DOWN TO 13 men and having just conceded the opening try to Bristol in what was a turgid first half of rugby, there was one stage where Leinster appeared to be in trouble at Ashton Gate.
Yet they showed steel in the 10 minutes that followed, grabbing a try of their own through Jordan Larmour to make it 7-7 at the break, and always knew they had a very good chance of finishing strong against the Bears.
They did more than that as they battered Bristol in the second half, finally clicking in cold, wet weather as their bomb squad bench made a huge impact to help them to a bonus-point win in their opening Champions Cup game.
When your bench is loaded with Andrew Porter, Caelan Doris, RG Snyman, and Jordie Barrett, there must be a sense that any first-half bother can be overcome. Barrett was duly sent on at half time for his debut at inside centre, with the other three following soon after.
Barrett was pure class, laying on one try and scoring another, while the power and skill of Snyman, Doris, and Porter were to the fore.
21-year-old out-half Sam Prendergast added to his growing reputation with two confident, quick finishes as he ended up with 20 points in total on his first start in this competition, while the outstanding Josh van der Flier added another score.
There will be plenty that Leinster pick out for improvement from their first-half showing but their effort after the break made for compelling viewing as they blew Bristol away. Leo Cullen’s men can look forward to next Saturday’s home clash against Clermont with confidence. A six-day turnaround shouldn’t cause much hassle given their depth.
Leinster were shown two yellow cards in the first half. Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
The Irish side began aggressively as Garry Ringrose levelled fellow Dublin native AJ MacGinty in a perfectly legal tackle that forced the Bristol out-half off for a HIA he never returned from.
But the game struggled to get flowing in the wet conditions and amid a scrappy set-piece battle that saw Leinster free-kicked twice before Rabah Slimani won a penalty on their five-metre line after some excellent maul defence by Joe McCarthy and James Ryan denied the Bears.
Three minutes later, Leinster had a chance down the other end after Jack Conan’s superb breakdown penalty saw them kick down the left. Van der Flier surged down the shortside after an exchange with hooker Rónan Kelleher off the lineout, but he was just stopped by Jack Bates and referee Pierre Brousset called a knock-on against the Irish province.
Slimani was soon pinged at the scrum and then Prendergast’s spiralled 50:22 attempt went out on the full, inviting pressure onto the visitors.
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Bristol fired up their maul to devastating effect as Jack Boyle and Kelleher were penalised for illegally halting it twice in quick succession, the Leinster hooker binned as Brousset lost patience in a half that saw Cullen’s men give up nine penalties in total.
Despite the maul dominance, Bristol opted against going into the corner and tapped their five-metre penalty, knocking on under the Leinster posts.
Jamison Gibson-Park carries for Leinster. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
But they flooded back at Leinster a minute later and Max Deegan was shown yellow for a trip on Bristol skipper Fitz Harding as he threatened to break clear. There was cover closing in so it wasn’t a penalty try but Bristol did score off the back of it.
Number eight Bill Mata went close off the lineout before tighthead Max Lahiff burrowed over for a try converted by Benhard Janse van Rensburg, who moved from centre to out-half when MacGinty was forced off.
Leinster appeared to be in real trouble but they mustered an impressive response while down to 13 men.
Larmour gathered the restart after Bristol spilt it, van der Flier’s powerful carry gave momentum, then Jamison Gibson-Park cleverly bought penalty advantage by running at tackler Mata when he was offside.
Prendergast put the advantage to good use as he chipped in behind, with Bristol fullback Richard Lane unable to gather the ball as he slid in, allowing Larmour to pinch it and dart over for a converted score.
A muscular van der Flier turnover in the tackle soon gave Leinster a counter-attacking chance but the half ended with the scores level as Prendergast tangled with England international Ellis Genge off the ball.
Leinster appeared to be in more bother straight off the restart as the match officials looked at a trip by McCarthy on Harry Randall but it was deemed to be a penalty only.
Max Lahiff scored for Bristol in the first half. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
Brousset soon marched Leinster 10 metres back after they disputed a scrum penalty and the Frenchman followed up by sin-binning Lahiff and Andrew Porter – on as a replacement only two minutes before – when another scrum went to ground. Both teams had to send on props, Boyle returning for Leinster, and Bristol won another penalty as the frustrating scrum shenanigans continued.
But Leinster’s bench muscle was beginning to tell and they soon barged upfield, earning a scrum on the left-hand side near the Bristol 22. They struck beautifully on first phase.
Gibson-Park ripped a pass to Barrett, whose perfectly-timed ball out the back found Prendergast. The out-half dummied and accelerated inside Gabriel Ibitoye for the initial break, then calmly dummied again in behind to finish a cracking try.
Leinster were in the mood now, even winning a scrum penalty to allow them back down into Bears territory. Gibson-Park’s sniping break then took them within striking range and this time, Barrett dummied a pass out the back before darting over to finish himself.
