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
A wallaby front-row of Bell, Blake and Tupou…now that would be hefty
1 Go to comments“But with an exceptional pass accuracy rating “ Which apart from Roigard is not a feature of any of the other 9s in NZ. Kind of basic for a Black 9 dont.you. think? Yet we keep seeing FC and TJ being rated ahead of him? Weird if it’s seen as vital to get our backline beating in your face defences.
1 Go to commentsThanks BeeMc! Looks like many teams need extra time to settle from the quadrennial northern migration. I think generally the quality of the Rugby has held up. Fiji has been fantastic and fun to watch
13 Go to commentsLets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
11 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
10 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
11 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“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.
24 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
4 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.
10 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…??? 🤑🤑🤑
35 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
35 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
17 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)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to comments