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Garry Ringrose stars as Leinster rout Leicester at the Aviva

Updated / Monday, 10 Apr 2023 13:12
Garry Ringrose scored two tries in the first half
Garry Ringrose scored two tries in the first half

But for a five minute spell early in the second half, this Leinster win didn't look in much doubt.

Leo Cullen’s side marched on to another Heineken Champions Cup semi-final with a 31-point win against the Leicester Tigers, but despite scoring seven tries against the Premiership champions, there's a sense they'll need a more rounded 80 minutes in the last four, against either Toulouse or the Sharks.

With 45 minutes played in this contest, there was a fleeting moment when the 27,000 fans at the Aviva Stadium thought a shock may have been on the cards.

Having seen their 17-3 lead cut to 17-10 just before half time, and Caelan Doris sent to the sin-bin for a high tackle on Jasper Wiese, the thoughts of an upset seemed real. But no sooner had the Tigers got a grip on the game, did Leinster blow them apart.

Three tries in nine minutes ended the contest, as Jamison Gibson-Park and Scott Penny crossed either side of a penalty try, while Jimmy O'Brien and John McKee completed the second half domination, as the favourites found another gear to breeze past a Tigers side that ran out of gas after 50 minutes.

Garry Ringrose lit up the Aviva Stadium as Leicester could barely lay a hand on him in the opening half as he ran in for two beautiful tries, the first coming after just 73 seconds of the game.

Ringrose crosses for his first try

The centre also came up with the goods in defence. It was his jackal penalty just after the Doris yellow card that put Leinster back on the attack, which ultimately led to three points off the boot of Ross Byrne.

The glut of second-half tries gloss over what was a sloppy first 50 minutes from the hosts, who saw their breakdown badly disrupted by Leicester in then opening half, while a shoulder injury for Ryan Baird after just over 20 minutes didn't help Leinster's cause.

The versatile forward left the game holding his arm and was seen in a sling at full-time, leaving him as an early doubt for the semi-final at the end of the month.

Right from the whistle, Leinster looked on it in attack.

Keenan was first to Byrne's kick-off, beating Mike Brown in the aerial duel to flick back to a blue jersey. There were strong carries around the edge of the 22 from both Furlong and Baird as Leinster probed ominously, before neat handling from Ringrose put Lowe down the wing to bring them into striking range.

From there they moved back infield, George Martin shooting up the line to open space for Ringrose to skip through, and the centre raced in to touch down and give his side the perfect start.

Byrne converted, but the Tigers responded well, and after Martin claimed the restart to give Leicester field position, Porter gave up a penalty for a high tackle which Pollard tapped over to get his side on the board at 7-3, with five minutes played.

By the 16th minute, Ringrose had his and Leinster’s second try, a gorgeous set-piece strike taken straight off their UCD training ground.

With a scrum close to the right touchline, it was a quick in and out as Gibson-Park passed to Byrne, who found the looping O’Brien coming over his left shoulder, while Henshaw’s hard dummy line sucked in Pollard and Kelly.

Byrne’s pass sent O’Brien into space, with Ringrose supporting outside, and it was the centre who dived over to finish it, as Byrne converted to make it 14-3.

Leinster could have been out of sight inside 25 minutes, had it not been for some tenacious defence from the visitors, who stole a lineout in their own 22 after a brilliant Lowe kick had put the home side into a promising position, while moments later Porter gave away a penalty for not releasing.

But while the Tigers were defending hard close to their own line, they seemed flummoxed by the Leinster attacking shape further out the field, which gave Leo Cullen’s side constant access to try-scoring opportunities.

Having seen a couple of potential tries pass them by, they did extend their lead on 31 minutes when Byrne kicked a penalty from 40 metres, which nudged them out to a 17-3 advantage.

As good as Leinster were looking in open play, they were vulnerable around the breakdown. Porter conceded two penalties for not releasing, before Sheehan was pinged on 35 minutes, allowing the visitors to launch a first real assault on the hosts’ tryline. They made their chance count.

After Lowe conceded another penalty, Brown took a quick tap to get the Tigers close to the line, before they moved it wide to Watson, who finished well in the corner. Pollard’s conversion kept Leicester in touch at the break, trimming it back to 17-10.

The visitors started the second half brightly, slowing the game down to their own pace with some well-judged kicking, and despite Leinster taking a quick free-kick to break up into the 22, another jackal penalty from Reffell saw them continue their dominance of the breakdown.

On 45 minutes, they were given an opening after Doris was sent to the sin-bin. The Leinster back row came in high as he attempted to tackle Jasper Wiese, with his shoulder connecting with the neck of the Springbok, but a potential red card was mitigated down to a yellow after it was judged that Wiese had been knocked into Doris's path by Scott Penny.

But rather than spark the Tigers into life, it was Leinster who responded better. First, Ringrose won a big jackal penalty in his own half to relieve pressure, before they took the Leicester scrum apart to win another on the edge of the 22.

From that penalty, Byrne called for the tee, and split the posts to push his side back into a two-score lead at 20-10, with just over 50 minutes played.

Three minutes later, they killed the tie off. Again, Ringrose was central to it.

The centre found himself on the end of a simple Henshaw pass 40 metres out, and with the Leicester players tiring, he caught Freddie Steward flat-footed to burst into the open field, before popping inside to the supporting Gibson-Park who ran in to score.

Byrne converted under then posts, and as Doris returned from his sin-binning shortly after, the score was 27-10, his side outscoring Leicester 10-0 in that time.

The Premiership champions looked broken, and by the hour mark they were back under their posts, hauling down a Leinster maul to concede a penalty try to make it 34-10, while hooker Charlie Clare was yellow-carded.

The four-time champions were enjoying it now, and by the 62nd minute they crossed for a fifth try. Once again it came from a Leicester penalty and a maul in the corner, but this time Penny broke through before swatting aside Jack van Poortvliet to dive over and score, as Byrne kept his radar on with a seventh kick out of seven to make it 41-10.

Leicester stopped the bleeding with a try from Olly Cracknell on 69 minutes, with Pollard adding the conversion to make it 41-17, but three minutes later Leinster crossed the line again as Harry Byrne ran a brilliant hard line off a lineout, before popping back inside to O'Brien to allow the winger run in and score.

It was turning into a basketball game with scores swapping back and forth. Ross Byrne saw a pass picked off by Harry Potter, who sprinted clear to get a third Leicester try, but there was still time for Leinster to bring up their half-century of points, John McKee touching down in the final minute to round off a 55-24 hammering.

Leinster: Hugo Keenan; Jimmy O'Brien, Garry Ringrose, Robbie Henshaw, James Lowe; Ross Byrne, Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Furlong; Ross Molony, James Ryan (capt); Ryan Baird, Caelan Doris, Jack Conan.

Replacements: John McKee, Cian Healy, Michael Ala'alatoa, Jason Jenkins, Scott Penny, Luke McGrath, Harry Byrne, Ciarán Frawley.

Leicester Tigers: Mike Brown; Anthony Watson, Harry Potter, Dan Kelly, Freddie Steward; Handré Pollard, Jack van Poortvliet; James Cronin, Julián Montoya (capt), Joe Heyes; George Martin, Cameron Henderson; Hanro Liebenberg, Tommy Reffell, Jasper Wiese.

Replacements: Charlie Clare, Tom West, Dan Cole, Eli Snyman, Olly Cracknell, Sam Wolstenholme, Charlie Atkinson, Jimmy Gopperth.

Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)

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