Leinster seal top spot in Champions Cup Pool Two with bonus point hammering of Bath
The final scoreline doesn’t tell the full story of the game, but Leinster ultimately sealed top spot in Pool Two of the European Champions Cup with a bonus point triumph over Bath at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday evening.
Already assured of a home draw in the competition’s Round of 16, Leo Cullen’s men were hoping for maximum points from this fourth round fixture to give themselves the highest possible ranking heading into the knockout rounds.
This potentially looked to be in danger when their cross-channel opponents raced into a 14-point advantage during the early exchanges, but a subsequent seven-try haul (including braces from Robbie Henshaw and RG Snyman) eventually propelled Leinster towards a fourth consecutive European win in the current campaign.
The Aviva wasn’t the happiest of stomping grounds for Bath supremo Johann van Graan during his time as Munster head coach, but his current charges enjoyed a sensational start to the action at the Lansdowne Road venue.
There was just over 60 seconds gone on the clock when No 8 Alfie Barbeary dived over the whitewash for a stunning deadlock breaker and the English Premiership leaders were in for a second try on seven minutes as Tom De Glanville crossed over on the right-flank in fine style.
Yet while a second successful conversion from mercurial Scottish out-half Finn Russell left a shellshocked Leinster 14-0 adrift, they responded with a scoring blitz of their own in what proved to be an engrossing opening quarter at Irish Rugby HQ.
One of 23 Leinster players to be named in Simon Easterby’s 36-man Ireland squad for the forthcoming Six Nations, Henshaw underlined his enduring quality by grabbing a brace of tries off intricate attacks in the 10th and 16th minutes of an increasingly engrossing showdown.
The fact Sam Prendergast only converted one of the two bonus strikes that followed these scores meant Bath – who had former Blues players Quinn Roux and Ross Molony in their second row – remained in the ascendancy, but Leinster eventually swung the pendulum in their favour.
After loosehead prop Beno Obano was sin-binned for a high tackle on Jamison Gibson-Park (who was temporarily withdrawn for a head injury assessment), Jack Conan powered over for a converted try on 37 minutes.
Although this looked set to leave Leinster in the driving seat at the break, Russell’s outstanding touchline conversion in the wake of De Glanville’s second try at the end of a breakaway move ensured Bath brought a 21-19 cushion into the interval.
The introduction of Caelan Doris and Snyman as a double replacement just six minutes after the resumption was a clear indication of the battle Leinster found themselves in, but these changes ultimately paid off for the home team.
At the end of an elongated attack, the returning Gibson-Park picked out Snyman close to the Bath whitewash and the South African international stretched impressively over the line to secure a try bonus for the eastern province.
The dismissal of Obano for a second yellow card offence on the hour mark took the sting out of the Bath challenge and Leinster made the very most of their numerical supremacy in the final-quarter.
After Ringrose and Gibson-Park added their names to the scoresheet with five-pointers in the 61st and 68th minutes respectively, a second try from Snyman in the closing moments helped Leinster to finish 26 points clear of their English rivals.
R Henshaw 2, RG Snyman 2, J Conan, G Ringrose, J Gibson-Park.
S Prendergast 4, R Byrne 2.
T De Glanville 2, A Barbeary.
F Russell 3.
H Keenan (J O’Brien 74); G Ringrose, R Henshaw, J Barrett, J Osborne; S Prendergast (R Byrne 62), J Gibson-Park (L McGrath 35-40 & 72); A Porter (C Healy 72), R Kelleher (G McCarthy 62), R Slimani (T Clarkson 62); J McCarthy, J Ryan (R Snyman 45); M Deegan (C Doris 45), J van der Flier, J Conan.
T De Glanville; J Cokanasiga, O Lawrence, M Ojomoh (O Bailey 64), R McConnochie (J Bayliss 66); F Russell (O Bailey 15-27), B Spencer (L Schreuder 74); B Obano, N Annett (T Dunn 55), W Stuart (T Du Toit 49); Q Roux (C Ewels 51 (R Molony 64-74)), R Molony (F Van Wyk 63); T Hill, M Reid (R McConnochie 74), A Barbeary (F Van Wyk 35-45 & J Coetzee 62).
L Ramos (France).