RUGBY
Defeat to Toulon all but ends Leinster’s European chances
By Daire Walsh
STEFFON Armitage registered a brace of tries at Stade Mayol on Sunday afternoon, as Toulon’s 24-9 victory all but ended Leinster’s European Rugby Champions Cup prospects. It was always going to be a tough group for Leo Cullen in his first European campaign as head coach of the province, but following earlier defeats to Wasps and Bath, they are now facing an almost certain exit from the pool stages of the top-tier competition. They also failed to make the knock-out rounds of the Heineken Cup in Joe Schmidt’s final season in charge – 2012/13 – and while they were defending European champions on that occasion, it was last weekend’s opponents (Toulon) that are currently in possession of the Champions Cup silverware. The Top 14 outfit will also take on the Blues at the Aviva Stadium this coming Saturday, and if they were to stand any chance of recording back-to-back triumphs, Leinster needed their star performers to be firing on all cylinders. The postponement of the previous weekend’s Pro12 encounter with Glasgow Warriors did disrupt Leinster’s preparations for this daunting fixture, but with Naas’ Jamie Heaslip once again selected in the pivotal No 8 position, the visitors felt that they were capable of causing an upset. A strong start was required from Leinster if they were to claim the win they so badly craved, and a brace of early penalties from Jonathan Sexton did offer them an encouraging early platform.
However, a response was expected from Toulon (who handed a European debut to New Zealand’s World Cup hero Ma’a Nonu), and after they opted for touch from a 10th-minute penalty, a powerful line-out maul was finished off by Armitage.
This was a set-back for Leinster, and even though Eric Escande and Sexton swapped penalties, the Blue Army were hamstrung by the loss of Cian Healy to a needless yellow-card offence on 25 minutes. The resilient Leinster defence held firm in his absence, though, and when the half-time whistle sounded, the bare minimum (10-9) separated the two teams. Indeed, Leinster did have an opportunity to edge into the ascendancy just after the restart, but Sexton’s fourth kick at goal was wide of the mark. This was a let-off of sorts for Toulon, and courtesy of three successful Escande place-kicks, they had moved into a winning position. The hosts dominated possession for large spells of the second period, and with Leinster losing Devin Toner and his eventual replacement Tom Denton to the sin-bin, another Armitage five-pointer made it a day to forget for the travelling Blues supporters. Leinster ‘A’ had better fortune in Donnybrook on Friday night, when they recorded a 45-13 success over Ealing Trailfinders in Pool 1 of the British & Irish Cup. It was a close contest for much of the opening period, but Peter Dooley’s try helped the home team to develop a 13-6 interval advantage. The floodgates subsequently opened after the restart, and courtesy of six additional tries – including one for Kildare native Tadhg Beirne – Leinster ‘A’ maintained their 100% record in this season’s competition.