Leinster struck again off the restart, Doris’ tip-in pass finding Porter, who offloaded outside to Snyman, sending the Springbok lock galloping up into the Bristol half where he popped to Prendergast. The out-half showed great speed again as he fended Randall to seal a superb third try.
Just like that, Leinster were 28-7 to the good with the bonus point secured before the final quarter.
Jordie Barrett scored on his debut. Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
Van der Flier was next over, his power to the fore once again as he finished from a clever back peel play, his score confirmed by the TMO.
The home side did grab a 73rd-minute consolation try as former Connacht and Ireland scrum-half Kieran Marmion cleverly grubber kicked into acres of space in the backfield for Ibitoye to gather and finish at a canter.
But it couldn’t distract from the phenomenal impact of the Leinster bench as Cullen’s side got their quest for the province’s fifth title up and running.
Bristol scorers:
Tries: Max Lahiff, Gabriel Ibitoye
Conversions: Benhard Janse van Rensburg [1 from 2]
Leinster scorers:
Tries: Jordan Larmour, Sam Prendergast [2], Jordie Barrett, Josh van der Flier
Conversions: Sam Prendergast [5 from 5]
LEINSTER: Ciarán Frawley (Jordie Barrett ‘HT); Jordan Larmour (Gus McCarthy ’38 to ’39) (Ross Byrne ’66), Garry Ringrose, Robbie Henshaw; Jimmy O’Brien; Sam Prendergast, Jamison Gibson-Park (Luke McGrath ’71); Jack Boyle (Andrew Porter ’45 (yellow card ’47)), Rónan Kelleher (yellow card ’28) (Gus McCarthy ’62), Rabah Slimani (Thomas Clarkson ’45); Joe McCarthy (RG Snyman ’45), James Ryan; Max Deegan (yellow card ’30) (Caelan Doris ’45), Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan (captain) (Jack Boyle ’47 to ’57).
BRISTOL: Rich Lane; Jack Bates, Benhard Janse van Rensburg, Kalaveti Ravouvou (Lovejoy Chawatama ’47), Gabriel Ibitoye; AJ MacGinty (Joe Jenkins ’5), Harry Randall (Kieran Marmion ’63); Ellis Genge (Jake Woolmore ’47), Harry Thacker (Gabriel Oghre ’54), Max Lahiff (yellow card ’47) (Lovejoy Chawatama ’57 – reversal ’77); James Dun (Steven Luatua ’47), Joe Owen; Santiago Grondona (Benjamin Grondona ’76), Fitz Harding (captain), Bill Mata (Harry Thacker ’80).
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Huge impact from Leinster's bomb squad proves too much for Bristol
Bristol 12
Leinster 35
DOWN TO 13 men and having just conceded the opening try to Bristol in what was a turgid first half of rugby, there was one stage where Leinster appeared to be in trouble at Ashton Gate.
Yet they showed steel in the 10 minutes that followed, grabbing a try of their own through Jordan Larmour to make it 7-7 at the break, and always knew they had a very good chance of finishing strong against the Bears.
They did more than that as they battered Bristol in the second half, finally clicking in cold, wet weather as their bomb squad bench made a huge impact to help them to a bonus-point win in their opening Champions Cup game.
When your bench is loaded with Andrew Porter, Caelan Doris, RG Snyman, and Jordie Barrett, there must be a sense that any first-half bother can be overcome. Barrett was duly sent on at half time for his debut at inside centre, with the other three following soon after.
Barrett was pure class, laying on one try and scoring another, while the power and skill of Snyman, Doris, and Porter were to the fore.
21-year-old out-half Sam Prendergast added to his growing reputation with two confident, quick finishes as he ended up with 20 points in total on his first start in this competition, while the outstanding Josh van der Flier added another score.
There will be plenty that Leinster pick out for improvement from their first-half showing but their effort after the break made for compelling viewing as they blew Bristol away. Leo Cullen’s men can look forward to next Saturday’s home clash against Clermont with confidence. A six-day turnaround shouldn’t cause much hassle given their depth.
The Irish side began aggressively as Garry Ringrose levelled fellow Dublin native AJ MacGinty in a perfectly legal tackle that forced the Bristol out-half off for a HIA he never returned from.
But the game struggled to get flowing in the wet conditions and amid a scrappy set-piece battle that saw Leinster free-kicked twice before Rabah Slimani won a penalty on their five-metre line after some excellent maul defence by Joe McCarthy and James Ryan denied the Bears.
Three minutes later, Leinster had a chance down the other end after Jack Conan’s superb breakdown penalty saw them kick down the left. Van der Flier surged down the shortside after an exchange with hooker Rónan Kelleher off the lineout, but he was just stopped by Jack Bates and referee Pierre Brousset called a knock-on against the Irish province.
Slimani was soon pinged at the scrum and then Prendergast’s spiralled 50:22 attempt went out on the full, inviting pressure onto the visitors.
Bristol fired up their maul to devastating effect as Jack Boyle and Kelleher were penalised for illegally halting it twice in quick succession, the Leinster hooker binned as Brousset lost patience in a half that saw Cullen’s men give up nine penalties in total.
