LEINSTER INTEGRATED SEVERAL younger players into the rigours of playing on the South African Highveld and still came away with two log points, as they were narrowly edged out 27-26 by the Lions in their United Rugby Championship match at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on Saturday.
The Lions sealed victory courtesy of a 79th-minute try, but Leinster showed their character by being the last to score, claiming a four-try bonus point in the 85th minute.
With 10 starters aged under 25 and five more on the bench, it was always going to be a tough opening match for the defending champions, but they had their noses in front for the first hour.
Losing the kicking battle and being dominated at scrum time were shrugged off by Leinster as some clinical finishing took them to a 19-17 half-time lead. Scrum-half Fintan Gunne’s excellent support play saw him nab a first-half hat-trick.
It was a ding-dong battle in that first half as the lead changed hands four times. Leinster opened the scoring in the sixth minute, having applied pressure from the kick-off and even winning a scrum penalty (which was not a foretaste of things to come), before Gunne dived over a ruck to score his first try.
Leinster's Fintan Gunne scored a hat-trick of tries. Steve Haag Sports / Christiaan Kotze/INPHO
Steve Haag Sports / Christiaan Kotze/INPHO / Christiaan Kotze/INPHO
Leinster struggled with some of their restarts, with eighth-man Josh Ericson dropping the first one. The Lions then dominated the scrum, an eight-nine move seeing left wing Erich Cronje racing through on an inside ball to score.
Young fly-half Caspar Gabriel then kicked the next restart dead, allowing the Lions to win a lineout and then neat passing by their forwards close to the set-piece forced an offsides penalty slotted by fly-half Chris Smith (5-10).
The Lions defence was not totally cohesive though in the first half, and Ericson timed a charge perfectly to burst through midfield in the 15th minute, and Gunne was on his shoulder to take the inside pass and score.
Nine minutes later, the Lions showed some slick attacking play of their own as outside centre Henco van Wyk accelerated away on a diagonal run, finding a gap and then offloading brilliantly as two tacklers converged on him, Cronje being freed for his second try.
The Leinster backs turned a retreating scrum into a crucial try just before half-time when centre Charlie Tector kicked a 50/22. From the lineout, Gabriel burst through a gap and Gunne was once again up in support to seal a 38-minute hat-trick.
The second half did not show nearly as much resourcefulness. Leinster may have lost some of their spark due to the effects of altitude on a warm (28 degrees) day, but the Lions also tightened up on defence.
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The Lions regained the lead for the last time in the 61st minute as a contestable kick led to a penalty for Smith (19-20).
Leinster produced some highly-committed defensive work in the last 10 minutes, but eventually Smith found right wing Kelly Mpeku with a pinpoint cross-kick and the try was scored in the corner. Smith removed the last bit of Leinster hope with the touchline conversion.
Leinster did have the final say though with replacement hooker Stephen Smyth burrowing over for the bonus point try. Two points away in Johannesburg against a team that made the playoffs last season shows how talented that Leinster pipeline still is.
Lions Scorers
Tries - Erich Cronje (2), K. Mpeku.
Conversions - Chris Smith (3).
Penalties - Smith (2).
Leinster Scorers
Tries - Fintan Gunne (3), Stephen Smyth.
Conversions - Caspar Gabriel (2), Harry Byrne.
Lions: B. Venter (S. Kotze 45), P. Botha (M. Brandon 45), S. Lombard (R. Schoeman 45), E. Oosthuizen (S. Qoma 45), R. Delport (H. Andrews 67), S. Mahashe (J. Pretorius 52), B. Hlekani, F. Horn, N. Steyn (Z. Cilliers 80), C. Smith, E. Cronje, R. Kriel (E. Adams 71), H. van Wyk (E. Adams 1-15), K. Mpeku, B. Chamberlain.
Leinster: A. Usanov (P. Dooley 51), G. McCarthy (S. Smyth 58), A. Porter (N. Smyth 65), R. Baird, C. O’Tighearnaigh, M. Deegan, S. Penny, J. Ericson (B. Deeny 49-52, D. McNeice 61), F. Gunne, C. Gabriel (H. Byrne 49), A. Osborne, C. Tector, H. Cooney (O. Coffey 74), T. O’Brien, T. Lawlor (C. Mangan 71).
