RUGBY
Leinster and Connacht set up all Irish Pro12 final
By Daire Walsh
LEINSTER and Connacht will contest the Guinness Pro12 decider at Murrayfield Stadium on Saturday, following their respective semi-final victories over Ulster and Glasgow Warriors in the past few days.
In a thrilling encounter at the RDS on Friday evening, the Blues secured three tries (including one from Naas’ Jamie Heaslip) to claim a 30-18 penultimate round triumph against their interprovincial rivals.
However, the eye-catching result of the weekend was undoubtedly Connacht’s nail-biting win over Glasgow Warriors in the Sportsground, Galway.
Pat Lam’s charges had sealed a home play-off tie with defending champions Glasgow as a result of their 14-7 success against the same opposition seven days earlier, and although the dismissal of Sila Puafisi was a decisive factor in that game, the Westerners once again proved to be too much for the Scottish outfit to handle.
Though it might have been expected that the Leinster team that registered a comprehensive final round victory over Benetton Treviso would be worlds apart from the one that played in the Pro12 semi-finals, there was actually only two alterations for the visit of Les Kiss’ northern province.
With Rob Kearney ruled out through injury, Luke Fitzgerald returned to a re-jigged back-three, while towering lock Devin Toner (who was an 11th-hour withdrawal for the Treviso game) replaced Ross Molony in the second-row – where former Connacht star Mick Kearney also featured.
With a host of international players on show, this was a game that Joe Schmidt was keeping a close eye on, and in the middle of his successful Irish Open performance at the K Club in Straffan, Ulster Rugby fan Rory McIlroy was also in attendance.
However, it was the hosts who made all of the initial inroads, and in addition to eight points from the boot of Jonathan Sexton, skipper Isa Nacewa crossed over the opposition whitewash. Yet, Ulster grew into the play as the half progressed, and a brace of Paddy Jackson penalties were supplemented by Craig Gilroy’s five-pointer prior to the interval.
This meant that Leinster’s lead had been reduced to two points (13-11), but courtesy of tries after the restart by Heaslip (making his 14th provincial appearance of 2015/16) and replacement Sean Cronin, the three-time winners were now in the driving seat.
The excellent Gilroy did break through for his second try in the 69th-minute, but it wasn’t enough to stop Leinster qualifying for a sixth final in just seven seasons. They will need to be at their best to overcome an in-form Connacht, however, who established a 10-3 interval cushion against Glasgow on Saturday with the help of a try from Nigerian-born winger Niyi Adeolokun on 37 minutes.
Glasgow’s Leone Nakarawa did break over the line upon the resumption, but with US Eagles international AJ MacGinty contributing 11 points from the kicking tee, it means that Connacht’s unforgettable campaign will culminate in a first-ever appearance in a Pro12 showpiece in the Scottish capital this weekend.