Despite the maul dominance, Bristol opted against going into the corner and tapped their five-metre penalty, knocking on under the Leinster posts.
But they flooded back at Leinster a minute later and Max Deegan was shown yellow for a trip on Bristol skipper Fitz Harding as he threatened to break clear. There was cover closing in so it wasn’t a penalty try but Bristol did score off the back of it.
Number eight Bill Mata went close off the lineout before tighthead Max Lahiff burrowed over for a try converted by Benhard Janse van Rensburg, who moved from centre to out-half when MacGinty was forced off.
Leinster appeared to be in real trouble but they mustered an impressive response while down to 13 men.
Larmour gathered the restart after Bristol spilt it, van der Flier’s powerful carry gave momentum, then Jamison Gibson-Park cleverly bought penalty advantage by running at tackler Mata when he was offside.
Prendergast put the advantage to good use as he chipped in behind, with Bristol fullback Richard Lane unable to gather the ball as he slid in, allowing Larmour to pinch it and dart over for a converted score.
A muscular van der Flier turnover in the tackle soon gave Leinster a counter-attacking chance but the half ended with the scores level as Prendergast tangled with England international Ellis Genge off the ball.
Leinster appeared to be in more bother straight off the restart as the match officials looked at a trip by McCarthy on Harry Randall but it was deemed to be a penalty only.
Brousset soon marched Leinster 10 metres back after they disputed a scrum penalty and the Frenchman followed up by sin-binning Lahiff and Andrew Porter – on as a replacement only two minutes before – when another scrum went to ground. Both teams had to send on props, Boyle returning for Leinster, and Bristol won another penalty as the frustrating scrum shenanigans continued.
But Leinster’s bench muscle was beginning to tell and they soon barged upfield, earning a scrum on the left-hand side near the Bristol 22. They struck beautifully on first phase.
Gibson-Park ripped a pass to Barrett, whose perfectly-timed ball out the back found Prendergast. The out-half dummied and accelerated inside Gabriel Ibitoye for the initial break, then calmly dummied again in behind to finish a cracking try.
Leinster were in the mood now, even winning a scrum penalty to allow them back down into Bears territory. Gibson-Park’s sniping break then took them within striking range and this time, Barrett dummied a pass out the back before darting over to finish himself.
Leinster struck again off the restart, Doris’ tip-in pass finding Porter, who offloaded outside to Snyman, sending the Springbok lock galloping up into the Bristol half where he popped to Prendergast. The out-half showed great speed again as he fended Randall to seal a superb third try.
Just like that, Leinster were 28-7 to the good with the bonus point secured before the final quarter.
Van der Flier was next over, his power to the fore once again as he finished from a clever back peel play, his score confirmed by the TMO.
The home side did grab a 73rd-minute consolation try as former Connacht and Ireland scrum-half Kieran Marmion cleverly grubber kicked into acres of space in the backfield for Ibitoye to gather and finish at a canter.
But it couldn’t distract from the phenomenal impact of the Leinster bench as Cullen’s side got their quest for the province’s fifth title up and running.
Bristol scorers:
Tries: Max Lahiff, Gabriel Ibitoye
Conversions: Benhard Janse van Rensburg [1 from 2]
Leinster scorers:
Tries: Jordan Larmour, Sam Prendergast [2], Jordie Barrett, Josh van der Flier
Conversions: Sam Prendergast [5 from 5]
LEINSTER: Ciarán Frawley (Jordie Barrett ‘HT); Jordan Larmour (Gus McCarthy ’38 to ’39) (Ross Byrne ’66), Garry Ringrose, Robbie Henshaw; Jimmy O’Brien; Sam Prendergast, Jamison Gibson-Park (Luke McGrath ’71); Jack Boyle (Andrew Porter ’45 (yellow card ’47)), Rónan Kelleher (yellow card ’28) (Gus McCarthy ’62), Rabah Slimani (Thomas Clarkson ’45); Joe McCarthy (RG Snyman ’45), James Ryan; Max Deegan (yellow card ’30) (Caelan Doris ’45), Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan (captain) (Jack Boyle ’47 to ’57).
BRISTOL: Rich Lane; Jack Bates, Benhard Janse van Rensburg, Kalaveti Ravouvou (Lovejoy Chawatama ’47), Gabriel Ibitoye; AJ MacGinty (Joe Jenkins ’5), Harry Randall (Kieran Marmion ’63); Ellis Genge (Jake Woolmore ’47), Harry Thacker (Gabriel Oghre ’54), Max Lahiff (yellow card ’47) (Lovejoy Chawatama ’57 – reversal ’77); James Dun (Steven Luatua ’47), Joe Owen; Santiago Grondona (Benjamin Grondona ’76), Fitz Harding (captain), Bill Mata (Harry Thacker ’80).
Replacement not used: Benjamin Elizalde.
Referee: Pierre Brousset [France].
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Bristol Champions Cup Finishers Leinster Report