IT WAS ONE of those gloriously still, crisp, calm evenings in Galway although it was anything but in terms of what we saw on the pitch at the Sportsground.
This was frenetic, breathless, brilliant stuff as Leinster secured a five-point lead to bring into next weekend’s second leg back at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
Johnny Sexton celebrates Hugo Keenan's try for Leinster. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
An away win leaves Leo Cullen’s men as firm favourites to advance from this Champions Cup Round-of-16 match-up but Connacht made life very difficult for the visitors in the first leg and, at one stage, looked like their momentum might carry them to a famous win.
An early try for wing John Porch saw Connacht land the first blow and though Leinster played some scintillating rugby to produce two tries for James Lowe and another for Hugo Keenan, Andy Friend’s men battled back into the tie.
With Bundee Aki leading the physical onslaught and the 8,129 crowd baying for blood, Leinster had some hairy moments as a second-half yellow card for sub scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park didn’t help their cause, with Connacht scoring through outstanding lock Leva Fifita during that 10-minute spell. There were plenty of calls for a red card in that instance.
However, Leinster had enough composure to see out their away win and though this wasn’t an 80-minute performance quite like the one against Munster last weekend, they had flashes of brilliance, got the outcome they wanted, and will back themselves to seal the deal back on home soil next Friday.
Caelan Doris was player of the match with yet another superb display, while Tadhg Furlong was excellent and Lowe as prominent as ever.
Connacht, though, will have taken some heart from their gritty, combative performance and will travel to Dublin without pressure on their shoulders. With Mack Hansen flitting around the pitch, they were a constant threat tonight. This one isn’t over just yet.
John Porch scores Connacht's brilliant early try. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
The high-paced first half here started and ended with Connacht scores, the opener an absolute beauty of a try at the end of a stunning two-minute passage of virtually all-out attack.
The home side’s first attacking set featured half-breaks from Tom Farrell, Aki, and Gavin Thornbury before Leinster counter-rucked their way to a turnover in the shadow of their posts, only for Lowe’s clearance kick to be partially blocked by the busy Fifita.
Porch gathered the ricocheting ball and another passage of slick attack soon finished with Aki passing out the back for captain Jack Carty to prompt the right wing into a hole in Leinster’s defence for the unconverted score out on the left.
Leinster took their time to find their groove, an excellent Aki breakdown turnover penalty ending one visit into the Connacht 22, but they registered their first points after 19 minutes when Aki was punished for not releasing post-tackle and Sexton popped over the three points.
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That settler indicated that Leinster were ready to fire as their attack suddenly became irresistible.
Lowe notched his first try four minutes after Sexton’s penalty as a brilliant passage of fluid play from inside their own half saw Tadhg Furlong and Caelan Doris throw classy link passes out the back before Sexton sent fullback Hugo Keenan on a diagonal line towards the right touchline, only for Lowe to switch back under the stretched Connacht defence and accept Keenan’s pass to sprint home from 40 metres.
James Lowe bagged two first-half tries for Leinster. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
Lowe’s second came before the half-hour mark as another outstanding sequence of attack again involving a Furlong link pass led to Lowe hitting Keenan on a late-adjusted short line for the initial linebreak before Lowe looped back to Keenan’s outside to accept the scoring return pass.
It was another beauty and though Sexton couldn’t convert that one amid a lone heckle from a Connacht fan bemoaning the duration of his place-kicking routine, Leinster led 15-5.
Connacht had to find an answer to arrest the Leinster momentum and the ever-lively Hansen produced it with a thrilling chip, regather, and offload to Tiernan O’Halloran down the left, only for the westerners to be tackled into touch.
A lineout penalty coughed up by Josh Murphy allowed Carty to kick three points from out on the left, although Connacht soon gave up three down the other end after Leinster scrum-half Luke McGrath’s delightfully clever intercept of a Farrell back-door pass on a scrum play, with Connacht then jumping offside to allow Sexton to nail the penalty.
But Connacht went into the half-time break with another encouraging score after Cian Healy was pinged at the breakdown by referee Karl Dickson and Carty slotted a nice penalty shot for a seven-point margin at the interval.
