Champions Cup semi-final: Leinster 20 Northampton 17
The relief was palpable, the guttural roar at referee Matthieu Raynal’s final whistle an exhalation of pent-up anxiety as Leinster supporters in a Champions Cup record crowd of 82,300 were finally able to breathe following a nerve shredding end game. The television cameras cut to Leinster captain Caelan Doris; his facial expression didn’t require any subtitles to elicit his feelings.
It seemed a lifetime removed from the first 43 minutes of the semi-final. Leinster led 20-3, in command if not always in control, courtesy of a hat-trick of tries from left wing James Lowe. Northampton Saints couldn’t buy any continuity at that point, undone by 15 handling errors alone in the first half an hour.
What is it about Leinster and 17-point leads in European matches? While the home side’s attacking play became increasingly ragged and dishevelled, it would be churlish not to acknowledge Northampton’s role in forcing that fraught conclusion.
Unshackled from the basic mistakes that destroyed their patterns in attack, they crossed for two tries from George Hendy and replacement Tom Seabrook, both brilliantly converted by Fin Smith. At that moment three points adrift and six minutes left, they endeavoured to do on to Leinster what the Irish province had visited on the Saints in the 2011 European final.
Northampton’s comeback came up a whisker short, replacement Jack Conan brilliantly snuffing out a potentially game-defining counterattack and then in tandem with Doris was fully invested in a half share of a penalty turnover at a breakdown inside Leinster’s 22. Jason Jenkins had a huge impact too with two lineout steals, and powered up a Leinster scrum that had conceded five penalties.
Raynal’s interpretation of that particular set piece was very definite, 14 scrums, eight penalties, five to three in favour of the Saints and two free-kicks, one apiece. There were five scrums in the first nine minutes alone, highlighting the handling issues that afflicted both sides.
Leinster’s attack was a little out of kilter initially, reliant on individuals rather than collective cohesion. Jamie Osborne had a fine game, using his power and footwork to break the line on occasion. But that normal fluency from the three-quarter line was missing, passes thrown at inside shoulders, the ball shipped on without committing defenders.
When players did make the occasional bust, either the ball carrier failed to spot the support or there was no one there to maximise the initial breach. Leinster regularly accessed the Saints’ 22 but there was a modest return in converting opportunities to points.
In contrast the home side’s defence was first class, the suffocating pressure they brought through the aggressive line-speed forced multiple turnovers. There was no faulting the application, Doris had a fine game, Joe McCarthy, Ryan Baird, Josh van der Flier and Tadhg Furlong carried with purpose, as did Robbie Henshaw and Lowe.
Rónan Kelleher, Conan and Jenkins were also physically resilient and gave the team momentum at a time when it was scarce. Once again Jamison Gibson-Park was the catalyst for his team’s best moments in attack, a gorgeous pass for Lowe’s first try and a quick-witted one-handed bat of the ball for the second.
Leinster’s third try was their most cogent attacking rugby of the match, started by Baird’s typically athletic break, but this time offloads from Osborne and Dan Sheehan meant that the Saints could not reset in defence. Ciarán Frawley’s work-rate to loop around the Leinster hooker permitted Lowe a walk-in.
There were always likely to be trace elements of rust from a Leinster team that hadn’t played together for three weeks but it doesn’t fully explain, even allowing for some superb Northampton defence led brilliantly by Courtney Lawes, Juarno Augustus and Fraser Dingwall, the absence of footwork in contact, ill-timed passing, and a general lack of slickness for which the team is traditionally noted.
There were some game-management issues, based on the initial decision and subsequent execution, while the kicking in the final half an hour wasn’t as accurate or well thought out as it might have been. In essence there were shades of last year’s final, handing over too much possession without much rhyme or reason to the thought process, other than putting boot to ball.
The home side also looked a bit leggy, and it was Leinster rather than Northampton, who had played two tough matches over the past fortnight domestically, that wilted alarmingly in the final 10 minutes. The fact that they were no longer able to emphatically shut down Northampton in the tackle or contact, meant that the Saints could get their running and offloading game going.
Leinster will be disappointed with the manner in which they conceded the two tries, the first a mix-up, the second originated from a lineout that went askew. They were never going to dominate the whole game but there’s no doubt that Leo Cullen’s side lost their way, albeit recognising that they were playing the English Premiership leaders who belatedly hit their straps.
It’s far from gloom and doom, just a timely reminder as Leinster head for the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday, May 25th, to contest a third successive final, that to put a fifth star on the jersey and the first since 2018, there needs to be significant improvement. It’s well within their ken.
Toulouse await a side over whom Leinster have the Indian sign in recent seasons. There are three weeks including two URC matches in which Leinster have the chance to smooth over the wrinkles, and maybe with old friends back in situ to take that elusive final step.
SCORING SEQUENCE – 10 mins: Lowe try, R Byrne con, 7-0; 15: Lowe try, 12-0; 29: R Byrne pen, 15-0; 39: Smith peny, 15-3. Half-time 15-3. 43: Lowe try, 20-3; 58: Hendy try, Smith con, 20-10; 74: Seabrook try, Smith con, 20-17.
LEINSTER: C Frawley; J Larmour, R Henshaw, J Osborne, J Lowe; R Byrne, J Gibson-Park; A Porter, D Sheehan, T Furlong; R Molony, J McCarthy; R Baird, J van der Flier, C Doris.
Replacements: R Kelleher for Sheehan, J Jenkins for Molony, J Conan for van der Flier (all 53 mins); M Ala’alatoa for Furlong (60); C Healy for Porter (71); J O’Brien for Larmour (72); H Byrne for Frawley (79).
NORTHAMPTON: G Furbank; J Ramm, T Freeman, F Dingwall, G Hendy; F Smith, A Mitchell; A Waller, C Langdon, T Davison; A Moon, A Coles; C Lawes (capt), S Graham, J Augustus.
Replacements: E Iyogun for Waller (54 mins); S Matavesi for Langdon, E Millar Mills for Davison (57); A Scott-Young for Graham (64); T Mayanavanua for Moon, T James for Mitchell, T Seabrook for Hendy (all 68).
Referee: M Raynal (France).
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