Leinster 36
Leicester Tigers 22
THE LEINSTER-LA Rochelle rivalry has become the most fascinating story in the Champions Cup over recent seasons and the two sides are on collision course again after the province saw off the challenge of Leicester Tigers at Aviva Stadium tonight.
Leo Cullen’s side were 36-22 winners against the English side, the result teeing up a massive quarter-final clash with Ronan O’Gara’s men in Dublin next weekend.
La Rochelle had secured their place in the last eight earlier in the day, coming from 16-0 down to record an impressive 22-21 win away to the Stormers.
Now the French side must beat Leinster for the fourth season in a row if they are to win a third successive Champions Cup title.
La Rochelle downed Leinster in the semi-finals of the 2021 Champions Cup, before beating the province in both the 2022 and 2023 finals. Leinster finally got one over the French side by winning a pool stage game at the Stade Marcel Deflandre back in December, but they’ll now have to do it all again on home soil to keep their European ambitions alive.
After the worst of Storm Kathleen had passed in Dublin, this was a reasonably comfortable night for Leinster, Cullen’s men overcoming a slow start to rip the Tigers apart inside the opening half-hour, Jamison Gibson-Park stealing the show with a stunning hat-trick.
The scrum-half’s three tries saw the home side lead 22-10 at the break, Ross Byrne adding a penalty while converting two of Gibson-Park’s three scores.
Yet Leinster lacked their usual fluidity and accuracy for much of the game and will need to be better if they are to get past La Rochelle in the last eight.
Cullen’s team were unusually slow out the traps, the Tigers striking first with a superb team try on five minutes, finished by Springbok out-half Handre Pollard.
It started with an excellent linebreak and offload from Munster loosehead James Cronin, the Corkman finding a gap in the Leinster 22 before finding Jasper Wiese, who sent Pollard through. The World Cup winner converted his own score to the delight of the small band of travelling support among the 40,000-strong crowd.
A sloppy Leinster scrum was proving problematic but Gibson-Park’s quality and eye for space ensured they didn’t pay a heavier price.
His first try came shortly after Byrne had put three points on the board through a centrally-positioned penalty.
Second row Joe McCarthy got Leinster rolling with a big carry, moving inside the 22 before hitting Gibson-Park, who raced over the line. Byrne converted and Leinster led by one.
Ten minutes later Gibson-Park was in again, McCarthy producing another hard carry before Gibson-Park showed excellent footwork and hands to play a smart one-two with Dan Sheehan out wide, taking the return pass to run in his second try of the evening. This time Byrne’s conversion flew wide.
Between Gibson-Park’s moments of magic both sides struggled for cohesion. Freddie Steward was frustrated to knock-on an awkward Hugo Keenan kick before Pollard added three points from a penalty.
On the 30-minute mark Leinster burst into life again, midfielders Robbie Henshaw and Jamie Osborne linking nicely before the latter played a nice pass inside to Gibson-Park, who beat two defenders on his way to the tryline. Byrne’s conversion moved Leinster 22-10 clear, the score remaining unchanged as the rest of the opening period played out.
The Tigers appeared dead and buried but threw another punch five minutes after the restart.
A deliberate knock-on saw James Lowe yellow-carded, and Leicester immediately capitalised by bulldozing through their hosts from a lineout maul, Cronin touching down after great work from the Tigers pack. Pollard lined up a tough conversion from the sideline, but saw his effort strike the post.
Trailing by seven and with a man advantage, Leicester appeared well-placed to put a squeeze on their hosts, but their work was soon undone.
After Hanro Liebenberg won a big turnover near the Leinster 40-metre line, Dan Kelly’s arching pass was picked off by Henshaw, who ran half the pitch unchallenged to score under the posts. Byrne added his third conversion of the night and Leinster’s lead was restored to 14 points.
Jack Conan was almost in for a fifth try moments after being introduced for Josh van der Flier, but the backrower dropped the ball short of the tryline as he muscled through a mass of green jerseys.
While well ahead, Leinster remained a level off their best. Gibson-Park knocked on a misjudged Byrne pass, allowing Tigers build pressure in the 22, only for a promising move to break down through poor passing.
A Ciarán Frawley knock-on handed them another opportunity with a scrum in the Leinster 22, but a big shove saw Leinster win a scrum penalty and clear the danger.
Having rode out that spell of Leicester pressure, Leinster went back on the offensive and wrapped up the win.
Osborne’s beautiful pass set Ryan Baird racing, and the flanker made good ground before offloading to Conan, who this time made no mistake with the finish.
Harry Byrne, on for Ross after the elder Byrne brother appeared to pick up an arm injury, kicked the conversion, as Gibson-Park left the pitch to a huge ovation.
Another Leinster error allowed the Tigers strike for their third try as the game entered the final minutes, an overthrown lineout in the hosts’ 22 popping straight into the arms of Charlie Clare, who duly dotted down, with Pollard converting.
Yet Leinster had long put the result beyond doubt. On a night where their setpiece had some struggles and their maul defence cracked, the province still had too much quality for their visitors.
They’ll need to go up a notch when the French giants roll into town next weekend.
Leinster scorers:
Tries – Gibson-Park [3], Henshaw, Conan
Penalty – R Byrne [1/1]
Conversions – R Byrne [3/4], H Byrne [1/1]
Leicester scorers:
Try – Pollard, Cronin, Clare
Penalty – Pollard
Conversion – Pollard [2/3]
LEINSTER: Hugo Keenan (Ciaran Frawley, 66),; Jordan Larmour, Robbie Henshaw, Jamie Osborne, James Lowe; Ross Byrne (Harry Byrne, 68), Jamison Gibson-Park (Ben Murphy,, 74); Andrew Porter (Cian Healy, 48-78), Dan Sheehan (Ronan Kelleher, 53), Tadhg Furlong (Michael Ala’alatoa, 53); Ross Molony, Joe McCarthy (Jason Jenkins, 62); Ryan Baird, Josh van der Flier (Jack Conan, 53), Caelan Doris (capt).
Yellow card: Lowe 46
LEICESTER TIGERS: Jamie Shillcock; Freddie Steward (Mike Brown, 74), Dan Kelly (Phil Cokanasiga, 68), Solomone Kata (Tom Whiteley, 68), Ollie Hassell-Collins; Handre Pollard, Jack van Poortvliet; James Cronin ( Francois van Wyk, 52), Julian Montoya (capt) (Charlie Clare, 74), Dan Cole (Will Hurd, 57); Harry Wells, Kyle Hatherell (Finn Carnduff, 70); Hanro Liebenberg, Olly Cracknell (Emeka Ilione, 71), Jasper Wiese.
Referee: Pierre Brousset (FFR).
Attendance: 40,775.
