53 Mins: A huge kick from inside the Harlequins 22 forces Prendergast to clear it to just outside Leinster’s 22. Some excellent work out of possession gives Leinster a penalty for a croc roll though.
Leinster 24 Harlequins 21
51 Mins: Worst outcome for Leinster, but a fair one. Penalty try and yellow card for O’Brien. Game on!
Leinster 24 Harlequins 21
51 Mins: Oh dear... Jimmy O’Brien tries to cut a pass out as Quins get sight of the line, knocking it on. Looks like a clear yellow.
Leinster 24 Harlequins 14
50 Mins: Both teams are coughing the ball up a bit too easily, but it’s also down to the really scrappy, hard-working play out of possession. Evans will have an opportunity to go to the corner now, after Larmour is turned over.
Leinster 24 Harlequins 14
48 Mins: Lawday contradicts me right away, gaining that momentum back for Harlequins with a great turnover.
Leinster 24 Harlequins 14
47 Mins: Paddy McCarthy knocks the ball on in contact, giving Harlequins possession through another scrum. There’s a shift at the scrum now, with Quins getting more of the penalties, with Evans kicking his side up to Leinster territory. A good momentum break as Leinster turn over the lineout.
Leinster 24 Harlequins 14
45 Mins: Good Leinster play goes unrewarded again. O’Brien and Van Der Flier linked up to set Larmour free, but Quins did a good job of slowing the attack and eventually turned it over.
Leinster 24 Harlequins 14
41 Mins: Back underway here. Mangan with a knock-on to start the half.
Leinster 24 Harlequins 14
A good half for Leinster, who could have added more to the scoreboard with small improvements on the ball. But Harlequins have done well too, especially for a side lacking some key men.
Both teams are back out now.
Half-time: Leinster 24 Harlequins 14
39 Mins: Try for Leinster! An overthrow at the lineout, but Frawley is first to it, recovered from that injury, and bundles it over the line. Prendergast nails the conversion this time.
Leinster 24 Harlequins 14
38 Mins: Advantage for Leinster, but their not able to get over the line, so it’s back for the penalty for not rolling away. One last push for the line in this half for Leinster.
Leinster 17 Harlequins 14
37 Mins: Evans clears the lines for Quins, but a bad bounce means it stay in play for Leinster. Frawley seems to have taken a bad knock in that play.
Leinster 17 Harlequins 14
34 Mins: Try for Harlequins! What a set-play! A one-two from Cleeves and Northmore sees the winger get in for another five points, and the conversion is simple.
Leinster 17 Harlequins 14
33 Mins: Ringrose flies off on a run, but a croc roll penalty against Leinster stops that attack. Lineout for Harlequins inside the Leinster half.
Leinster 17 Harlequins 7
31 Mins: Not much luck for Quins... a marginal knock-on call by the TMO scrubs out that penalty, and Leinster have a scrum instead.
Leinster 17 Harlequins 7
30 Mins: Argentina’s Pedro Delgado is on, boosting the Harlequins scrum as they win a penalty. McCarthy gets a little eager and gives away another penalty, leaving the English side in the corner.
Leinster 17 Harlequins 7
27 Mins: Larmour smashes Anderson after a Gibson-Park kick. Leinster nearly have it back, but it’s knocked on, so it’s a scrum to Harlequins.
Leinster 17 Harlequins 7
25 Mins: Try for Leinster! And a beauty! Prendergast pings a kick across the field to Larmour, who’s all on his own. Prendergast misses the kick. Leinster have been a bit sloppy here and there, but their tenacity is incredible so far.
Leinster 17 Harlequins 7
22 Mins: TMO check on a head-to-head tackle from Northmore on Larmour. It’s a passive contact, so no yellow, but the penalty leads to another dangerous situation. A crossfield kick from Prendergast leaves O’Brien with a lot to do, and Quins turn it over.
Leinster 12 Harlequins 7
21 Mins: The scrum penalty that led to the Harlequins try would appear to have been an outlier. Leinster get inside the 22 after another penalty at the scrum, but a knock-on sees the opportunity go to waste.
Leinster 12 Harlequins 7
18 Mins: Sneyman comes off after that try, replaced by Diarmuid Mangan. Apparently it’s a tactical swap.
Leinster 12 Harlequins 7
17 Mins: Try for Leinster! Gary Ringrose gets on the end of that move, with great passes from Gibson-Park and Frawley to set it up. Easy conversion, too.