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Young Leinster lose out narrowly to Lions but come away from South Africa with two points
Lions 27
Leinster 26
LEINSTER INTEGRATED SEVERAL younger players into the rigours of playing on the South African Highveld and still came away with two log points, as they were narrowly edged out 27-26 by the Lions in their United Rugby Championship match at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on Saturday.
The Lions sealed victory courtesy of a 79th-minute try, but Leinster showed their character by being the last to score, claiming a four-try bonus point in the 85th minute.
With 10 starters aged under 25 and five more on the bench, it was always going to be a tough opening match for the defending champions, but they had their noses in front for the first hour.
Losing the kicking battle and being dominated at scrum time were shrugged off by Leinster as some clinical finishing took them to a 19-17 half-time lead. Scrum-half Fintan Gunne’s excellent support play saw him nab a first-half hat-trick.
It was a ding-dong battle in that first half as the lead changed hands four times. Leinster opened the scoring in the sixth minute, having applied pressure from the kick-off and even winning a scrum penalty (which was not a foretaste of things to come), before Gunne dived over a ruck to score his first try.
Leinster struggled with some of their restarts, with eighth-man Josh Ericson dropping the first one. The Lions then dominated the scrum, an eight-nine move seeing left wing Erich Cronje racing through on an inside ball to score.
Young fly-half Caspar Gabriel then kicked the next restart dead, allowing the Lions to win a lineout and then neat passing by their forwards close to the set-piece forced an offsides penalty slotted by fly-half Chris Smith (5-10).
The Lions defence was not totally cohesive though in the first half, and Ericson timed a charge perfectly to burst through midfield in the 15th minute, and Gunne was on his shoulder to take the inside pass and score.
Nine minutes later, the Lions showed some slick attacking play of their own as outside centre Henco van Wyk accelerated away on a diagonal run, finding a gap and then offloading brilliantly as two tacklers converged on him, Cronje being freed for his second try.
The Leinster backs turned a retreating scrum into a crucial try just before half-time when centre Charlie Tector kicked a 50/22. From the lineout, Gabriel burst through a gap and Gunne was once again up in support to seal a 38-minute hat-trick.
The second half did not show nearly as much resourcefulness. Leinster may have lost some of their spark due to the effects of altitude on a warm (28 degrees) day, but the Lions also tightened up on defence.
The Lions regained the lead for the last time in the 61st minute as a contestable kick led to a penalty for Smith (19-20).
Leinster produced some highly-committed defensive work in the last 10 minutes, but eventually Smith found right wing Kelly Mpeku with a pinpoint cross-kick and the try was scored in the corner. Smith removed the last bit of Leinster hope with the touchline conversion.
Leinster did have the final say though with replacement hooker Stephen Smyth burrowing over for the bonus point try. Two points away in Johannesburg against a team that made the playoffs last season shows how talented that Leinster pipeline still is.
Lions Scorers
Tries - Erich Cronje (2), K. Mpeku.
Conversions - Chris Smith (3).
Penalties - Smith (2).
Leinster Scorers
Tries - Fintan Gunne (3), Stephen Smyth.
Conversions - Caspar Gabriel (2), Harry Byrne.
Lions: B. Venter (S. Kotze 45), P. Botha (M. Brandon 45), S. Lombard (R. Schoeman 45), E. Oosthuizen (S. Qoma 45), R. Delport (H. Andrews 67), S. Mahashe (J. Pretorius 52), B. Hlekani, F. Horn, N. Steyn (Z. Cilliers 80), C. Smith, E. Cronje, R. Kriel (E. Adams 71), H. van Wyk (E. Adams 1-15), K. Mpeku, B. Chamberlain.
Leinster: A. Usanov (P. Dooley 51), G. McCarthy (S. Smyth 58), A. Porter (N. Smyth 65), R. Baird, C. O’Tighearnaigh, M. Deegan, S. Penny, J. Ericson (B. Deeny 49-52, D. McNeice 61), F. Gunne, C. Gabriel (H. Byrne 49), A. Osborne, C. Tector, H. Cooney (O. Coffey 74), T. O’Brien, T. Lawlor (C. Mangan 71).
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