O'Brien bags four as Leinster routs Bath

EUROPEAN CUP REPORT: Wing Jimmy O’Brien scored four tries as Leinster claimed a dominant 64-7 victory at Bath on Saturday.

The Irish province ran in 10 tries in the Pool A encounter at The Recreation Ground as they confirmed their qualification for the Round of 16.

Bath enjoyed a bright start as Leinster ill-discipline handed them four attacking line-out opportunities close to the visitors’ line.

But the Premiership outfit was unable to make any significant indents into the Leinster defence.

And Leinster would then go down the other end and get over the line on their first visit to the Bath 22-metre through O’Brien, only for the TMO to spot that Bath centre Max Clark was held back as he attempted to gather Johnny Sexton’s kick through.

But there was no ruling out O’Brien’s score on 18 minutes as he was picked out in space following a Leinster scrum five metres out, with the winger dotting down in the corner.

Handling errors littered Leinster’s game as they struggled to find their usual rhythm amid aggressive Bath defence, but they would notch a second score on 28 minutes when flanker Josh van der Flier picked a beautiful line and had the legs reach the line and dive over.

Leinster clicked through the gears from then on, however, with winger Jordan Larmour running from deep to score their third try on 33 minutes.

There was a brief lift for Bath as lock Charlie Ewels picked off a Leinster offload and set up Clark for a score moments later, but the four-time European champions were straight back in the driving seat when O’Brien went over for his second try following a pinpoint Sexton kick.

And Leinster would round off the first half with a fifth try as a slick move sent replacement Ciaran Frawley over from close range.

Bath winger Gabe Hamer-Webb was shown a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on shortly after the break, kickstarting a relentless period of Leinster pressure which saw them cross the whitewash three times in four minutes.

Prop Andrew Porter drove over from close range before Sexton set up O’Brien for his third try, and the veteran was at the heart of things once again as a flowing move from deep then saw full-back Hugo Keenan cross in the corner.

There would be a boost for the home fans when Bath scrum-half Ben Spencer was brought down as he looked to run onto his own chip after a clever dummy, an infringement which saw Leinster replacement Max Deegan sin binned.

Bath was unable to utilise the extra man and once back to their full complement, the relentless Leinster got over for the ninth time as replacement Dan Sheehan took a flat ball and finished from some distance.

And O’Brien capped a brilliant day for himself and Leinster as he ran onto Jordan Larmour’s kick to score his fourth try and his team’s 10th on 78 minutes.

The scorers

For Bath:
Try: Clark
Con: Bailey

For Leinster
Tries: O’Brien 4, Van der Flier, Larmour, Frawley, Porter, Keenan, Sheehan
Cons: Sexton 5, Byrne 2

The teams:

Bath: 15 Ruaridh McConnochie, 14 Gabe Hamer-Webb, 13 Max Clark, 12 Cameron Redpath, 11 Tom Prydie, 10 Orlando Bailey, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Josh Bayliss, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Tom Ellis, 5 Charlie Ewels (captain), 4 Will Spencer, 3 Will Stuart, 2 Jacques du Toit, 1 Arthur Cordwell.
Replacements: 16 Tom Doughty, 17 Will Vaughan, 18 Johannes Jonker, 19 Josh McNally, 20 Mike Williams, 21 Joe Simpson, 22 Max Ojomoh, 23 Will Butt.

Leinster: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Jordan Larmour, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Jimmy O’Brien, 10 Johnny Sexton (captain), 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Caelan Doris, 5 Josh Murphy, 4 Ross Molony, 3 Michael Ala’alatoa, 2 Rónan Kelleher, 1 Andrew Porter.
Replacements: 16 Dan Sheehan, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Vakh Abdaladze, 19 Ryan Baird, 20 Max Deegan, 21 Jamison Gibson-Park, 22 Ross Byrne, 23 Ciarán Frawley.

Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant referees: Manuel Bottino (Italy), Franco Rosella (Italy)
TMO: Sean Brickell

Source: @ChampionsCup