IT TOOK SOME huffing and puffing, but Leinster eventually pulled clear of a determined and well-organised Racing 92 side to sign off their Champions Cup Pool A campaign with a fourth straight bonus-point win – a result which sees the province advance as top seeds and secure home advantage in the knockout stages.
A scrappy, at times error-strewn first half ended with Leinster leading 7-5, Racing responding to Jimmy O’Brien’s converted try with a close-range effort from hooker Janick Tarrit.
The visitors momentarily lead early in the second period when Christian Wade applied the finishing touch to a brilliant piece of individual play from Finn Russell, but a strong finish from the hosts saw Leo Cullen’s side seal the bonus point as they stormed to a 26-point win – 36-10 – scoring five tries in the second half.
After watching his team work hard for their 16th straight win of the season, Cullen was happy with how his side worked their way past their French opponents and the patience they showed in the face of some exceptional Racing defensive work.
“You’ve got to be very respectful, it definitely didn’t feel like a 26-point win,” Cullen said.
“We had some opportunities early, just snatching at things, not quite accurate enough, little bit slow in some of our ruck arrivals. Racing, to their credit, were very brave defensively.
You see how aggressive they are with chop tackles, getting guys on the ground quickly, so they have players on the ball quickly. They come up with some big turnovers at different stages, and they’re a constant threat as well.
“The pace that they have, some of the ball players they have, you just can’t switch off for a second.
“The start of the second half they scored early, and it’s a bloody tight game, but credit to our guys, I thought the composure was good, and we stick to the basics, start carrying a bit better and start to recycle and move around and eventually we start to wear them down.
“It took a fair chunk of time. They stuck to the task well, and sometimes that’s the way the game goes. Sometimes for whatever reason you’re not quite on it, you potentially give up a few chances, but just have to stay patient, and stick to the type of game we want to play, and eventually get the rewards.
“It’s a good reminder for us, to look back on this game – I’m talking about for the next game in the Champions Cup in 10 weeks time – that you can look back to ‘let’s remember, start the game, how do we get into the game etc’.
“If you find yourself in a hole, credit to the players, they managed to dig themselves out of it and finish the game strongly which is good.”
Cullen also allayed any fears over Caelan Doris and Josh van der Flier, who both took knocks before being replaced in the second half.
“Caelan it was just his ankle, but very minor. He was running around fine. We were keen to get Ryan (Baird) on so that cemented that decision.
“Josh just had a bit of a dead leg but very very minor, we were keen to get Scott on anyway. It was great for him to make his Champions Cup debut.
“So nothing too major that I could see anyway.”
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