THE LAST TIME we saw Garry Ringrose with his boots on he was being stretchered off the Murrayfield pitch, a horrible image following an incident which saw the brilliant centre sit out the closing run of Ireland’s Grand Slam success.
At Aviva Stadium last night, it took the 28-year-old less than 90 seconds to dispel any suggestion he might be a little rusty on his return to competitive action – searing through to score the province’s opening try on what turned out to be yet another statement win for Leinster in Europe.
And what a statement this was. Leicester might not have the status of old when it comes to their recent history in this competition, but the Tigers were walloped here by a home side who went into the game without their captain and the reigning world player of the year. Not that anybody really noticed their absence.
Putting 50 points on the English champions in a Champions Cup knockout game feels like the type of event which should take place in front of a sold-out stadium but last night’s quarter-final meeting between Leinster and Leicester Tigers had the distinct feel of a curtain-raiser.
With the top tier of the Aviva Stadium closed, 27,000 filed into the ground and about 26,500 of them would have the made the trip expecting to be back for the semi-finals later this month. That, coupled with the six-day turnaround from Saturday’s defeat of Ulster and it being a late game on Good Friday, ensured this was never going to attract the usual bumper audience. Mad scheduling, which did both the home support and the 500-strong travelling Leicester contingent no favours.
Those who did put their hands in their pockets were, initially, treated to an intriguing battle, Leinster not quite on the ropes but asked some uncomfortable questions.
While Leicester never looked capable of pulling off an unlikely shock, what they did manage to show is that making Leinster uncomfortable doesn’t require a complex gameplan cooked up by some coaching guru. As Tigers proved for much of the opening half here, if you can slow down Leinster’s ball, frustrate them at the breakdown and show a bit of grit, it can go a long way towards making things interesting.
This isn’t exactly a revelatory discovery, but it is perhaps a timely reminder for the likes of Toulouse, Saracens and La Rochelle, who will have been watching last night’s action with interest. The province remain the hot favourites to go all the way and lift the trophy on 20 May but there are some chinks in the armour, however shiny it remains this deep into the season.
At half-time the score read 17-10 in Leinster’s favour. Somehow, a one-score game.
With ideal conditions in Dublin 4, Leinster had played some scintillating rugby, full of sharp running angles and brilliant linebreaks – five to Tigers’ 0 in the first half – but only had two tries to show for all their possession and territory.
The first arrived in a flash – Ringrose selling a lovely dummy to skip in under the posts. The same player supplied the second 15 minutes later, Jimmy O’Brien slipping inside two defenders before Ringrose found himself under the posts again – Leicester failing to get a hand on a Leinster player as the province turned a scrum to a score on first phase.
Ringrose was having one of those nights. Nearly every time he touched the ball the centre looked a threat, his footwork, execution and reading of the game exceptionally sharp given his recent lay-off.
Outside him, O’Brien was similarly impactful. Having worn the 13 shirt in Ringrose’s absence last weekend, here he was deployed on the wing, where he offered a constant running threat and competed well under the aerial bombs Leicester sent his way.
And how Leicester like to put boot to ball. The Tigers’ gameplan wouldn’t look out of place down the road at Croke Park and while it can be extremely effective, it wasn’t enough to truly test Leinster over the course of 80 minutes. And Leinster are an 80 minute team – often growing more dangerous and clinical as the game wears on.
Ultimately, Leicester just couldn’t live with the pace and precision of Leinster’s all-action attack.
Leinster, of course, aren’t shy to turn to their own kicking game but it’s far from the only weapon in their arsenal. And while there are a handful of teams out there who can live with their varied attacking threats and match – or better – them physically, not many can live with their speed and supreme fitness.
Right from the off, the English side took every opportunity to slow the game down as Leinster looked to keep things moving, with the lively Jamison Gibson-Park buzzing around as usual. Following that fascinating first half, as the game opened in the second period the home side began to really stretch the Tigers defence and added five tries.
Their most impressive period came during the 10-minute second-half spell when Caelan Doris was sent to the bin for a high shot on Leicester number eight Jasper Wiese.
Where this could have been an opportunity for Leicester to forge a path back into the contest, it instead became the platform for Leinster to put the game to bed, outscoring the visitors 10-0 while down to 14 men, a stunning period of dominance kick-started by a Ringrose turnover.
There he was again breaking forward off Robbie Henshaw’s lovely delayed pass for the killer try. Not only did Ringrose have the time and space to decide whether O’Brien, Gibson-Park or James Lowe would get the glory, he could have stopped and asked how their day was going. Just fine, as it happens. Gibson-Park got the honours.
From there the floodgates opened, Leinster adding further tries from Scott Penny, O’Brien and John McKee, Leicester landing a few shots back of no real consequence.
A tight game that was in the balance early in the second half had unfurled into another comfortable Leinster Champions Cup win, but there are some points of concern for Leo Cullen and Stuart Lancaster.
The province should have been more clinical in the first half and against different opposition the scoreline might not have been as kind. The counter is that in three weeks’ time, Leinster should be sharper too.
Most, if not all of those on the pitch last night will now sit out the next two weekends of URC action as Leinster head to South Africa, with their focus solely on that semi-final date later this month. Leinster won’t have much trouble shifting more than 27,000 tickets for that one, particularly if it’s a rematch against last year’s beaten semi-finalists, Toulouse.
On the back of a gruelling quarter-final win over Munster, Toulouse didn’t give a proper account of themselves when they last came to Dublin and would surely relish another shot at the home favourites, who prepare to step into a sixth Champions Cup semi-final in seven years.
Beatable, but decidedly hard to beat.
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