Leinster outclass Sale to book Champions Cup semifinal ticket

MATCH REPORT: Leinster lifted the tempo in the second half to cruise into the Champions Cup semifinals for the sixth year in a row in front of 18,839 supporters at Aviva Stadium on Saturday evening, with a dominant 42-13 win over Sale Sharks.

The Irish powerhouse will face Toulon in the semifinal on May 23.

A first-half try by Dan Sheehan was backed up by five from Hugo Keenan, Ryan Baird, Rieko Ioane, Tommy O’Brien and Jamie Osborne in a stop-start encounter.

Hugo Keenan was calm under the high ball, a spiral kick that moved in the air, to claim the first of many marks.

A loose Sale line-out was an invitation for Sheehan to come onto the ball.

Harry Byrne tickled a grubber inside the 22. It didn’t seem to matter where Sale were on the pitch, the ball was put to flight as an automatic action.

When Byrne next countered with a similar tactic, Tommy O’Brien was competitive in the air and dominant on the ground, picking up a second turnover, before kicking ahead to force a line-out deep inside the 22.

The method of progress was simple enough. One-out runners hammered in the carries. Sheehan made the difference with an intelligent angle onto the ball for the try, converted by Byrne in the 11th minute.

Max Deegan, on as a blood replacement for Joe McCarthy, was quickly involved.

Fullback Keenan slotted a lovely kick that forced Ford to give up a line-out. Leinster rolled through the phases.

Jacques Vermeulen latched onto an imperfect line-out and hacked ahead to require Keenan to come up trumps in retreat. Even when Keenan failed to grab a high ball, there was a penalty awarded for centre Rob du Preez making contact in the air.

Byrne’s accurate crossfield kick was improved on by O’Brien’s banana kick, which was on the brink of being a 50/22. The game was evolving into a kick-fest.

O’Brien’s passing one-two with Byrne, Jaime Osborne’s front-foot tackle on Tom O’Flaherty and Jack Conan’s steal at the ruck were compromised by a spill in midfield.

Jamison Gibson-Park’s kick was brilliantly picked up by Ioane, but Josh van der Flier’s left-handed pass could not find a teammate.

When second row McCarthy was penalised at a ruck, Ford kicked the penalty to close the gap to 7-3 in the 35th minute.

Gibson-Park looked to exploit the short side but could not find van der Flier as Sale No.8 Dan du Preez reached out a hand and was shown a yellow card for a deliberate knock on.

A clever line-out move put Sheehan one-on-one with O’Flaherty. The recycle came smartly, but McCarthy couldn’t control the ball. There was still time left for Sale to demonstrate their nous by moving up field for Ford to misfire a drop goal, leaving it 7-3 at the break.

The article continues below…

A return to action meant a second chance to make a first impression.

Baird stole a line-out. The slick hands of Sheehan released Ioane, who was taken down by O’Flaherty and Ford, before Vermeulen secured a penalty on the floor. Sheehan led the next assault.

Byrne’s timing of the pass put Ringrose through a hole. Baird flew down the tramline and unselfishly popped it back inside to the supporting Keenan to make it 12-3 in the 43rd minute.

Sale loosehead Si McIntyre was also shown a yellow card after a TMO check for a high tackle in the build-up to the try, taking the Sharks down to 13 players.

An offence at a maul provided Ford with the opportunity to add a penalty to reduce the gap to 12-6 in the 47th minute.

Finally, Leinster found their flow, the two most likely in attack, O’Brien and Ioane, making an impact to stretch Sale on the right.

Coming back left, Jack Conan delayed the pass long enough to give Baird the room to speed over in the right corner. Byrne slotted the conversion.

A spectacular take by Keenan from Byrne’s kick paved the way for Byrne and Sheehan to put Ioane through on the left.

Byrne converted to make it 26-6 in the 58th minute. Another tremendous capture by Keenan, O’Brien’s footwork on the right, Ioane’s footwork on the left and Keenan’s burst all drove Leinster on.

O’Brien’s call prompted Byrne’s delicate chip and bounce for O’Brien to benefit for the fourth try, converted by Byrne for 33-6 in the 64th minute.

For once, Sale decided to go through the hands rather than the boot. O’Flaherty popped in midfield to create the extra man for Alex Wills to find the corner. Ford added the extras.

Replacement Luke McGrath sniped on the right where Wills made his tackle. A barrage of carries led to a penalty, which Byrne was content to take to extend the lead to 36-13 in the 75th minute.

Hooker Sheehan bolted into open ground from Deegan’s line-out to find Osborne on his shoulder for a sixth try, converted by Byrne.

Scorers

For Leinster:
Tries: Sheehan, Keenan, Baird, Ioane, O’Brien, Osborne
Cons: Byrne 5
Pen: Byrne

For Sale Sharks:
Tries: Byrne
Con: Ford
Pens: Ford 2

Yellow cards: Dan du Preez (Sale Sharks, 35′), Si McIntyre (Sale Sharks, 42′)

Teams

Leinster: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Tommy O’Brien, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Jamie Osborne, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Harry Byrne, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Ryan Baird, 5 James Ryan, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan (captain), 1 Alex Usanov
Replacements: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Jerry Cahir, 18 Tom Clarkson, 19 Max Deegan, 20 Scott Penny, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Ciaran Frawley, 23 Robbie Henshaw

Sale Sharks: 15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Rob du Preez, 12 Rekeiti Ma’asi-White, 11 Tom O’Flaherty, 10 George Ford, 9 Gus Warr, 8 Dan du Preez, 7 Sam Dugdale, 6 Jacques Vermeulen, 5 Ben Bamber, 4 Ernst van Rhyn (captain), 3 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 2 Ethan Caine, 1 Si McIntyre
Replacements: 16 Alfie Longstaff, 17 Ralph McEachran, 18 James Harper, 19 Reuben Logan, 20 Jos Gilmore, 21 Dom Hanson, 22 Marius Louw, 23 Alex Wills

Referee: Pierre Brousset (France)
Assistant referees: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy), Filippo Russo (Italy)
TMO: Tual Trainini (France)

Source: @LeinsterRugby