Leinster reclaim PRO14 title in rain soaked battle in Celtic Park
Reigning champions Leinster made a successful defence of their Guinness PRO14 title as they battled to a 18-15 win over Glasgow at Celtic Park.
Leo Cullen knew his powerhouse Dubliners would be up against it as they took on Warriors in their own city and the vast majority of the record 47,128 crowd at Parkhead were cheering on Dave Rennie’s team.
Glasgow had positively glistened as they ran in seven tries against Ulster last weekend to book their place in the final and looked set to sparkle again when Matt Fagerson gave them the lead early on.
But with their trademark grinding, relentless manner, Leinster smothered their rivals into submission and claimed victory thanks to tries from Gary Ringrose and Cian Healy.
Stuart Hogg was making his last appearance for Glasgow but there was no fairytale ending for the Scotland star, who had a kick charged down as Ringrose scored then found himself the victim of an shocking mid-air take-out by former British and Irish Lions team-mate Rob Kearney, as substitute Grant Stewart’s 75th-minute try proved too little too late for the Scottish side.
The tempo at the beginning was befitting of the occasion as both teams came out swinging.
Warriors were given a let off when Jack Conan dropped the ball just as Leinster looked set to carve their way in for the opening score.
Jonathan Sexton was not so fortunate as his miscued pass handed Glasgow the opening score 14 minutes in.
Tommy Seymour did brilliantly to steal possession before Adam Hastings found touch with his kick.
Leinster made a mess of the line-out and Glasgow patiently worked their way through the phases with Scott Cummins’ brave drive puncturing a hole for Fagerson to dive through and score, before Adam Hastings converted.
But Warriors’ celebrations were quickly cut short as – 60 seconds later – Luke McGrath charged down Hogg’s kick inside his own in-goal area and Ireland centre Ringrose was first to the ball to dot down.
Gary Ringrose!!!! Tá scór díreach faighte ar ais ag @leinsterrugby
Ringrose pounces on Luke McGrath's blockdown of Hogg to score a try for Leinster
@PRO14Official ar @TG4TV #LEIvGLA #PRO14Final @ballsdotie @HarpinOnRugby @WhiffofCordite @OLSCRugby pic.twitter.com/ZPZcPj5o7X— Spórt TG4 (@SportTG4) May 25, 2019
Sexton’s conversion went astray, while Glasgow were left to be consoled with a Hastings penalty after DTH Van Der Merwe failed to make get across the line after Kyle Steyn’s daring break.
There were worrying signs for Fraser Brown ahead of this year’s World Cup as his ankle gave way under him as he went in for a collision. The Scotland hooker had to be carried off on a stretcher with Stewart taking over.
And there was more pain in store for Glasgow as the Blues put the squeeze on in vintage Leinster style.
Recycling the ball through ruck after ruck – 17 in total – they inched their way forward before Healy squeezed his way over. Sexton nailed the conversion and then a penalty to put his side ahead by five at the break.
Glasgow needed an injection of spark as the second half got under way but their task grew tougher when Steyn was yellow carded after resorting to illegal means to smother Ringrose’s threat as Leinster broke away.
Kyle Steyn is shown a yellow card (10-15) #GLAvLEI #PRO14Final pic.twitter.com/kPVfLGaDMw
— Glasgow Warriors (@GlasgowWarriors) May 25, 2019
Sexton booted over another penalty to put daylight between the sides but Glasgow did well to limit their losses during the 10 minutes they were a man light despite having Leinster camped in their 22.
The Glasgow faithful had grown increasingly frustrated with referee Nigel Owens’ decision making through the game and they did not hold back with the boos when the Welsh official opted only to flash yellow at Kearney after the Leinster full-back wiped out Hogg in the air.
To rub salt into Warriors’ wounds, the ugly collision left Hogg dazed and he was forced off for a head injury assessment just when his side needed him most.
Glasgow got a lifeline, however, with five minutes left when Huw Jones span the ball wide for Stewart, who darted in to score.
But Hastings fluffed his conversion and Leinster were able to hold on for league title number six.
FULL-TIME!!!!! WE ARE #GUINNESSPRO14 CHAMPIONS!!!!!!! ? pic.twitter.com/O7jONkDCEk
— Leinster Rugby (@leinsterrugby) May 25, 2019
Comments on RugbyPass
Bold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
1 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
61 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
8 Go to comments