Bok lock injured as Leinster sting Quins

WRAP: Leinster brushed aside Harlequins once again to launch their bid for a fifth Champions Cup title in ideal fashion but paid the price when their Springbok lock RG Snyman left the field injured.

Harlequins’ priority would’ve been to prevent a similar story to last season (0-62), so Leinster’s fourth-minute try was not the start they’d been hoping before.

A Luke Northmore score seven minutes later showed promising reserve from the London side, but the Leinster giant started moving through the gears as the half progressed.

Garry Ringrose and Jordan Larmour finished off some bullish work from the pack as the four-time champions proved their might.

Cassius Cleaves grabbed one back for the visitors, but their attacking flair left them vulnerable at the back – a weakness Leinster happily exploited by adding another before the break.

The Irish side took a bit longer than they would’ve liked to warm up to the second half as some ill discipline at the back resulted in a ‘Quins penalty try.

But it wasn’t long before the hosts asserted their authority, with Jimmy O’Brien going over before Jack Conan joined the festivities minutes later. O’Brien’s excellent footwork saw him assist his own run while Conan finished off some relentless Leinster rucks from close distance.

A star-studded bench only added to the damage, with Tadhg Furlong and marquee debutant Rieko Ioane helping O’Brien in for his brace.

The visitors did get another back through Oscar Beard, but it was little more than a consolation.

It matched the result of last season’s Round of 16 meeting, though there were signs of progress from the visitors.

*Saracens capped a dominant performance with a 47-10 demolition of Clermont, giving the London club the perfect start to their Champions Cup campaign.

The hosts were quickly into their stride at StoneX, and Clermont were forced onto the defensive almost from kick-off. The pressure eventually told as Lucio Cinti chased down an Elliot Daly chip to score inside 10 minutes.

With Clermont’s tackle count rising rapidly, Saracens continued to turn the screws, and Cinti struck again on the half-hour, finishing down the right as Owen Farrell’s boot pushed the gap to 14 points.

Clermont threatened briefly late in the first half but failed to make any real headway in the Saracens’ 22, and they were punished four minutes before the break when Max Malins pounced on a defensive error from Bautista Delguy to claim the third try. James Hadfield added a fourth on the stroke of half-time.

Holding a commanding lead, Saracens never looked in danger after the interval. Harry Plummer did pull one back for Clermont, but the hosts reasserted control and crossed again through Hugh Tizard and Theo Dan to close in on the 50 mark.

It was a statement win for Saracens and the ideal platform for their European ambitions, while Clermont have plenty to fix ahead of facing Sale Sharks next week.

All Saturday’s scores and scorers below:

Saracens 47-10 Clermont

Scorers:

For Saracens:
Tries: Cinti 2, Malins, Hadfield, Caluori, Tizard, Dan
Cons: Farrell 4, Burke 2

For Clermont:
Tries: Guillaud, Plummer

Teams:

Saracens: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Noah Caluori, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Max Malins, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Ivan van Zyl (captain), 8 Tom Willis, 7 Andy Onyeama-Christie, 6 Theo McFarland, 5 Hugh Tizard, 4 Nick Isiekwe, 3 Marcus Street, 2 James Hadfield, 1 Rhys Carre
Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Eroni Mawi, 18 Marco Riccioni, 19 Harry Wilson, 20 Nathan Michelow, 21 Charlie Bracken, 22 Fergus Burke, 23 Rotimi Segun

Clermont: 15 Axel Guillaud, 14 Lucas Tauzin, 13 Alex Newsome, 12 Irae Simone, 11 Bautista Delguy, 10 Harry Plummer, 9 Baptiste Jauneau (captain), 8 Selevasio Tolofua, 7 Anthime Hemery, 6 Antoine Chalus-Cercy, 5 Tevita Ratuva, 4 Thibaud Lanen, 3 Cristian Ojovan, 2 Etienne Fourcade, 1 Sacha Lotrian
Replacements: 16 Tom Belkessa, 17 Matheo Frisach, 18 Giorgi Dzmanashvili, 19 Rob Simmons, 20 Leo Michaux Vargas, 21 Sebastien Bezy, 22 George Moala, 23 Lucas Dessaigne

Referee: Hollie Davidson (Scotland)
Assistant Referees: Ruairidh Campbell (Scotland), Jonny MacKenzie (Scotland)
TMO: Mike Adamson (Scotland)

Leinster 45-28 Harlequins

Scorers:

For Leinster:
Tries: Larmour 2, S Prendergast, Frawley, C O’Brien 2, Conan
Cons: Prendergast 2, Byrne 3

For Harlequins:
Tries: Northmore, Cleaves, Penalty Try
Cons: J Evans 2

Teams:

Leinster: 15 Jimmy O’Brien, 14 Tommy O’Brien, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Ciarán Frawley, 11 Jordan Larmour, 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris (captain), 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Jack Conan, 5 Joe McCarthy, 4 RG Snyman, 3 Thomas Clarkson, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Paddy McCarthy
Replacements: 16 Rónan Kelleher, 17 Jack Boyle, 18 Tadhg Furlong, 19 Diarmuid Mangan, 20 Max Deegan, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Harry Byrne, 23 Rieko Ioane

