skip to main content

Gibson-Park lights up Leinster win over battling Tigers

Updated / Monday, 8 Apr 2024 11:14
Jamison Gibson-Park on his way to a second try at the Aviva Stadium
Jamison Gibson-Park on his way to a second try at the Aviva Stadium

Jamison Gibson-Park lit up the Aviva Stadium as Leinster safely booked their passage to the last eight of the Investec Champions Cup and a rematch with knock-out nemesis La Rochelle.

The scrum-half was simply unplayable as he helped himself to a first-half hat-trick in front of 40,775 at the Dublin venue.

Storm Kathleen had passed by but the English visitors felt the full force of the former Hurricane's rugby repertoire.

Robbie Henshaw and Jack Conan added second-half tries as Leinster knocked the Tigers out of the competition for the third time in three seasons.

Ronan O'Gara’s La Rochelle earlier came from 16-0 behind and had to rely on Stormers’ out-half Manie Libbok missing a conversion attempt with the last kick of the game to hold onto their crown.

It sets up a repeat of the last two finals and a fifth meeting with Leinster in the last four seasons, with Leinster having just a solitary victory – the pool stage 16-9 win last December.

Seventh in the Premiership and missing influential England pair Ollie Chessum and George Martin from the squad, Leicester put up a respectable showing without ever causing major worry for Leo Cullen, who was able to introduce four forward replacements by the 52nd minute.

Job done for Leinster and all focus will now turn to next Saturday at the Aviva Stadium (5.30pm) for the latest installment of Europe's biggest and most intriguing rivalry.

Tigers struck the opening blow of the contest, taking advantage after James Lowe skewed a kick out on the full.

Former Munster prop James Cronin combined with Jasper Wiese to break the line and quick ball from the subsequent rucks saw Dan Kelly, a former Ireland Under 20 cap, pop to Handre Pollard.

The World Cup winner powered over under the posts despite the presence of a number of Leinster defenders.

But the visitors couldn't handle Gibson-Park, with the number 9's awareness and speed causing no end of trouble.

First, he weaved his way through a number of tackles to force a penalty concession, which Ross Byrne tapped over to get Leinster on the board.

He was then perfectly placed to run in after Dan Sheehan delayed a pass for Joe McCarthy, who broke the line before picking out the Kiwi native.

The 32-year-old was only getting started and the player of the match award was safely wrapped up by the 24th minute

After another run, where he appeared to be stopped twice, he was able to take off down the blind side and exchange passes with Sheehan before coasting in for his second.

Moments later he was part of a posse that bundled Freddie Steward into touch when the winger threatened close to the line.

Pollard added another penalty before Leinster grabbed their third off the next possession and it was that man again.

Jamie Osborne picked a lethal line off Henshaw’s soft pass in midfield and the defensive wall was broken.

The young centre fed inside for Gibson-Park, who still had work to do but a delicious sidestep sent Steward the wrong way and he raced in for his hat-trick, Byrne’s conversion taking Leinster 22-10 clear.

In between Gibson-Park's moments of magic, the forwards and referee were kind enough to take their time at endless scrum resets, giving the crowd the time it needed to take in a majestic 30 minutes of sublime attacking play.

But neither were Leinster perfect.

McCarthy gave away a couple of needless penalties and Andrew Porter came in from the side at a ruck in midfield to allow the visitors to kick into the 22 but they could do nothing from the last real chance of the half and Leinster were on their way.

Again, it was Tigers who looked more tuned in at the start of the second half and Lowe was sent to the sin-bin after preventing Steward finding Jamie Shillcock 10 metres from the line.

From the subsequent lineout maul, Cronin dotted down to put just seven points between the teams.

They looked to threaten soon after but Henshaw, who had recovered from a head injury against Bulls last weekend, picked off Kelly's loopy pass and sprinted in from 60 metres unopposed.

After another spell of possession in the Leicester half, replacement Conan burst off the back of the scrum but a TMO intervention chalked off his try due to a knock on.

Still, the two-time champions never gave up and spent a considerable period of time in the Leinster 22 at the start of the fourth quarter but could not deal the Leinster pack’s power and discipline in defence.

And the four-time winners had the talent to add another fine score to their tally, Osborne fed the galloping Ryan Baird before offloading to Conan, who beat the chasing pack to the line.

Harry Byrne, who had earlier replaced brother Ross, converted.

An overthrow by replacement Rónan Kelleher allowed replacement hooker Charlie Clare to dive over for a late converted try, which, at that stage, was mere consolation for Dan McKellar’s side.

Ross Byrne looked to have hurt his shoulder before his departure and Cian Healy limped off before the end, which will give the Leinster medics work to do ahead of next weekend's mouthwatering showdown.

Leinster: Hugo Keenan; Jordan Larmour, Robbie Henshaw, Jamie Osborne, James Lowe; Ross Byrne, Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Furlong; Ross Molony, Joe McCarthy; Ryan Baird, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris (capt).

Replacements: Rónan Kelleher, Cian Healy, Michael Ala'alatoa, Jason Jenkins, Jack Conan, Ben Murphy, Harry Byrne, Ciarán Frawley.

Leicester: Jamie Shillcock; Freddie Steward, Dan Kelly, Solomone Kata, Ollie Hassell-Collins; Handré Pollard, Jack van Poortvliet; James Cronin, Julián Montoya (capt), Dan Cole; Harry Wells, Kyle Hatherell; Hanro Liebenberg, Olly Cracknell, Jasper Wiese.

Replacements: Charlie Clare, Francois van Wyk, Will Hurd, Finn Carnduff, Emeka Ilione, Tom Whiteley, Phil Cokanasiga, Mike Brown.

Referee: Pierre Brousset (Fra)

More stories on

Read Next