WITH THE CLOCK in the red and another bonus-point win in the bag, Leinster kept playing.
Cian Healy wriggled free and flicked a neat pass back inside to Dan Sheehan. Ross Byrne produced one of his less convincing dummy-passes and was swiftly swatted to the ground by two Racing defenders. Jordan Larmour then edged towards the Racing line off a Leinster lineout. The province reworked the ball out to Byrne, who this time did well to quickly release Garry Ringrose, and the Leinster captain dived over in the corner with the final play of the game.
Ringrose took a heavy bang to the guts for his troubles as Christian Wade recklessly threw himself headfirst at the centre.
It was a passage of play which simultaneously showcased Racing’s frustration and Leinster’s desire; the icing on the cake to what had developed into a classy second half display from the home team.
Leading 7-5 at half-time against a Racing side scrapping for their lives, Leinster hit the Parisians for five second-half tries to romp to a 36-10 victory, which, Leo Cullen admitted, “definitely didn’t feel like a 26-point win.”
Leinster saw some familiar issues raise their head again, with Racing testing their maul and scrum, but at times their attacking play was irresistible and the outstanding Ringrose was at the heart of much of it.
The 27-year-old is enjoying a fantastic run of form and looks well-placed to have a big Six Nations. Captaining Leinster again yesterday in the absence of Johnny Sexton, he was excellent in defence but it was his offensive touches which really caught the eye.
Ringrose did well to scramble over for Leinster’s sixth try but his work for the province’s fifth was ever better.
After a Leinster pass missed its target around halfway, Ringrose reacted quickly to boot the ball downfield and immediately chase the kick. Not only did he win the footrace, running at full pelt he managed to gather the ball and execute the offload to his left where Jimmy O’Brien was on hand to collect and cross. It was a wonderful passage of individual skill towards the end of a game where he was hugely influential.
The same two players had earlier combined for another O’Brien score with 15 minutes on the clock – Ringrose running a brilliant line to cut through the Racing defence and play in the Leinster winger.
Outside of those two assists, Ringrose was a constant threat with ball in hand – even stepping in as first receiver to good effect – and ensuring all of his 12 carries were meaningful ones.
With Robbie Henshaw currently sidelined, Ireland head coach Andy Farrell will be glad to see Ringrose head into the Six Nations in scintillating form as he continues to grow as a leadership figure.
His performance was just one positive note from a highly entertaining game in Dublin 4 where Leinster had to dig deep to see off a stubborn Racing side, who for all their all efforts, eventually ran out of steam as their Champions Cup interest came to an end.
Leinster can now look forward to the knockout stages as top seeds from Pool A, knowing that if they can plot a route all the way to the May decider, they won’t have to travel outside Dublin again.
“It was great from the lads,” said Cullen.
“Over the last while they’ve worked hard, players and staff, and the job of getting into the knockout stages with as high a seeding as possible is achieved.
“But as we know, the knockout stages are completely different on the day, a different type of game, pressures etc, but that’s a bit in the distance.
“The group just needs to continue to work hard. It’s been well documented that we have a fair chunk of guys who are missing now for the next while and it’s a different challenge now for the group, because we’re back to URC action next week against Cardiff and it’s going to present great opportunities for a number of players to showcase what they can do now.”
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