1
Leinster barely survive Croke Park thriller with Northampton
Northampton fell short with a courageous second-half fightback as Leinster emerged 20-17 winners in their Investec Champions Cup semi-final at Croke Park.
ADVERTISEMENT
The repeat of the 2011 final was a mismatch for the first hour with wing James Lowe running in a hat-trick against the Gallagher Premiership leaders, who suffered from a high error count.
A 82,300 capacity crowd in Dublin watched the first England club to play at the home of Gaelic sport fire few shots until George Hendy crossed to give them hope of an upset.
Northampton then began to look more like the daredevil side that has taken the Premiership by storm this season and, when Tom Seabrook touched down with six minutes remaining, they had Leinster on the ropes.
But the four-time champions clung on having already done enough to reach the final, where they will face Toulouse or Harlequins at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on May 25.
Perhaps in a sign of nerves, Saints started by giving the ball away cheaply and there was worse to come when a penalty close to their line saw Jamison Gibson-Park fling a long pass to Lowe, who cut inside to score.
And the early onslaught continued when Lowe strolled over for his second try after Gibson-Park flicked on a superb offload from the charging Caelan Doris.
ADVERTISEMENT
There was no respite for the underdogs as they gave up penalty after penalty, one of them at a pulverised scrum and another for offside at the restart, and Ross Byrne was able to kick another three points.
Northampton’s attack ignited briefly, creating a half chance that vanished through poor timing, but a Fin Smith penalty at least got them off the mark.
Saints needed to score but instead Lowe completed his hat-trick after a marauding run from Ryan Baird put Leinster on the front foot.
The Irish province’s ability to keep the ball alive depleted Northampton’s stock of defenders, giving Lowe another easy try.
ADVERTISEMENT
Two Saints attacks in the 22 were foiled by penalties but eventually the pressure that was building on the home line told when Hendy’s chip and chase was spilt by Leinster and the wing seized the chance to touch down.
The second-half was proving far more of a contest and when Seabrook raced over with Smith converting, the result hung in the balance.
Leinster were paying the price for taking their foot off the visitors’ throat but they had the smarts and resilience to close out the tense final few minutes.
Comments on RugbyPass
> It would be best described as an elegant solution to what was potentially going to be a significant problem for new All Blacks coach Scott Robertson. It is a problem the mad population of New Zealand will have to cope with more and more as All Blacks are able to continue their careers in NZ post RWCs. It will not be a problem for coaches, who are always going to start a campaign with the captain for the next WC in mind. > Cane, despite his warrior spirit, his undoubted commitment to every team he played for and unforgettable heroics against Ireland in last year’s World Cup quarter-final, was never unanimously admired or respected within New Zealand while he was in the role. Neither was McCaw, he was considered far too passive a captain and then out of form until his last world cup where everyone opinions changed, just like they would have if Cane had won the WC. > It was never easy to see where Cane, or even if, he would fit into Robertson’s squad given the new coach will want to be building a new-look team with 2027 in mind. > Cane will win his selections on merit and come the end of the year, he’ll sign off, he hopes, with 100 caps and maybe even, at last, universal public appreciation for what was a special career. No, he won’t. Those returning from Japan have already earned the right to retain their jersey, it’s in their contract. Cane would have been playing against England if he was ready, and found it very hard to keep his place. Perform, and they keep it however. Very easy to see where Cane could have fit, very hard to see how he could have accomplished it choosing this year as his sabbatical instead of 2025, and that’s how it played out (though I assume we now know what when NZR said they were allowing him to move his sabbatical forward and return to NZ next year, they had actually agreed to simply select him for the All Blacks from overseas, without any chance he was going to play in NZ again). With a mammoth season of 15 All Black games they might as well get some value out of his years contract, though even with him being of equal character to Richie, I don’t think they should guarantee him his 100 caps. That’s not what the All Blacks should be about. He absolutely has to play winning football.
2 Go to commentswhat’s happening to Ian Peel?
1 Go to commentsAs a Crusaders fan , so disappointed , again.But I think Fergus Burke was all class for the Crusaders in his first game since October last year. Fletcher Newell , was so good at prop. Johnny McNicoll has been gold since returning from Wales. Noah Hotham brilliant , in a coming of age second season for the Crusaders.Jone Rova did really well at centre. The end of the game was tough.Sevu Reece , what a game/season in tough times.
1 Go to commentsFellas a balloon
3 Go to commentsBlues B team on display and made no race of it. By far the best team in SR with the Hurricanes barely getting past the winning post. Up the Blues 💙
6 Go to commentsWould be amazing to have Servette Genève reaching this level
3 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can't buy a win this season. Surely Penney's contract won't be renewed. There's still enough talent in the squad that they oughta be winning more.
1 Go to commentsABs captain for 23 seasons. Decent record. Surely nobody will surpass it. Legend. But alas a typo…
2 Go to commentsJust FYI Rugbypass, I for one am tired of your clickbait titles and thumbnails and will be clicking them no longer. Good day.
1 Go to commentsI think Farrell despite all of the stick he gets in the media is still one of if not the best fly half in the world. He is literally the full package. He can kick one of the best in the world, probably has the best defensive game of a fly half in the world and if he wants to he can run, take contact and find an offload to keep the pace of the attack. I dont know why he isnt spoken more about still being one of the best in the world with the likes of dupont. Farrell is the ultimate captain and team leader and is experienced- he has been in nearly any situation you can think of. I still believe due to these reasons that he is England’s best ever player and is still one of the best players in the world.
48 Go to commentsBlues are dominating up front and that’s been a long time coming. They have won the up front confrontation which is where canes, hilanders and act brumbies are also strong.
6 Go to commentsJust watched brumbies v safas game sadly not a show in he’ll thryr anywhere near quarters or semi contention. Admittedly some issues around new comers bot what stands out for me is coaching management, poor game planning and accuracy.
5 Go to commentsOne tough SOB!
16 Go to commentsI’ve put on 4/5 kilos since the beginning of the season too. Not good kilos. Bad kilos.
6 Go to commentsSurely there’s a ‘no knobheads’ policy ?
3 Go to commentsWallaroos have no chance of beating the Black Ferns unless Canada upsets them in Christchurch tomorrow but I doubt that as well!
1 Go to commentsWhat a joke. Could the victim do a course to reverse the long term CTE damage from the cheapshot?
2 Go to commentsTruely great player. In social media and opinion pieces he was held up and flogged for the results. People wanted someone to crucify, and he was the captain. He was still an immense presence respected by his peers. His battles with Siya Kolisi belong up with with Collins vs Burger in my opinion. Unlucky to be carded in the final, but I don’t agree that his red card was the defining moment. Not when you look at the dominant performances of the Springboks (PSDT in particular.) I think Cane should be remembered for the spirit and physicality that is special to test rugby.
16 Go to commentsSam was the man until he got injured .
16 Go to comments_Crusaders versus Leinster _at the moment might be a rout! But I would like to see the Blues play Toulouse, the Hurricanes front up against Stade Francais, and the Chiefs go against Toulon.
157 Go to comments