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Ruthless Leinster bully Scarlets into submission

By Ian Cameron

Leinster booked their place in the Champions Cup Final in Bilbao following a dominant semi-final display against the Scarlets in Dublin.

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A clinical performance from the Dublin based side in a sun-drenched Aviva Stadium proved too much for the Scarlets, who didn’t have an answer for the Irish’s province ruthless mix of precision and ultra-physicality.

Scarlets started brightly with a 5th minute penalty for Leigh Halfpenny, but Leinster responded just 5 minute later with a bruising, close quarters try for Leinster secondrow James Ryan.

Ryan appeared to lose his feet before diving over the line from a metre out but referee Romain Poite was satisfied enough with his movement to award the try following a TMO review.

Sexton added the conversion and eight minutes later after a period of pressure, slotted a penalty to open up a 10 – 3 gap.

Leigh Halfpenny struck back for the Scarlets with a penalty in the 21st minute, only for loosehead Cian Healy to muscle his way over – again from close range – in the 25th minute.

Leinster’s domination of both the ruck and gainline had the Welsh region living off scraps and a 33rd minute penalty from Halfpenny was all they had to show for a brief spell of first halfhalf possession

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Yet it was but a short reprieve, as Leinster sent winger Fergus McFadden over in the corner as halftime broke. McFadden sacrificed his leg in the process and was replaced by Jordan Lamour as the home side returned to the changing rooms with a 24 – 9 halftime score to their name.

The second half carried on much as the first one had ended, with Leinster firmly in the driving seat.

Tries from Scott Fardy (49th minute) and Jonny Sexton (59th minute) effectively put the game beyond the Scarlets, who looked shell-shocked with a quarter of the match remaining.

Poite disallowed man-of-the-match Fardy a try in the 74th minute for hands in the ruck and a 79th minute Tadhg Beirne consolation try took a little of the gloss off a polished Leinster performance, but ultimately, it was all smiles as a confident Leinster march towards the final in Spain.

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Attendance: 48,455

Leinster

15. Rob Kearney; 14. Fergus McFadden, 13. Garry Ringrose, 12. Robbie Henshaw, 11. Isa Nacewa; 10. Johnny Sexton, 9. Jamison Gibson-Park; 1. Cian Healy, 2. Sean Cronin, 3. Tadhg Furlong, 4. Devin Toner, 5. James Ryan, 6. Scott Fardy, 7. Dan Leavy, 8. Jordi Murphy
16. James Tracy, 17. Jack McGrath, 18. Andrew Porter, 19. Ross Molony, 20. Jack Conan, 21. Nick McCarthy, 22. Joey Carbery, 23. Jordan Larmour

Scarlets

15. Rhys Patchell; 14. Leigh Halfpenny, 13. Scott Williams, 12. Hadleigh Parkes, 11. Steff Evans; 10. Dan Jones, 9. Gareth Davies; 1. Rob Evans, 2. Ken Owens, 3. Samson Lee, 4. Tadhg Beirne, 5. David Bulbring, 6. Aaron Shingler, 7. James Davies, 8. John Barclay
16. Ryan Elias, 17. Dylan Evans, 18. Werner Kruger, 19. Lewis Rawlins, 20. Steven Cummins, 21. Aled Davies, 22. Steff Hughes, 23. Will Boyde

Referee: Romain Poite (Fra)
Assistant Referee 1: Mathieu Raynal (Fra)
Assistant Referee 2: Pierre Brousset (Fra)
TMO: Philippe Bonhoure (Fra)
Citing Commissioner: Shaun Gallagher (Eng)

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Adrian 27 minutes ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

6 Go to comments
T
Trevor 3 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

21 Go to comments
B
Bull Shark 7 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

29 Go to comments
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