ANY FEARS THAT Leinster would struggle to rally themselves for the task at hand in this URC quarter-final were quashed in the ‘championship’ minutes just before and just after half time.
Down to 14 men with Thomas Clarkson in the sin bin, Leo Cullen’s men scored tries on either side of the break to end this game as a contest, earning themselves a home semi-final against the Stormers back here at the Aviva Stadium next Saturday at 5.30pm.
On a bright Dublin evening, Leinster began the process of trying to move on from last weekend’s Champions Cup final loss to Bordeaux by running nine tries past a Lions side who spent the last few weeks in the Irish capital but didn’t have much to offer tonight.
There wasn’t a big crowd here – Leinster reported the attendance as 9,493 – but they’re now just two wins away from retaining their URC title. The province will hope for a much bigger turnout for the interesting visit of John Dobson’s Stormers.
Dan Sheehan, Hugo Keenan, James Ryan, Scott Penny, Gus McCarthy, and Jimmy O’Brien all bagged tries,while out-half Sam Prendergast finished a breakaway score and also kicked 14 points from the tee.
But the two most popular tries of the night, and by some distance, came from James Lowe, who had led Leinster out for his 100th appearance for the province. His second-half score made him Leinster’s all-time record try-scorer on 70.
He added another in the last play of the game to extend it to 71. That’s some hit rate.
“One more year,” chanted the Leinster fans, with Lowe set to leave the province this summer.
Named to start at tighthead on Thursday, Tadhg Furlong dropped out before the game, hooker Dan Sheehan was treated on the pitch before departing in the 53rd minute, and player of the match Joe McCarthy appeared to limp off – meaning Robbie Henshaw came on in the back row – but this was largely a straightforward evening’s work for Leinster.
Andrew Porter lifts Joe McCarthy. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
They got rolling in the 10th minute as Sheehan scored off O’Brien’s long bridge pass wide to the right, with their occupation of Lions territory stemming from a Penny turnover poach near his own 22.
Soon after Sheehan’s opener, O’Brien was held up over the Lions try line following a slick lineout strike play by Leinster, but from the ensuing drop-out, there was no doubting Keenan’s finish off a deftly delayed short Prendergast pass.
The Lions tried to fire back, yet Leinster captain Caelan Doris won a turnover in a big tackle, then lock Ryan stole a lineout to lift pressure that was partly down to a handful of Leinster errors, including a Keenan kick out on the full.
The Leinster mistakes continued as they knocked the ball on several times in promising positions. And when the Lions got into a threatening spot near the Leinster try line, Clarkson found himself in trouble for tipping Nico Steyn over onto his head in a wrestling-style tackle. Yellow card and off-field review.
The Lions kicked into the corner and scored, with centre Henco van Wyk darting over, although Chris Smith missed the conversion.
But 14-man Leinster responded impressively just before the break, with a huge Joe McCarthy carry leaving them in striking range, before he popped a pass for second row partner Ryan to score a few phases later.
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Leinster's Dan Sheehan. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
Prendergast added his third conversion for a 21-5 half-time lead.
Still down to 14, Leinster had the game wrapped up within three minutes of the restart, with Doris busting through the heart of the Lions defence off a Ryan tip-on pass, allowing the impressive Joe McCarthy and Rieko Ioane to swing passes wide to the left for Penny to finish.
The bunker decision on Clarkson’s tackle was that it would remain a yellow, so Leinster were restored to 15 players just after Penny’s try.
Prendergast grabbed Leinster’s fifth in the next passage of play as a thumping Max Deegan tackle on Smith left the ball hanging up for Leinster’s number 10 to reel it in and sprint home from 65 metres out, converting his own score for 33-5.
A big Lowe break down the left preceded Leinster’s sixth score, which eventually came through replacement hooker Gus McCarthy off a five-metre maul.
Van Wyk grabbed his second consolation try of the evening after a bobbling Lions kick skipped under Keenan’s attempt to trap it, although the lively centre injured himself in the process of finishing.
