Defending champs march on
Defending champions Leinster joined rival Irish province Munster in qualifying for the quarterfinals of the European Cup after notching up a hard-fought 23-16 victory over Glasgow on Sunday.
Leinster, on 20 points in Pool 3 after five victories, will now face Montpellier at home in the final round of pool matches to book themselves a home tie in the knock-out phase.
Duncan Weir kicked an early penalty for the home side, later matched by Leinster counterpart John Sexton, in an opening 40 minutes that offered little in the way of try-scoring chances.
Glasgow retook the lead with a second Weir penalty and then withstood wave after wave of Leinster attack, finally conceding a kickable penalty that Fergus McFadden booted for the Irish province.
Leinster opened the second-half with a Rob Kearney try, the fullback latching onto a kind bounce from a Sexton cross-kick to cross the line, McFadden adding the extras.
Weir claimed a third penalty to keep his team in the hunt, but McFadden stretched the lead again with his second three-pointer.
Replacement scrumhalf Colin Gregor then bundled over in the corner and Weir hit the tricky touchline conversion to draw the scores level at 16-16.
But Leinster hit back with a crucial turnover in Warriors’ territory, and Kiwi-born Ireland international scrumhalf Isaac Boss spun over from close range for a try under the posts.
With five minutes remaining, Leinster flank Sean O’Brien was yellow-carded, but the Irish team rebuffed a revitalised Glasgow side to hold on for the win.
The scorers:
For Glasgow:
Try: Gregor
Con: Weir
Pen: Weir 3
For Leinster:
Tries: R Kearney, Boss
Con: McFadden 2
Pen: Sexton, McFadden 2
Yellow card: Sean O’Brien (75 minutes)
Glasgow: 15 Rory Lamont, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Stuart Hogg, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Colin Shaw, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 John Barclay, 7 Chris Fusaro, 6 Rob Harley, 5 Alastair Kellock, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Ed Kalman, 2 Pat MacArthur, 1 John Welsh.
Replacements: 16 Dougie Hall, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Ryan Grant, 19 Tom Ryder, 20 Johnnie Beattie, 21 Colin Gregor, 22 Troy Nathan, 23 Scott Wight.
Leinster: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Dave Kearney, 13 Fergus McFadden, 12 Gordon D’Arcy, 11 Isa Nacewa, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Shane Jennings, 6 Sean O’Brien, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Leo Cullen, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Sean Cronin, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements: 16 Aaron Dundon, 17 Heinke Van der Merwe, 18 Nathan White, 19 Damian Browne, 20 Rhys Ruddock, 21 Isaac Boss, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Eoin O’Malley.
AFP