Bundee Aki was a powerful presence for Connacht. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
Friend’s men started the second half strongly, as big carries from Fifita and Cian Prendergast laid the platform for Conor Oliver to make a sharp sniping break over the top of a breakdown then pass to Aki, who was hauled down metres out by Jimmy O’Brien. Connacht couldn’t get over those final few metres but Leinster jumped offside and Carty’s penalty had Connacht back within four points at 14-18.
The visitors responded swiftly, though, as O’Brien blocked down Farrell’s attempted clearing kick from the restart, then drove Carty over his own tryline when the out-half gathered the bobbling ball.
At the ensuing scrum, Leinster’s pack won a penalty advantage and then slick play from their packs looked to have allowed Keenan to send Lowe over for his hat-trick. But TMO David Rose flagged a knock-on from McGrath and Dickson ruled the score out.
Undeterred, Leinster kept the pressure on by opting for another scrum penalty and Keenan blasted over off Gibson-Park’s short pass after another dominant set-piece effort from the pack.
Though Sexton missed the conversion, Leinster looked set to pull clear but they made their lives much harder when Gibson-Park was sin-binned for a high tackle into the face of Kieran Marmion, referee Dickson seemingly feeling that a lack of force saved Gibson-Park from red as the Connacht fans called for a sending-off.
Conditions were perfect at the Sportsground. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
Connacht were soon down in the right corner due to more Leinster indiscipline and at the second time of asking, they hammered over from close-range. Aki went close off the back of the maul, Finlay Bealham carried, then Fifita powered across the last few inches.
Carty’s conversion had Connacht back to within two points at 21-23 and the Connacht fans roared into a rendition of ‘The Fields’ as they recognised the huge opportunity with 18 minutes left.
Connacht were soon scything out of their own half off an Oisin Dowling breakdown turnover, with Porch surging up the right before sub fullback Conor Fitzgerald slalomed away into the Leinster 22. A home try looked a near certainty as replacement back row Abraham Papali’i powered at the tryline twice but Leinster clung on and Dowling knocked the ball on as he stretched out in a bid to score.
Restored to 15 men with Gibson-Park’s return, Leinster looked to turn the screw as Connacht’s failure to roll away from a tackle saw Cullen’s side kick into the left corner.
They went close with a series of pick-and-jams after an unsuccessful maul effort but sub hooker James Tracy was ruled to have knocked-on after the TMO review.
Connacht celebrate Leva Fifita's score. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
Connacht struggled to fully lift the siege with a poor exit kick and another penalty concession but after Leinster opted against taking the simple three points with a kick at goal, replacement out-half Ross Byrne kicked the ball dead in a let-off for Friend’s side.
Yet Connacht still couldn’t get a grip on territory and Leinster had another penalty with four minutes to go. This time, Byrne popped over the straightforward three points and Leinster headed home with a victory.
Connacht scorers:
Tries: John Porch, Leva Fifita
Conversions: Jack Carty [1 from 2]
Penalties: Jack Carty [3 from 3]
Leinster scorers:
Tries: James Lowe [2], Hugo Keenan
Conversions: Johnny Sexton [1 from 3]
Penalties: Johnny Sexton [2 from 2], Ross Byrne [1 from 1]
CONNACHT: Tiernan O’Halloran (Conor Fitzgerald ‘HT); John Porch, Tom Farrell (Sammy Arnold ’78), Bundee Aki, Mack Hansen; Jack Carty (captain), Kieran Marmion (Caolin Blade ’61); Matthew Burke (Tietie Tuimauga ’57), Dave Heffernan (Dylan Tierney-Martin ’71), Finlay Bealham (Jack Aungier ’71); Gavin Thornbury (Oisín Dowling ’53), Leva Fifita; Cian Prendergast, Conor Oliver, Jarrad Butler (Abraham Papali’i ’61).
LEINSTER: Hugo Keenan; Jimmy O’Brien, Garry Ringrose, Robbie Henshaw (Ciarán Frawley ’74), James Lowe; Johnny Sexton (captain) (Ross Byrne ’67), Luke McGrath (Jamison Gibson-Park ’49 (yellow card ’57); Cian Healy (Ed Byrne ’49), Dan Sheehan (James Tracy ’61), Tadhg Furlong (Michael Ala’alatoa ’61); Ross Molony, Josh Murphy (Devin Toner ’71); Caelan Doris (Max Deegan ’76), Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan.
