Imperious Leinster dismiss Bath

Leinster demonstrated why they are the reigning Heineken Cup champions after dismantling Bath 52-27 with seven tries to put one foot in the knockout stages in Dublin on Saturday.

The home side surged into a 24-6 half-time lead following scores from Ireland trio Rob Kearney, Luke Fitzgerald and Jonny Sexton.

And they opened the floodgates in the second-half with four more thanks to Fitzgerald, Eoin Reddan, Rhys Ruddock and Ian Madigan as Bath found themselves severely out of depth.

The English club did manage second-half tries through Stephen Donald, David Attwood and Ben Williams but it was not enough as their European hopes came crashing down.

The victory sees Leinster go six-points clear at the top of Pool Three ahead of the final two rounds of group stage action next month.

Having already lost two out of their previous three matches in the Heineken Cup, Bath knew the result at the Aviva Stadium would make-or-break their European campaign

But it was Leinster, playing in front of a 46,365 crowd, that surged into the lead.

Sexton’s penalty rebounded off the uprights but Leinster quickly regathered possession and it was Eoin Reddan’s reverse pass that released Kearney for the try on four minutes.

Olly Barkley chipped away at the hosts’ lead with penalties either side of a monster Sexton drop-goal and Leinster were dealt a blow after captain Leo Cullen was sent to the sin-bin.

But the Irish province grabbed a scintillating second try thanks to Luke Fitzgerald after World Cup winner Stephen Donald’s loose pass was plucked from the reach of David Flatman by Devin Toner.

The lock beat two men before releasing Kearney who sliced through and slipped the try-scoring pass to Fitzgerald.
Sexton converted and then grabbed a breathtaking try of his own, tearing down the left wing after combining with Fitzgerald to hand his side a commanding lead at the interval.

It did not take long for Leinster to get the scoreboard ticking over again following the restart – 30 seconds to be precise.

As the ball was spread to Fitzgerald, who went outside lumbering cover defence and stepped Nick Abendanon to scorch clear for his second try.

Matters were made worse for Bath as Sam Vesty was sent to the sin-bin before Eoin Reddan got in on the act for Leinster with a trademark scrumhalf’s snipe at the base of a ruck to dot down.

Chris Biller quickly joined Vesty in the sin-bin as Bath were reduced to 13-men before replacement back-row forward Rhys Ruddock crashed over for a try of his own.

Bath eventually got back of the scoreboard as Donald barged through Eoin O’Malley to crash into the corner. They continued their mini-revival when David Attwood barged his way over for Bath’s second try but it was too little too late for the English side.

Ian Madigan thought he had the last word with Leinster’s seventh try on 78 minutes but Ben Williams touched down at the death to salvage some pride for the wounded visitors.

The scorers:

For Leinster:
Tries: Kearney, Fitzgerald 2, Sexton, Reddan, Ruddock, Madigan
Cons: Sexton 6, Nacewa
DG: Sexton

For Bath:
Tries: Donald, Attwood, Williams
Cons: Barkley 3
Pens: Barkley 2

The teams:

Leinster: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Isa Nacewa, 13 Eoin O’Malley, 12 Fergus McFadden, 11 Luke Fitzgerald, 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 Richardt Strauss, 1 Heinke Van Der Merwe.
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Nathan White, 19 Kevin McLaughlin, 20 Rhys Ruddock, 21 Isaac Boss, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Gordon D’Arcy.

Bath: 15 Sam Vesty, 14 Jack Cuthbert, 13 Matt Banahan, 12 Olly Barkley, 11 Nick Abendanon, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 Michael Claassens, 8 Simon Taylor, 7 Guy Mercer, 6 Francois Louw (c), 5 Ryan Caldwell, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 David Wilson, 2 Chris Biller, 1 David Flatman.
Replacements: 16 Ross Batty, 17 Nathan Catt, 18 Anthony Perenise, 19 Will Spencer, 20 Andy Beattie, 21 Chris Cook, 22 Tom Heathcote, 23 Ben Williams.

Referee: Romain Poite (France)
Assistant referees: Patrick Pechambert (France), Eric Soulan (France)
TMO: Daniel Gillet (France)