Gus McCarthy after scoring Leinster's sixth try. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
The introduction of Harry Byrne saw Prendergast shifting to fullback, from where the Kildare man kept firing passes, a long left-hander giving O’Brien space to scamper into the right corner. Prendergast converted neatly from out wide.
Fan favourite Lowe produced a sharp finish for his record-breaking try, which fittingly came wide on the left after another excellent O’Brien pass.
And Lowe got his second in the same corner with the very last play of the game.
Talk about the perfect final notes in a potent Leinster win.
Leinster scorers:
Tries: Dan Sheehan, Hugo Keenan, James Ryan, Scott Penny, Sam Prendergast, Gus McCarthy, Jimmy O’Brien, James Lowe [2]
Conversions: Sam Prendergast [7 from 9]
Lions scorers:
Tries: Henco van Wyk [2]
Conversions: Chris Smith [0 from 2]
LEINSTER: Hugo Keenan (Harry Byrne ’63); Jimmy O’Brien, Rieko Ioane, Jamie Osborne, James Lowe; Sam Prendergast, Luke McGrath (Jamison Gibson-Park ’63); Andrew Porter (Alex Usanov ’55), Dan Sheehan (Gus McCarthy ’53), Thomas Clarkson (yellow card ’34) (Rabah Slimani ’55); Joe McCarthy (Robbie Henshaw ’65), James Ryan (Diarmuid Mangan ’54); Max Deegan, Scott Penny, Caelan Doris (captain) (Josh van der Flier ’53).
LIONS: Quan Horn (yellow card ’54); Angelo Davids, Henco van Wyk (Rynhard Jonker ’58), Richard Kriel, Erich Cronje (HIA – Rynhard Jonker ’11 to ’21); Chris Smith, Nico Steyn (Haashim Pead ’54); SJ Kotze (Eddie Davids ’53), PJ Botha (Franco Marais ’48), Sebastian Lombard (RF Schoeman ’46); Reinhard Nothnagel, Darrien Landsberg (Siba Qoma ’53); Siba Mahashe, Batho Hlekani (Ruan Delport ’58), Francke Horn (captain) (JC Pretorius ’69).
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Leinster and Lowe make light work of Lions to earn URC semi-final
Leinster 59
Lions 10
ANY FEARS THAT Leinster would struggle to rally themselves for the task at hand in this URC quarter-final were quashed in the ‘championship’ minutes just before and just after half time.
Down to 14 men with Thomas Clarkson in the sin bin, Leo Cullen’s men scored tries on either side of the break to end this game as a contest, earning themselves a home semi-final against the Stormers back here at the Aviva Stadium next Saturday at 5.30pm.
On a bright Dublin evening, Leinster began the process of trying to move on from last weekend’s Champions Cup final loss to Bordeaux by running nine tries past a Lions side who spent the last few weeks in the Irish capital but didn’t have much to offer tonight.
There wasn’t a big crowd here – Leinster reported the attendance as 9,493 – but they’re now just two wins away from retaining their URC title. The province will hope for a much bigger turnout for the interesting visit of John Dobson’s Stormers.
Dan Sheehan, Hugo Keenan, James Ryan, Scott Penny, Gus McCarthy, and Jimmy O’Brien all bagged tries, while out-half Sam Prendergast finished a breakaway score and also kicked 14 points from the tee.
But the two most popular tries of the night, and by some distance, came from James Lowe, who had led Leinster out for his 100th appearance for the province. His second-half score made him Leinster’s all-time record try-scorer on 70.
He added another in the last play of the game to extend it to 71. That’s some hit rate.
“One more year,” chanted the Leinster fans, with Lowe set to leave the province this summer.
Named to start at tighthead on Thursday, Tadhg Furlong dropped out before the game, hooker Dan Sheehan was treated on the pitch before departing in the 53rd minute, and player of the match Joe McCarthy appeared to limp off – meaning Robbie Henshaw came on in the back row – but this was largely a straightforward evening’s work for Leinster.
They got rolling in the 10th minute as Sheehan scored off O’Brien’s long bridge pass wide to the right, with their occupation of Lions territory stemming from a Penny turnover poach near his own 22.
