Leinster send Northampton back to the Premiership with their tail between their legs
Garry Ringrose’s second hat-trick of the European season helped Leinster claim a 50-21 victory over Northampton in their Heineken Champions Cup clash at the Aviva Stadium, their second in as many weeks.
Leo Cullen’s men provided plenty of entertainment as they booked their quarter-final place with two rounds still remaining. Adding to last week’s 43-16 win at Franklin’s Gardens, they are now 10 points clear and guaranteed to finish top of Pool One.
A Ringrose brace inside the opening five minutes set the hosts on their way to a 35th-minute bonus point. Tadhg Furlong and Dave Kearney also touched down, with the twin threats of man-of-the-match Jordan Larmour and James Lowe consistently posing problems for Saints.
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Dan Biggar converted his own try and efforts from Ollie Sleightholme and Ahsee Tuala, but Northampton fell short of their bonus point aim. Further scores from Lowe, Ringrose and Caelan Doris, with Ross Byrne and Ciaran Frawley kicking 15 points between them, steered Leinster to a half-century of points.
The early momentum was seized by Leinster thanks to Ringrose’s opener from his charge-down of an Andy Symons kick, with a classy conversion fired over by Byrne.
A crisp midfield move off a lineout then saw Lowe expose a gap, with the help of Byrne, and the winger got his hands free to send Ringrose in under the posts. Byrne converted and tagged on a 10th-minute penalty for a 17-0 advantage.
Biggar provided the spark for Northampton with a sprightly break and then his quickly-taken penalty and neat link with Symons saw the Welsh ace squeeze in under the posts. However, those seven points were cancelled out when Furlong crashed over from a lineout maul, on the back of Tuala’s yellow for pulling back Lowe.
The visitors suffered a second sin-binning with skipper Wood adjudged to have infringed at a ruck near his own line. The 13 men secured a hard-earned turnover soon after but Doris and Rhys Ruddock ripped the ball back in a tackle to set the wheels in motion for the bonus point score.
Byrne attacked the blindside and Ringrose’s well-timed pass sent Kearney cutting in past Sleightholme from the right wing, pocketing Leinster’s third bonus of the campaign.
However, Saints hit back before the interval with a well-taken Sleightholme try originating from a Lewis Ludlam interception in his own 22.
Lowe got on the scoresheet inside two minutes of the restart, dotting down from an excellent Byrne grubber, and Ringrose followed up with his third of the night, reacting quickest to loose possession from Taqele Naiyaravoro’s attempted rip. European debutant Frawley, who came on at fly-half, knocked over the conversion to make it 43-14.
There were a couple of near misses from Henshaw and Kearney, who had a try ruled out for an earlier offside, before Northampton enjoyed a purple patch when Samoan full-back Tuala burst clean through from a midfield ruck for a 57th-minute try, raising their hopes of grabbing a bonus point.
However, a similar effort earned number eight Doris his first European score for Leinster, which Frawley converted to wrap up a comprehensive win for the home side.
Fans want more changes at Leicester:
Comments on RugbyPass
“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
3 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
2 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
3 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
3 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
3 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
2 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
4 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
22 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
22 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
3 Go to commentsBeaches? In Cardiff? Where?
1 Go to commentsHe is right , the Crusaders will be a threat. Scott Barrett, ( particularly), Fergus Burke , Codie Taylor, ( from sabbatical) etc due back soon for the Crusaders. There are others like Zach Gallagher too. People can right the Crusaders off, Top 8 , here we come !!
1 Go to commentsWe will always struggle for money to match the other sides but the least the WRU can do is invest properly in Welsh rugby. Too much has been squandered on vanity projects like the hotel and roof walk amongst others which will never see a massive return. Hanging the 4 pro sides out to dry over the last decade is now coming back to bite the WRU financially as well as on the pitch. You reap what you sow.
1 Go to commentsWhat do you get if you cross a doctor with a fish? A plastic sturgeon
14 Go to commentsWhat happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to commentsGregor I just can’t agree with you. You are trying to find something that just isn’t there. Jordie Barrett has signed until 2028. By the end of that he would have spent probably 11-12 years on Super Rugby and you say he can’t possibly have one season playing somewhere else. It is absurd. What about this scenario, the NZR play hard ball and he decides to leave and play overseas. How would that affect the competition. There seems to be an agenda by certain journalists to push certain agendas and don’t like it when it’s not to their liking. I fully support the NZR on this. Gregor needs to get a life.
3 Go to commentsHope he stays as believe he can do a great job.
1 Go to comments