Ryan Bailey reports from the Aviva Stadium
THE PERFECT STRIKE, at the perfect time. Ross Byrne produced a big moment when Leinster needed it most, sending the ball straight and true to bisect the posts. The roar of pain and relief, as he hobbled back to halfway, said it all. This was his time, his stage.
Although severely compromised by the onset of cramp, Byrne managed to hold his nerve as he showed his mettle and pain tolerance to kick Leinster — the defending champions — into the last four of the Heineken Champions Cup for the third straight year.
This was a real coming of age performance from the 23-year-old. Having accumulated vast experience in recent years behind Johnny Sexton, Byrne has consistently displayed his ability to step up in the number 10 jersey, but he produced his most controlled and mature display here.
As Sexton, ruled out with a leg niggle, watched on from the stands, Byrne recovered from two missed kicks in the first half to finish the game with a personal tally of 16 points, including that match-winning effort from the far touchline.
In what was his first start in a European knockout game, the former St Michael’s man truly seized his opportunity, scoring a first-half try while also displaying his accuracy and unfaltering temperament off the tee.
There was also a trademark kick-pass for Dave Kearney during the first period, Byrne’s vision and outstanding skillset evident as he picked the winger out with the outside of his right boot under pressure from Ulster’s rushed defence.
There would have been much concern among Leinster supporters when Sexton joined the likes of Devin Toner, Robbie Henshaw and Josh van der Flier on the sideline for this European quarter-final, but equally, Byrne has stood up in key games over the last two seasons.
Here was another powerful example of Leinster’s depth chart showing its true value, as Ireland international Byrne stepped into the breach and emerged as the hero on a night when 21 of the province’s matchday squad were homegrown talent.
His decisive penalty in the 71st minute, with the game on a knife-edge at 18-18, came at a time when Byrne was pulling up with cramp every time he kicked, and Cullen admitted afterwards that the coaches were happy for them to kick for the corner if the chance arose.
It did, but after a brief discussion with Rhys Ruddock, Byrne stretched out his left leg and called for the tee. He was going for the posts.
“I thought we might have gone to the corner, but Ross showed some good character,” Cullen said. “He was struggling, even after the kick, and came off pretty quickly after that. I thought Ross did well under difficult circumstances today.
“We’re missing a few players at the moment but that’s what we talk about, the next person to step in. I thought Ross was very controlled in his performance today.
“We were trying to get the message on we were happy actually to go to the corner there at the end. But he stepped up, backed himself and kicked the winning penalty from the sideline. It’s a huge moment for him and just another layer of experience for him playing in a quarter-final and he’s someone we hope will get better all the time.”
Having been left out of Ireland’s Six Nations squad, Byrne has bounced back and responded with a series of big performances in blue, with Cullen last week praising his influence on the squad during the championship period when many of Leinster’s internationals were away.
Byrne’s leadership ability is developing all the time and he certainly doesn’t appear to be fazed by the sizeable task of filling Sexton’s boots, as he brings his own skillsets to the jersey when selected.
“It was unbelievable from Ross to slot over that penalty, you could see he was cramping up before it,” man of the match Jack Conan said. “To have the focus of mind and strength of character to knock that over and for it to be a decisive moment in the game, it was massive for us.”
Byrne didn’t last much longer before eventually succumbing to be replaced by Rob Kearney for the final throes of an epic game in front of a raucous Aviva crowd, amplified by a large travelling contingent of away supporters.
His third penalty of the evening had given Leinster a 21-18 lead heading into the final nine minutes, and from there, the home side did what champion sides do and ran down the clock with an energy-sapping 40 phases of possession. They managed the end-game superbly.
It was a remarkable effort from Cullen’s side at the end of a frenetic and physical affair as the blue shirts showed patience, concentration and pure determination to retain the ball and wind the clock down, allowing Luke McGrath to boot it into touch once the 80 was up.
“I was pleased with the last passage of play when we snuffed out the threat, managed possession well and do what we need to do to get the job done,” Cullen continued.
It’s not that pretty but ultimately it’s effective enough to win the game. And sometimes when you’re playing these games, that’s what it’s all about. Just getting the job done. We saw it in Bilbao last year against Racing, and sometimes you have to play the day and adapt on the day. That adaptability is important.
Conan, who was outstanding throughout a powerful and robust 80-minute shift, added: “The message was just to stay calm. We knew we didn’t have to do anything that we hadn’t been doing all day. We just needed to get into their half, play simple rugby, be direct, get over the gain line and hold onto the ball.
“Make sure we’re not giving them easy outs, not giving away stupid penalties by overcommitting to the rucks. It was just about calm heads and executing that.
“There are so many improvements we’re going to have to improve on come the end of April. It’s a learning curve. Lads are coming back in and we were a little bit rusty early on but we grew into it.”
Leinster were far from their best, and credit must go to Dan McFarland’s Ulster who threw absolutely everything at their provincial rivals, but came up agonisingly short of a huge victory in Dublin.
As it was, the eastern province stretched their winning run to 12 games at the Aviva Stadium and earned themselves a place in the last four, where they will meet either Racing 92 or Toulouse as their title defence gathers momentum.
Victory for Racing — who have Simon Zebo and Donnacha Ryan in their starting XV — would mean Leinster will travel to Paris at the end of April, but should Toulouse come out on top in this afternoon’s all-French tie, the holders will be back at the Aviva next month.
“The next couple of weeks are very important for us as well as we need to try and build more cohesion in our game and as I said, it’s going to be a great opportunity for guys to play next week and then the week after,” Cullen added, looking ahead to Pro14 games against Benetton and Glasgow Warriors before their semi-final date.
“We’re re-assessing selection all the time and it’s important our guys understand that and the importance of these games, it’s not like we’re trying to trudge our way through now.
“We know we’re in two semi-finals but it’s about how we build the cohesion and levels of performance so that when it comes to the semi-finals we can give a better account of ourselves than we did today.”
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