Leinster sets up Round Five decider
CHAMPIONSHIP CUP REPORT: Reigning champions Leinster set up a mouth-watering Round Five clash against Toulouse.
The Irish province made a big statement and set up the decider against their French rivals by securing a – winning 42-15 at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.
Tries from Jack Conan, Rory O’Loughlin, James Lowe and Adam Byrne blew the visitors away in the first-half, with efforts from Dan Leavy and Jamison Gibson-Park easing the Irish province to victory in the second half.
It was Bath that scored the games’ first points James Wilson slotted an early penalty after good initial work from Springbok Francois Louw at the breakdown.
But Leinster scored two quick tries through Conan and O’Loughlin, with the latter capping off a terrifically worked team try.
Bath’s No.8 Louw did hit back for the English side, but his effort was quickly cancelled out by James Lowe – catching the Bath defence by surprise with a quick-tap penalty five metres out.
Adam Byrne’s try before the break ensured a try-scoring bonus point for the four-time European champions.
The wing collected a perfectly weight cross-field kick from Johnny Sexton. The flyhalf converted the try to maintain his 100 percent success during the evening.
Leinster added a couple more tries in the second half through Dean Leavy and Jamison Gibson-Park, either side of Sam Underhill’s effort for Bath.
Bath welcome Premiership rivals Wasps to The Recreation Ground in Round Five, while Leinster host Toulouse in a crunch game in Pool One on Saturday, January 12.
The scorers:
For Leinster:
Tries: Conan, O’Loughlin, Lowe, Byrne, Leavy, Gibson-Park
Cons: Sexton 5, Byrne
For Bath:
Tries: Louw, Underhill
Con: Wilson
Pen: Wilson
Teams
Leinster: 15 Jordan Larmour, 14 Adam Byrne, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Rory O’Loughlin, 11 James Lowe, 10 Johnny Sexton (captain), 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Dan Leavy, 5 James Ryan, 4 Devin Toner, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Sean Cronin, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements: 16 James Tracy, 17 Ed Byrne, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Ross Molony, 20 Rhys Ruddock, 21 Jamison Gibson-Park, 22 Ross Byrne, 23 Noel Reid.
Bath: 15 Ruaridh McConnochie, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Jackson Willison, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Cooper Vuna, 10 James Wilson, 9 Will Chudley, 8 Francois Louw, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Tom Ellis, 5 Charlie Ewels (captain), 4 Dave Attwood, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Tom Dunn, 1 Jacques van Rooyen.
Replacements: 16 Jack Walker, 17 Nathan Catt, 18 Max Lahiff, 19 Elliott Stooke, 20 Matt Garvey, 21 Kahn Fotuali’i, 22 Alex Davies, 23 Darren Atkins.
Referee: Pascal Gauzère (France)
Assistant referees: Maxime Chalon (France), Jean-Luc Rebollal (France)
TMO: Eric Gauzins (France)
Source: @ChampionsCup