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Leinster take 5-point lead into second leg after thrilling encounter with Connacht
Connacht 21
Leinster 26
IT WAS ONE of those gloriously still, crisp, calm evenings in Galway although it was anything but in terms of what we saw on the pitch at the Sportsground.
This was frenetic, breathless, brilliant stuff as Leinster secured a five-point lead to bring into next weekend’s second leg back at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
An away win leaves Leo Cullen’s men as firm favourites to advance from this Champions Cup Round-of-16 match-up but Connacht made life very difficult for the visitors in the first leg and, at one stage, looked like their momentum might carry them to a famous win.
An early try for wing John Porch saw Connacht land the first blow and though Leinster played some scintillating rugby to produce two tries for James Lowe and another for Hugo Keenan, Andy Friend’s men battled back into the tie.
With Bundee Aki leading the physical onslaught and the 8,129 crowd baying for blood, Leinster had some hairy moments as a second-half yellow card for sub scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park didn’t help their cause, with Connacht scoring through outstanding lock Leva Fifita during that 10-minute spell. There were plenty of calls for a red card in that instance.
However, Leinster had enough composure to see out their away win and though this wasn’t an 80-minute performance quite like the one against Munster last weekend, they had flashes of brilliance, got the outcome they wanted, and will back themselves to seal the deal back on home soil next Friday.
Caelan Doris was player of the match with yet another superb display, while Tadhg Furlong was excellent and Lowe as prominent as ever.
Connacht, though, will have taken some heart from their gritty, combative performance and will travel to Dublin without pressure on their shoulders. With Mack Hansen flitting around the pitch, they were a constant threat tonight. This one isn’t over just yet.
The high-paced first half here started and ended with Connacht scores, the opener an absolute beauty of a try at the end of a stunning two-minute passage of virtually all-out attack.
The home side’s first attacking set featured half-breaks from Tom Farrell, Aki, and Gavin Thornbury before Leinster counter-rucked their way to a turnover in the shadow of their posts, only for Lowe’s clearance kick to be partially blocked by the busy Fifita.
Porch gathered the ricocheting ball and another passage of slick attack soon finished with Aki passing out the back for captain Jack Carty to prompt the right wing into a hole in Leinster’s defence for the unconverted score out on the left.
Leinster took their time to find their groove, an excellent Aki breakdown turnover penalty ending one visit into the Connacht 22, but they registered their first points after 19 minutes when Aki was punished for not releasing post-tackle and Sexton popped over the three points.
That settler indicated that Leinster were ready to fire as their attack suddenly became irresistible.
Lowe notched his first try four minutes after Sexton’s penalty as a brilliant passage of fluid play from inside their own half saw Tadhg Furlong and Caelan Doris throw classy link passes out the back before Sexton sent fullback Hugo Keenan on a diagonal line towards the right touchline, only for Lowe to switch back under the stretched Connacht defence and accept Keenan’s pass to sprint home from 40 metres.
Lowe’s second came before the half-hour mark as another outstanding sequence of attack again involving a Furlong link pass led to Lowe hitting Keenan on a late-adjusted short line for the initial linebreak before Lowe looped back to Keenan’s outside to accept the scoring return pass.
It was another beauty and though Sexton couldn’t convert that one amid a lone heckle from a Connacht fan bemoaning the duration of his place-kicking routine, Leinster led 15-5.
Connacht had to find an answer to arrest the Leinster momentum and the ever-lively Hansen produced it with a thrilling chip, regather, and offload to Tiernan O’Halloran down the left, only for the westerners to be tackled into touch.
A lineout penalty coughed up by Josh Murphy allowed Carty to kick three points from out on the left, although Connacht soon gave up three down the other end after Leinster scrum-half Luke McGrath’s delightfully clever intercept of a Farrell back-door pass on a scrum play, with Connacht then jumping offside to allow Sexton to nail the penalty.
But Connacht went into the half-time break with another encouraging score after Cian Healy was pinged at the breakdown by referee Karl Dickson and Carty slotted a nice penalty shot for a seven-point margin at the interval.
