Barrett scores as Leinster battle past Clermont
MATCH REPORT: Leinster recorded a hard-fought 15-7 win over Clermont in the Champions Cup at Lansdowne Road on Saturday.
The visitors opened the scoring as Alivereti Raka crossed the line as soon as the fourth minute of the match which Alex Newsome converted.
Leinster’s lineouts were a cause of concern but the ill-discipline of Clermont gave the hosts ample territory and possession and despite their best defensive efforts Garry Ringrose got his side’s first points in the 21st minute which Prendergast converted.
Clermont looked set to score but dropped the ball over the line and Leinster pulled out a counter-attack from their own line that saw multiple sets of hands handle the ball before lock James Ryan made the break that led to a penalty to the hosts.
They didn’t waste any time as Leinster debutant All Black Jordie Barrett crashed over for his first try for his new team in the 26th minute to take the lead.
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Peceli Yato was shown a yellow card in the 47th minute after taking flyhalf Prendergast out when he attempted a chip and chase before Prendergast slotted an easy three points to extend Leinster’s lead.
The match in itself was error-ridden but Leinster managed to finish the stronger of the two sides and had an opportunity to score at the end of the match but failed to tap the ball which resulted in a Clermont scrum.
Another error after the scrum signalled the end to a scrappy low-scoring contest.
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Scorers
For Leinster:
Tries: Ringrose, Barrett
Cons: Prendergast
For Clermont:
Tries: Raka
Cons: Newsome
Yellow card: Peceli Yato (Clermont: Taking a player out without the ball – 47′)
Teams:
Leinster: 15 Jordie Barrett, 14 Liam Turner, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Jimmy O’Brien, 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris (captain), 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Max Deegan, 5 James Ryan, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Tom Clarkson, 2 Ronan Kelleher, 1 Andrew Porter.
Replacements: 16 Gus McCarthy, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Rabah Slimani, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Jack Conan, 21 Fintan Gunne, 22 Ross Byrne, 23 Andrew Osborne.
Clermont: 15 Alex Newsome, 14 Lucas Tauzin, 13 Pierre Fouyssac, 12 George Moala, 11 Alivereti Raka, 10 Irae Simone, 9 Baptiste Jauneau, 8 Fritz Lee (captain), 7 Alexandre Fischer, 6 Killian Tixeront, 5 Rob Simmons, 4 Peceli Yato, 3 Michael Ala’alatoa, 2 Etienne Fourcade, 1 Etienne Falgoux.
Replacements: 16 Barnabe Massa, 17 Giorgi Akhaladze, 18 Cristian Ojovan, 19 Oskar Rixen, 20 Antoine Chalus-Cercy, 21 Sebastien Bezy, 22 Ben Urdapilleta, 23 Theo Giral.
Referee: Luke Pearce (England)
Assistant referees: Jack Makepeace (England), Jamie Leahy (England)
TMO: Stuart Terheege (England)