Soon after Sheehan’s opener, O’Brien was held up over the Lions try line following a slick lineout strike play by Leinster, but from the ensuing drop-out, there was no doubting Keenan’s finish off a deftly delayed short Prendergast pass.
The Lions tried to fire back, yet Leinster captain Caelan Doris won a turnover in a big tackle, then lock Ryan stole a lineout to lift pressure that was partly down to a handful of Leinster errors, including a Keenan kick out on the full.
The Leinster mistakes continued as they knocked the ball on several times in promising positions. And when the Lions got into a threatening spot near the Leinster try line, Clarkson found himself in trouble for tipping Nico Steyn over onto his head in a wrestling-style tackle. Yellow card and off-field review.
The Lions kicked into the corner and scored, with centre Henco van Wyk darting over, although Chris Smith missed the conversion.
But 14-man Leinster responded impressively just before the break, with a huge Joe McCarthy carry leaving them in striking range, before he popped a pass for second row partner Ryan to score a few phases later.
Prendergast added his third conversion for a 21-5 half-time lead.
Still down to 14, Leinster had the game wrapped up within three minutes of the restart, with Doris busting through the heart of the Lions defence off a Ryan tip-on pass, allowing the impressive Joe McCarthy and Rieko Ioane to swing passes wide to the left for Penny to finish.
The bunker decision on Clarkson’s tackle was that it would remain a yellow, so Leinster were restored to 15 players just after Penny’s try.
Prendergast grabbed Leinster’s fifth in the next passage of play as a thumping Max Deegan tackle on Smith left the ball hanging up for Leinster’s number 10 to reel it in and sprint home from 65 metres out, converting his own score for 33-5.
A big Lowe break down the left preceded Leinster’s sixth score, which eventually came through replacement hooker Gus McCarthy off a five-metre maul.
Van Wyk grabbed his second consolation try of the evening after a bobbling Lions kick skipped under Keenan’s attempt to trap it, although the lively centre injured himself in the process of finishing.
The introduction of Harry Byrne saw Prendergast shifting to fullback, from where the Kildare man kept firing passes, a long left-hander giving O’Brien space to scamper into the right corner. Prendergast converted neatly from out wide.
Fan favourite Lowe produced a sharp finish for his record-breaking try, which fittingly came wide on the left after another excellent O’Brien pass.
And Lowe got his second in the same corner with the very last play of the game.
Talk about the perfect final notes in a potent Leinster win.
Leinster scorers:
Tries: Dan Sheehan, Hugo Keenan, James Ryan, Scott Penny, Sam Prendergast, Gus McCarthy, Jimmy O’Brien, James Lowe [2]
Conversions: Sam Prendergast [7 from 9]
Lions scorers:
Tries: Henco van Wyk [2]
Conversions: Chris Smith [0 from 2]
LEINSTER: Hugo Keenan (Harry Byrne ’63); Jimmy O’Brien, Rieko Ioane, Jamie Osborne, James Lowe; Sam Prendergast, Luke McGrath (Jamison Gibson-Park ’63); Andrew Porter (Alex Usanov ’55), Dan Sheehan (Gus McCarthy ’53), Thomas Clarkson (yellow card ’34) (Rabah Slimani ’55); Joe McCarthy (Robbie Henshaw ’65), James Ryan (Diarmuid Mangan ’54); Max Deegan, Scott Penny, Caelan Doris (captain) (Josh van der Flier ’53).
LIONS: Quan Horn (yellow card ’54); Angelo Davids, Henco van Wyk (Rynhard Jonker ’58), Richard Kriel, Erich Cronje (HIA – Rynhard Jonker ’11 to ’21); Chris Smith, Nico Steyn (Haashim Pead ’54); SJ Kotze (Eddie Davids ’53), PJ Botha (Franco Marais ’48), Sebastian Lombard (RF Schoeman ’46); Reinhard Nothnagel, Darrien Landsberg (Siba Qoma ’53); Siba Mahashe, Batho Hlekani (Ruan Delport ’58), Francke Horn (captain) (JC Pretorius ’69).
Referee: Sam Grove-White (SRU).
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Aviva Stadium Leinster Lions Lowe Down Quarter-Final Report too good URC