by Leicester 10 Leinster 27
Star power and mastery of crucial moments saw East Midlands and Leinster top their group and guarantee a home tie in the last 16, leaving Leicester Tigers awaiting Sunday’s results to determine fate.
Joe McCarthy, James Lowe and Calean Doris have all been preparing for the Six Nations by reinforcing their worth to both province and country. McCarthy, a stagnant loc, is easy to spot because of his mullet and size. At 22, he is building on a head-to-head campaign with alarming momentum, with Leo Cullen calling him a “nuisance” afterwards. Lowe and Doris got up with the class. Tigers started hard and would have taken it to the wire without stopping. But once Cullen’s visitors overcame a 10-0 deficit to go ahead in the 33rd minute, they kept Leicester at arm’s length. Meanwhile, Ollie Chessum’s failed head injury assessment could complicate England’s preparations for the Italy match on February 3.
This was a Leinster outfit full of internationals, their matchday 23 with 18 of Andy Farrell’s senior squad. It was a rather daunting task for the Tigers without the fresh wounds suffered by La Rochelle six days earlier. There was also the fact that Leicester had been knocked out of this competition by these opponents in each of the past two seasons. Leo Cullen’s side are still a formidable force despite missing out on both Champions Cup finals, just as Ireland will remain formidable despite losing in the World Cup quarter-final to Jordie Barrett’s side.
The opening was characterized by thunderous fighting. Leinster has been boosted by the arrival of former Springboks head coach Jacques Nienaber. Tigers also clattered carriers. George Martin was absent, and will be for several weeks, but Chessum threw his weight around. As he did against Saracens earlier this month, Tom Whiteley screamed for pressure. Leicester were always in control of the kicking exchanges, and earned their first points after Jordan Larmour spilled a Whiteley box kick. The visitors cleared to touch and Tigers mauling before Dan Kelly broke down the side short and free Hanro Liebenberg.
Leinster had a quick response, Jamison Gibson-Park putting McCarthy up the middle and Robbie Henshaw darting into space. Leicester came back to hold Andrew Porter over the try line. Julián Montoya was the saviour, and his team soon found a penalty with a more defensive eruption thanks to Tommy Reffell’s trademark check. Due to a Leinster breakdown near the halfway mark, Pollard made it 10-0 from the same range as the penalty that won England the World Cup semi-final. Harry Byrne immediately canceled that strike, however, and Leinster kept the momentum going thanks to further penalties. McCarthy stretched over and Byrne, who had leveled at Chessum moments earlier, settled things with the conversion. Tigers had reason to be irritated. Reffell appeared to have caught the ball legally before Byrne’s penalty and McCarthy’s finish was in doubt.
On the half-hour mark, Reffell left groggily. Almost immediately, Leinster hit his rhythm. Lowe drove down the left and offloaded inside to Garry Ringrose. Gibson-Park walked up in support and, although Freddie Steward did well, Larmour danced over a desperate cover in the far corner. The half ended frantically, Tigers just stopping Leinster on the back of Ryan Baird’s rumble and a loose ball chased down the other end, but Dan McKellar’s men went to the dressing rooms trailing 15-10.
Pollard missed a touch from a penalty early in the second half and Leicester were penalized. Seconds later, Whiteley was sin-bind for deliberately slapping down Henshaw’s pass. Leinster found contact and, with Chessum also leaving the field, a desperate Tigers lineout drive exploded. Dan Sheehan was the beneficiary. McKellar, whose side should go through if La Rochelle do not lose to Sale Sharks in Salford tomorrow lunchtime with two bonus points, cited this as a decisive goal. “I talked about this being a Test match and I wanted the boys to empty the tank,” he said afterwards. “They did that, but the truth is we didn’t take opportunities at important moments and [Leinster] did.”
Amazingly, the Tigers did not slow down and found more fluency when Solomone Kata was introduced. Their spirited start was helped by a series of penalties, which resulted in a yellow card for Jack Conan. Just as an attempt looked inevitable, Doris managed to get a breakdown penalty under the shadow of her own position. Both teams chased the bonus points during a lopsided final. Fittingly, it was the great Doris who fought over to end Cullen’s contest labeled as a “proper dogfight”.
Data matching
Scoring sequence: 5-0 Liebenberg try, Pollard 7-0 conversion, 10-0 Pollard penalty, 10-3 Byrne penalty, 10-8 McCarthy try, 10-10 Byrne conversion, 10-15 Larmour try, 10-20 Sheehan try, 10- 22 Byrne conversions, 10-27 Doris tries
Leicester Tigers: F Warden; H Simmons (J Shillcock, 36), M Scott, D Kelly (S Kata, 57), O Hassell-Collins; H Pollard, T Whiteley (B Youngs, 59); J Cronin (F van Wyk, 53), J Montoya (A Vanes, 79), J Heyes (W Hurd, 57), H Wells, O Chessum (S Carter, 43), H Liebenberg, T Reffell (K Hatherell, 30 ). ), J Wiese
Leinster: H Cyanane; J Larmour (T O’Brien, 76), G Ringrose, R Henshaw, J Lowe; H Byrne (S Prendergast, 63), J Gibson-Park (L McGrath, 71); A Porter (C Healy, 71), D Sheehan (R Kelleher, 58), T Furlong (M Ala’alatoa, 58), J McCarthy (R Molony, 70), J Ryan, R Baird, J van der Flier (J Conan, 58), C Doris
Referee: Piardi (Italy)
Attendance: 25,849
Yellow cards: Whiteley (42), Conan (66)