Friend’s men started the second half strongly, as big carries from Fifita and Cian Prendergast laid the platform for Conor Oliver to make a sharp sniping break over the top of a breakdown then pass to Aki, who was hauled down metres out by Jimmy O’Brien. Connacht couldn’t get over those final few metres but Leinster jumped offside and Carty’s penalty had Connacht back within four points at 14-18.
The visitors responded swiftly, though, as O’Brien blocked down Farrell’s attempted clearing kick from the restart, then drove Carty over his own tryline when the out-half gathered the bobbling ball.
At the ensuing scrum, Leinster’s pack won a penalty advantage and then slick play from their packs looked to have allowed Keenan to send Lowe over for his hat-trick. But TMO David Rose flagged a knock-on from McGrath and Dickson ruled the score out.
Undeterred, Leinster kept the pressure on by opting for another scrum penalty and Keenan blasted over off Gibson-Park’s short pass after another dominant set-piece effort from the pack.
Though Sexton missed the conversion, Leinster looked set to pull clear but they made their lives much harder when Gibson-Park was sin-binned for a high tackle into the face of Kieran Marmion, referee Dickson seemingly feeling that a lack of force saved Gibson-Park from red as the Connacht fans called for a sending-off.
Connacht were soon down in the right corner due to more Leinster indiscipline and at the second time of asking, they hammered over from close-range. Aki went close off the back of the maul, Finlay Bealham carried, then Fifita powered across the last few inches.
Carty’s conversion had Connacht back to within two points at 21-23 and the Connacht fans roared into a rendition of ‘The Fields’ as they recognised the huge opportunity with 18 minutes left.
Connacht were soon scything out of their own half off an Oisin Dowling breakdown turnover, with Porch surging up the right before sub fullback Conor Fitzgerald slalomed away into the Leinster 22. A home try looked a near certainty as replacement back row Abraham Papali’i powered at the tryline twice but Leinster clung on and Dowling knocked the ball on as he stretched out in a bid to score.
Restored to 15 men with Gibson-Park’s return, Leinster looked to turn the screw as Connacht’s failure to roll away from a tackle saw Cullen’s side kick into the left corner.
They went close with a series of pick-and-jams after an unsuccessful maul effort but sub hooker James Tracy was ruled to have knocked-on after the TMO review.
Connacht struggled to fully lift the siege with a poor exit kick and another penalty concession but after Leinster opted against taking the simple three points with a kick at goal, replacement out-half Ross Byrne kicked the ball dead in a let-off for Friend’s side.
Yet Connacht still couldn’t get a grip on territory and Leinster had another penalty with four minutes to go. This time, Byrne popped over the straightforward three points and Leinster headed home with a victory.
Connacht scorers:
Tries: John Porch, Leva Fifita
Conversions: Jack Carty [1 from 2]
Penalties: Jack Carty [3 from 3]
Leinster scorers:
Tries: James Lowe [2], Hugo Keenan
Conversions: Johnny Sexton [1 from 3]
Penalties: Johnny Sexton [2 from 2], Ross Byrne [1 from 1]
CONNACHT: Tiernan O’Halloran (Conor Fitzgerald ‘HT); John Porch, Tom Farrell (Sammy Arnold ’78), Bundee Aki, Mack Hansen; Jack Carty (captain), Kieran Marmion (Caolin Blade ’61); Matthew Burke (Tietie Tuimauga ’57), Dave Heffernan (Dylan Tierney-Martin ’71), Finlay Bealham (Jack Aungier ’71); Gavin Thornbury (Oisín Dowling ’53), Leva Fifita; Cian Prendergast, Conor Oliver, Jarrad Butler (Abraham Papali’i ’61).
LEINSTER: Hugo Keenan; Jimmy O’Brien, Garry Ringrose, Robbie Henshaw (Ciarán Frawley ’74), James Lowe; Johnny Sexton (captain) (Ross Byrne ’67), Luke McGrath (Jamison Gibson-Park ’49 (yellow card ’57); Cian Healy (Ed Byrne ’49), Dan Sheehan (James Tracy ’61), Tadhg Furlong (Michael Ala’alatoa ’61); Ross Molony, Josh Murphy (Devin Toner ’71); Caelan Doris (Max Deegan ’76), Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan.
Referee: Karl Dickson [RFU].
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breathless Connacht Galway Heineken Champions Cup Leinster round of 16 Sportsground