Hugo Keenan: Involved from the beginning. Tackle early on Freeman important. Worked hard in the air and in support on a day when Leinster generally were off key. Rating: 6
Tommy O’Brien: First touch was a super kick and chase. Good on high balls and a willing tackler. More of the same in a second half, full of vim and energy from the winger. Rating: 7
[ Leinster 34 Northampton 27: Gerry Thornley's match reportOpens in new window ]
Garry Ringrose: Big tackles in first half and huge pressure on Northampton for O’Brien kick. Carried well into a ferocious Northampton defence, high energy input. Rating: 7
Robbie Henshaw: Took and made some heavy tackles early on and as always was a willing defensive bulwark. Didn’t get a chance to get decent forward ball. Rating: 6
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James Lowe: First touch was to take the ball in midfield. Took his try in the second half well and was always involved in the play. Like others, occasionally inaccurate. Rating: 6
Sam Prendergast: A mixed bag in the first 40 minutes. A few tackles missed again but some good kicking and passing. Excellent pressure conversion for Lowe’s try at end. Rating: 6
Jamison Gibson-Park: As ever quick with the tap penalty to find Prendergast for O’Brien try. Kept tempo high but couldn’t dictate the match as he usually does. Rating: 6
Cian Healy: Put in a good 20-minute shift until Porter came in. Ticked the boxes with a high work rate of tackling and hard yards in what was a furious start. Rating: 6
Dan Sheehan: Got down and dirty without finding any space for attacking runs. Likes to get hands on the ball but Leinster were just off on accuracy on the day. Rating: 6
Tadhg Furlong: A busy day in the scrum and in the breakdown. Didn’t pop up all that often to punch forward like he often can, but didn’t shirk the hard yards. Rating: 6
Joe McCarthy: Began to show towards the end of the first half but stayed quiet enough until then. Late in the game he began to find space and made important gains. Rating: 6
RG Snyman: Like others he struggled to make an impact in the first half. Wasn’t getting the famed offloads away and was essentially stopped at source too often. Rating: 6
Max Deegan: Dynamic in the first half and nice pass off the deck for the van der Flier try. Was strong in the lineout with Leinster on backfoot too often. Rating: 6
Josh van der Flier: One of the players who shone in the first half doing the tackling, running and support. Rewarded with a try and almost got another. Strong input. Rating: 7
Caelan Doris: Began to profile only at the end of the first half, peeling off the scrum. Came into it some more but not the presence he normally is despite the try. Rating: 6
Coach − Leo Cullen: Leinster had to reset after the Scarlets defeat but the evidence was they did not do that sufficiently. In the end it was the bounce of the ball but few were saying Northampton didn’t deserve to win the match. Rating: 6
Replacements: Ryan Baird brought some much needed energy and the replacements brought them back into the match. But like the starters, there was too much inaccuracy. Rating: 6