Leinster 12 Harlequins 7
15 Mins: Really silly from Harlequins, as Lawday takes his eye off the ball at the restart and knocks on a simple pass. Jimmy O’Brien nearly gets over the line, but its held up. Scrum to Leinster about 10 yards out still.
Leinster 5 Harlequins 7
11 Mins: Interesting choice from Leinster, as they opt for a scrum rather than a lineout when Harlequins knock it on into touch. But, it doesn’t come off so well, as Paddy McCarthy concedes a penalty.
Try for Harlequins! They strike right after that penalty and Northmore puts it down right under the posts.
Leinster 5 Harlequins 7
8 Mins: Another scrum and another Leinster penalty. Prendergast boots it towards halfway, but Larmour knocks it on after a promising start to that move.
Leinster 5 Harlequins 0
5 Mins: Try for Leinster! Jordan Larmour gets it over the line in the corner. Good move by Leinster, working it from one side to the other after that lineout. Prendergast misses a very tough conversion.
Leinster 5 Harlequins 0
4 Mins: Bit of a messy start, with Gibson-Park knocking it on thanks to an errant boot in his way. Harlequins’ scrum collapses though, and Prendergast opts to kick to the corner rather than have a go at three points from the penalty.
Leinster 0 Harlequins 0
1 Min: Jarrod Evans gets us underway with the kick-off. Quins turn over the ball quickly, but Leinster win a penalty to get the ball back and are into the opposition half quickly.
Leinster 0 Harlequins 0
Nearly ready to go at the Aviva now, five minutes until the start of Leinster’s Champions Cup campaign. Will this be the start of their first successful campaign since 2018?
Ireland’s defeat to South Africa was the focal point for wider criticisms of the game at large. However, Gordon D’Arcy writes that the start of the Champions Cup offers a chance for issues to be solved before things reach a crisis point.
[Gordon D’Arcy: Reactionary thinking threatens to force rugby to be something it’s not]
With another top international player entering the Leinster dressing room, Irish hooker Dan Sheehan admits that the players do notice the backlash, but tells Johnny Watterson “if everyone loved us it would be kind of weird.”
[Leinster’s Dan Sheehan: ‘There is that sort of hatred towards us’]
With Munster in action later against English Premiership champions Bath (Kick-off at 8pm), here’s Gerry Thornley’s comprehensive guide to the pool stage of the Champions Cup.
[Champions Cup pool-by-pool guide: What teams will Leinster and Munster face?]
And here’s a closer look at today’s Leinster lineup from Nathan Johns.
[Joe McCarthy returns to Leinster team for Harlequins clash, with Ioane on bench]
With Jordie Barrett departing Leinster, the province have brought in a new All-Black superstar in 28-year-old Reiko Ioane. He is expected to make his debut off the bench tonight, but where will he be playing? Nathan Johns takes a look at where Leinster can use their new man.
[Where does Rieko Ioane fit at Leinster?]
Harlequins come into the match with several notable injuries, and are still licking their wounds from the 62-0 pummeling they received from Leinster in last year’s Champions Cup. John O’Sullivan looks ahead to what we can expect from today’s competition opener.
[Buoyed by All Black arrival, Leinster must view Harlequins clash as chance to hit stride]
Hello and welcome to live coverage of Leinster’s opening game of the 2025/26 Champions Cup against English side Harlequins.
Here’s the lineups for today’s match that gets underway at 5:30pm at the Aviva Stadium.
Leinster: Jimmy O’Brien; Tommy O’Brien, Garry Ringrose, Ciarán Frawley, Jordan Larmour; Sam Prendergast, Jamison Gibson-Park; Paddy McCarthy, Dan Sheehan, Thomas Clarkson; RG Snyman, Joe McCarthy; Jack Conan, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris (capt).
Replacements: Rónan Kelleher, Jack Boyle, Tadhg Furlong, Diarmuid Mangan, Max Deegan, Luke McGrath, Harry Byrne, Rieko Ioane.
Harlequins: Cameron Anderson; Cassius Cleaves, Oscar Beard, Luke Northmore, Cadan Murley (capt); Jarrod Evans, Will Porter; Boris Wenger, Jack Walker, Harry Williams; Kieran Treadwell, Stephan Lewies; Zach Carr, Will Evans, Tom Lawday
Replacements: George Turner, Will Hobson, Pedro Delgado, Joe Launchbury, Lucas Schmid, Lucas Friday, Jamie Benson, Bryn Bradley.
