Unbeaten Leinster cruise home
Leinster may have already qualified for the Heineken Cup quarterfinals but they kept their unbeaten record in Pool Three with a 25-3 win over Montpellier in Dublin.
The reigning champions, who lifted the trophy for the second time in last season’s epic final against Northampton Saints at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, had already qualified for the knockout stages last weekend.
But this impressive victory over a Montpellier side, who had nothing to play for but pride at the RDS, stretched Leinster’s unbeaten record in the Heineken Cup to a dozen matches.
Leinster flyhalf Jonathan Sexton was a late withdrawal just before kick-off with a recurrence of his ankle injury and was replaced by Ian Madigan, starting his first Heineken Cup game, but it hardly had an impact on the home side.
The hosts soon established their superiority and had scored a point a minute when they took an early lead of 17-0 after 17 minutes of this contest, with tries by flanker Sean O’Brien and fullback Rob Kearney and the boot of wing Fergus McFadden.
The Irish province went down to 14-men when they lost second row Damian Browne midway through the first half for a professional foul but despite immense Montpellier pressure the home side didn’t concede a point.
McFadden added his second penalty to stretch Leinster’s lead to 20-0 at half-time but soon extended their lead just after the break when prop Cian Healy barged over from short-range.
Wing Martin Butos Moyano did manage to get the visitors on the scoreboard with a penalty on the 67th minute but that was all they had to show despite having their periods of pressure and dominance in the game.
The scorers:
For Leinster:
Tries: O’Brien, Kearney, Healy
Cons: McFadden 2
Pens: McFadden 2
For Montpellier:
Pen: Bustos Moyano
The teams:
Leinster: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Eoin O’Malley, 12 Gordon D’Arcy, 11 Isa Nacewa, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Isaac Boss, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Sean O’Brien, 6 Rhys Ruddock, 5 Damian Browne, 4 Leo Cullen (captain), 3 Jamie Hagan, 2 Richardt Strauss, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Heinke Van der Merwe, 18 Mike Ross, 19 Devin Toner, 20 Shane Jennings, 21 Eoin Reddan, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Fionn Carr.
Montpellier: 15 Lucas Amorosino, 14 Timoci Nagusa, 13 Yoan Audrin, 12 Paul Bosch, 11 Martin Bustos Moyano, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Julien Tomas, 8 Alex Tulou, 7 Mamuka Gorgodze, 6 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 5 Mickael Demarco, 4 Drickus Hancke, 3 George Jgenti, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Na’ama Leleimalefaga.
Replacements: 16 Rassie van Vuuren, 17 Juan Figallo, 18 Maximiliano Bustos, 19 Joe Tuineau, 20 Vassili Bost, 21 Benoit Paillaugue, 22 Santiago Fernandez, 23 Geoffrey Doumayrou.
Referee: Neil Paterson (Scotland)
