacements:

16. Sam Riley
17. Wyn Jones
18. Simon Kerrod
19. Irne Herbst
20. George Hammond
21. Danny Care
22. Jamie Benson
23. Luke Northmore

TEAM NEWS: In case you missed yesterday’s team announcement, Leinster are LOCKED AND LOADED. Leo Cullen’s made the full 15 changes from last week’s win against the Sharks, and every single member of the Leinster 23 is a senior international. Remarkable.

15. Hugo Keenan
14. Jamie Osborne
13. Garry Ringrose
12. Robbie Henshaw
11. James Lowe
10. Sam Prendergast
9. Jamison Gibson-Park

1. Andrew Porter
2. Dan Sheehan
3. Rabah Slimani
4. Joe McCarthy
5. RG Snyman
6. Jack Conan
7. Josh van der Flier
8. Caelan Doris (capt)

Replacements:

16. Gus McCarthy
17. Jack Boyle
18. Tadhg Furlong
19. Ryan Baird
20. Max Deegan
21. Luke McGrath
22. Ross Byrne
23. Jordie Barrett

Good afternoon and welcome to this afternoon’s live coverage of the first Irish involvement in this season’s Champions Cup Round of 16.

And what better way to kick it off than in front of an expected crowd of 55,000+ as Leinster host Harlequins in a sunny Croke Park.

Kick-off on Jones Road is at 3pm. Let’s get to the team news…