Harlequins: 15 Cameron Anderson, 14 Cassius Cleaves, 13 Oscar Beard, 12 Luke Northmore, 11 Cadan Murley (captain), 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Will Porter, 8 Tom Lawday, 7 Will Evans, 6 Zach Carr, 5 Stephan Lewies, 4 Kieran Treadwell, 3 Harry Williams, 2 Jack Walker, 1 Boris Wenger
Replacements: 16 George Turner, 17 Will Hobson, 18 Pedro Delgado, 19 Joe Launchbury, 20 Lucas Schmid, 21 Lucas Friday, 22 Jamie Benson, 23 Bryn Bradley

Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)
Assistant Referees: Adam Jones (Wales), Ben Breakspear (Wales)
TMO: Keith David (Wales)

La Rochelle 39-20 Leicester Tigers

Scorers:

For La Rochelle:
Tries: Alldritt, Favre, Jegou 2, Seuteni, Bollengier
Cons: West 2, Jurd
Pens: West

For Leicester:
Tries: Moro, Wand
Cons: Searle, Titcombe
Pens: West

Teams:

La Rochelle: 15 Dillyn Leyds, 14 Davit Niniashvili, 13 Adrien Seguret, 12 UJ Seuteni, 11 Jules Favre, 10 Ihaia West, 9 Thomas Berjon, 8 Grégory Alldritt (captain), 7 Levani Botia, 6 Oscar Jegou, 5 Charles Kante Samba, 4 Thomas Lavault, 3 Joel Sclavi, 2 Tolu Latu, 1 Alexandre Kaddour
Replacements: 16 Quentin Lespiaucq, 17 Reda Wardi, 18 Uini Atonio, 19 Ultan Dillane, 20 Lucas Andjisseramatchi, 21 Nolhann Couillaud, 22 Diego Jurd, 23 Nathan Bollengier

Leicester Tigers: 15 George Pearson, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Will Wand, 12 Joe Woodward, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Billy Searle, 9 Tom Whiteley, 8 Joaquin Moro, 7 Josh Manz, 6 James Thompson, 5 Harry Wells, 4 Cameron Henderson, 3 Will Hurd, 2 Charlie Clare (captain), 1 Tareq Haffar
Replacements: 16 Finn Theobald-Thomas, 17 Archie van der Flier, 18 Ale Loman, 19 Tom Manz, 20 Sam Williams, 21 Ollie Allan, 22 Charlie Titcombe, 23 Solomone Kata

Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Eoghan Cross (Ireland), Robbie Jenkinson (Ireland)
TMO: Olly Hodges (Ireland)

Bath 40-14 Munster

Scorers:

For Bath:
Tries: Penalty Try, Reid, Arundell, Dunn, Obano, Hill
Cons: Russell 4

For Munster:
Tries: Edogbo, Casey
Cons: Hanrahan 2

Teams:

Bath: 15 Tom de Glanville, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Max Ojomoh, 12 Cameron Redpath, 11 Henry Arundell, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben Spencer (captain), 8 Miles Reid, 7 Guy Pepper, 6 Josh Bayliss, 5 Charlie Ewels, 4 Quinn Roux, 3 Will Stuart, 2 Tom Dunn, 1 Beno Obano
Replacements: 16 Kepu Tuipulotu, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Thomas du Toit, 19 Ross Molony, 20 Ted Hill, 21 Tom Carr-Smith, 22 Santi Carreras, 23 Sam Underhill

Munster: 15 Shane Daly, 14 Diarmuid Kilgallen, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Dan Kelly, 11 Thaakir Abrahams, 10 JJ Hanrahan, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 John Hodnett, 6 Tadhg Beirne (captain), 5 Tom Ahern, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 John Ryan, 2 Diarmuid Barron, 1 Michael Milne
Replacements: 16 Lee Barron, 17 Jeremy Loughman, 18 Michael Ala’alatoa, 19 Edwin Edogbo, 20 Ruadhan Quinn, 21 Ethan Coughlan, 22 Alex Nankivell, 23 Alex Kendellen

Referee: Jeremy Rozier (France)
Assistant Referees: Thomas Charabas (France), Benjamin Hernandez (France)
TMO: Eric Gauzins (France)

Scarlets 16-17 Bristol

Scorers:

For Scarlets:
Tries: G Davies,
Cons: Costelow
Pens: Costelow 3

For Bristol:
Tries: Mata 2, Rees-Zammit
Cons: Worsley

Teams:

Scarlets: 15 Jac Davies, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Eddie James, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Ellis Mee, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Fletcher Anderson, 7 Josh Macleod (captain), 6 Max Douglas, 5 Jake Ball, 4 Sam Lousi, 3 Archer Holz, 2 Ryan Elias, 1 Kemsley Mathias
Replacements: 16 Marnus van der Merwe, 17 Sam O’Connor, 18 Henry Thomas, 19 Jarrod Taylor, 20 Dan Davis, 21 Dane Blacker, 22 Joe Hawkins, 23 Joe Roberts

Bristol Bears: 15 Tom Jordan, 14 Louis Rees-Zammit, 13 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12 James Williams, 11 Kalaveti Ravouvou, 10 Sam Worsley, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 Bill Mata, 7 Fitz Harding (captain), 6 Santiago Grondona, 5 Joe Batley, 4 Pedro Rubiolo, 3 Max Lahiff, 2 Gabriel Oghre, 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements: 16 Harry Thacker, 17 Jake Woolmore, 18 Lovejoy Chawatama, 19 Joe Owen, 20 Benjamin Grondona, 21 Sam Wolstenholme, 22 Aidan Boshoff, 23 Josh Carrington

Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
Assistant Referees: Filippo Russo (Italy), Franco Rosella (Italy)
TMO: Stefano Roscini (Italy)