Leinster send warning shot to Stormers following Lions rout
MATCH REPORT: Leinster booked their semifinal spot in the United Rugby Championship following a 59-10 victory over the Lions in Dublin.
The home side got off to a fast start, scoring two tries in the opening 15 minutes and outscoring their South African counterparts by nine tries to two.
Leinster outclassed the Lions in most departments, but the visitors didn’t make life easy for themselves with kicking errors from hand, poor line-out execution and a leaking defence.
The defending champions will face the Stormers at home next week, whilst the Bulls travel to Scottish Gas Murrayfield to face Glasgow Warriors in the other semifinal.
*To recap all the action, CLICK HERE!
Leinster opened the scoring after nine minutes following sustained pressure on the Lions’ defence through hooker Dan Sheehan. Sam Prendergast slotted the conversion.
The Irishmen appeared to be in for a second try four minutes later, but a heroic defensive effort saw Jimmy O’Brien held up over the line.
Leinster’s second try came moments later through fullback Hugo Keenan off a Sam Prendergast pass as the Lions’ defence were in sixes and sevens to make it 14-0 after 15 minutes following Prendergast’s conversion.
Thomas Clarkson, who was promoted to the starting line-up from the bench moments before kick-off was sent to the sinbin for a tip tackle on Nico Steyn in the 35th minute.
The Lions crossed the line a minute later from close range through Henco van Wyk to open their account. Chris Smith’s conversion went off the upright.
Leinster replied seconds before halftime through James Ryan. Prendergast slotted the conversion to send the defending champions leading 21-5 into the break.
The report continues below…
Leinster started the second half as they did the first when Scott Penny crossed the whitewash in the 43rd minute as the Lions got caught wanting out wide once more.
It seemed all said and done after 45 minutes when Sam Prendergast intercepted a pass by Chris Smith, with the No.10 converting his own try to give Leinster a 33-5 lead.
The Lions went down to 14 players when Quan Nortjé was sent to the sinbin in the 53rd minute for a deliberate knock-on.
Leinster went for the line-out and scored through Gus McCarthy after splintering away to cross the line a minute later. Prendergast’s conversion brought up 40 points for the home side.
Haashim Pead, moments later, executed a grubber kick to set Van Wyk up for a brace.
Leinster exploited the outside space once more when Jimmy O’Brien went over in the corner in the 66th minute with Horn in the sinbin. Prendergast splitted the uprights once more.
The home side recorded a half century of points when James Lowe crossed for a record 70th try in Leinster colours in his 100th appearance for the club with 11 minutes to go. Prendergast slotted the conversion.
The Lions squandered a late try after Erich Cronje knocked the ball on.
Leister launched one final attack, which saw Lowe grab a brace and extend his Leinster try-scoring record to 71 on the stroke of fulltime.
Prendergast missed the conversion attempt before the final whistle went.
Scorers:
For Leinster:
Tries: Sheehan, Keenan, Ryan, Penny, Prendergast, G.McCarthy, O’Brien, Lowe 2
Cons: Prendergast 7
For the Lions:
Tries: Van Wyk 2,
Yellow cards: Thomas Clarkson (Leinster, 35′ – Dangerous play: tip tackle), Quan Horn (Lions, 53′ – Cynical foul: deliberate knock-on)
Leinster: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Jimmy O’Brien, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Jamie Osborne, 11 James Lowe, 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Caelan Doris (captain), 7 Scott Penny, 6 Max Deegan, 5 James Ryan, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Thomas Clarkson, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements: 16 Gus McCarthy, 17 Alex Usanov, 18 Rabah Slimani, 19 Diarmuid Mangan, 20 Josh van der Flier, 21 Jamison Gibson-Park, 22 Harry Byrne, 23 Robbie Henshaw
Lions: 15 Quan Horn, 14 Angelo Davids, 13 Henco van Wyk, 12 Richard Kriel, 11 Erich Cronje, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Nico Steyn, 8 Francke Horn (captain), 7 Batho Hlekani, 6 Siba Mahashe, 5 Darrien Landsberg, 4 Reinhard Nothnagel, 3 Sebastian Lombard, 2 PJ Botha, 1 SJ Kotze
Replacements: 16 Franco Marais, 17 Edward Davids, 18 RF Schoeman, 19 Ruan Delport, 20 Siba Qoma, 21 JC Pretorius, 22 Rynhardt Jonker, 23 Haashim Pead
Referee: Sam Grove-White (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Hollie Davidson (Scotland), Ru Campbell (Scotland)
TMO: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
