A BUSY EVENING for Jamison Gibson-Park included being on the receiving end of a falcon and essentially ending the game as a contest with a slick solo try.
The 34-year-old scrum-half continues to be of crucial importance to Leinster, with his latest performance in Leinster’s 20-11 win over the Stormers in an entertaining URC semi-final earning him the player-of-the-match accolade.
Gibson-Park’s try was an instinctive, pacy effort just after the Stormers had been reduced to 14 players, with Ruan Ackermann in the sin bin and about to have an upgraded red card confirmed.
Stormers lock Salmaan Moerat’s foot took the ball out of Gibson-Park’s hands – earning him a yellow card – but the Leinster scrum-half reacted well to regather possession, turn, and accelerate in between two recovering Stormers defenders.
Once in behind, the Ireland international danced his way past last defender Leolin Zas and dove under the posts.
“That moment, it sums it up,” said Leinster boss Leo Cullen of Gibson-Park’s influence.
“He’s so opportunistic. Plus, he gets a guy binned at the same time, which is quite good.
“So obviously, they play the ball on the ground with his foot. But listen, he’s so instinctive, Jamison. That’s brilliant.
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“But how he exits, I think, is the big thing. In some of these big games, hugely important, in terms of applying pressure on the opposition and relieving pressure on ourselves.”
Gibson-Park himself was pleased to be part of a collective Leinster effort that saw them overcome a ferocious Stormers side who made everything a battle.
It wasn’t until Ackermann’s upgraded red card with 11 minutes to go that Leinster were able to score through Gibson-Park and finish in comfort.
And now they’re facing a final rematch against the Bulls at Croke Park on Friday 19 June.
“It’s awesome,” said Gibson-Park. “That final last year had a great feel to it, because I wasn’t involved on the match day because of injury, but it had an awesome feel to that week.
“It’s a real privilege for us to play on that ground. So, yes, it’s massively exciting and I’m really looking forward to it, for sure.”
Cullen was proud of his team coming through a “proper arm wrestle” against the Stormers.
Leinster started strongly to lead 13-0 after 25 minutes, but the Stormers came back into the game thereafter and made life difficult for the home side.
“They’re in it the whole time, weren’t they?” said Cullen. “Because they’re a team laden with quality and physicality.
“So, it was a serious battle for us out there. Huge credit to the players. I thought they were exceptional in terms of how they stood up to some of the physical exchanges out there.”
There was even a battle in the tunnel at half time, with players from both sides involved in a fracas.
“I didn’t see it as I was going down the tunnel,” said Cullen.
“I kind of knew something was going on. It was taking a little bit longer to come in, but I honestly didn’t know what was happening there. I genuinely don’t know. But there was no chat about it there, to be honest, no.”
Gibson-Park was in the vicinity, but he wasn’t interested in revealing any further detail about what had happened.
More seriously, there is a new injury concern for Leinster after Andrew Porter was forced off in the 22nd minute due to a calf injury he suffered in a scrum.
“The extent of it now, I’m not too sure, but yeah, it was his calf,” said Cullen. “So yeah, we’ll see how bad that is.”
Cullen said Josh van der Flier and Caelan Doris were OK after taking knocks during the game, while the same was true of Rónan Kelleher after being on the receiving end of Ackermann’s illegal clearout.
Leinster will also hope to have the likes of Dan Sheehan and Tadhg Furlong available for selection against the Bulls after they missed out on the win over the Stormers.
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'He's so opportunistic' - Gibson-Park's big influence for Leinster
A BUSY EVENING for Jamison Gibson-Park included being on the receiving end of a falcon and essentially ending the game as a contest with a slick solo try.
The 34-year-old scrum-half continues to be of crucial importance to Leinster, with his latest performance in Leinster’s 20-11 win over the Stormers in an entertaining URC semi-final earning him the player-of-the-match accolade.
Gibson-Park’s try was an instinctive, pacy effort just after the Stormers had been reduced to 14 players, with Ruan Ackermann in the sin bin and about to have an upgraded red card confirmed.
Stormers lock Salmaan Moerat’s foot took the ball out of Gibson-Park’s hands – earning him a yellow card – but the Leinster scrum-half reacted well to regather possession, turn, and accelerate in between two recovering Stormers defenders.
Once in behind, the Ireland international danced his way past last defender Leolin Zas and dove under the posts.
“That moment, it sums it up,” said Leinster boss Leo Cullen of Gibson-Park’s influence.
“He’s so opportunistic. Plus, he gets a guy binned at the same time, which is quite good.
“So obviously, they play the ball on the ground with his foot. But listen, he’s so instinctive, Jamison. That’s brilliant.
“But how he exits, I think, is the big thing. In some of these big games, hugely important, in terms of applying pressure on the opposition and relieving pressure on ourselves.”
Gibson-Park himself was pleased to be part of a collective Leinster effort that saw them overcome a ferocious Stormers side who made everything a battle.
It wasn’t until Ackermann’s upgraded red card with 11 minutes to go that Leinster were able to score through Gibson-Park and finish in comfort.
And now they’re facing a final rematch against the Bulls at Croke Park on Friday 19 June.
“It’s awesome,” said Gibson-Park. “That final last year had a great feel to it, because I wasn’t involved on the match day because of injury, but it had an awesome feel to that week.
“It’s a real privilege for us to play on that ground. So, yes, it’s massively exciting and I’m really looking forward to it, for sure.”
Cullen was proud of his team coming through a “proper arm wrestle” against the Stormers.
Leinster started strongly to lead 13-0 after 25 minutes, but the Stormers came back into the game thereafter and made life difficult for the home side.
“They’re in it the whole time, weren’t they?” said Cullen. “Because they’re a team laden with quality and physicality.
“So, it was a serious battle for us out there. Huge credit to the players. I thought they were exceptional in terms of how they stood up to some of the physical exchanges out there.”
There was even a battle in the tunnel at half time, with players from both sides involved in a fracas.
“I didn’t see it as I was going down the tunnel,” said Cullen.
“I kind of knew something was going on. It was taking a little bit longer to come in, but I honestly didn’t know what was happening there. I genuinely don’t know. But there was no chat about it there, to be honest, no.”
Gibson-Park was in the vicinity, but he wasn’t interested in revealing any further detail about what had happened.
More seriously, there is a new injury concern for Leinster after Andrew Porter was forced off in the 22nd minute due to a calf injury he suffered in a scrum.
“The extent of it now, I’m not too sure, but yeah, it was his calf,” said Cullen. “So yeah, we’ll see how bad that is.”
Cullen said Josh van der Flier and Caelan Doris were OK after taking knocks during the game, while the same was true of Rónan Kelleher after being on the receiving end of Ackermann’s illegal clearout.
Leinster will also hope to have the likes of Dan Sheehan and Tadhg Furlong available for selection against the Bulls after they missed out on the win over the Stormers.
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JGP Leinster Leo Cullen Stormers URC