Seven-try Leinster remain on course for top seed after big win in Gloucester

Gloucester 14 Leinster 49

It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t a performance without significant flaws but Leinster ultimately did what they do so often, blowing Gloucester away with ball in hand to take home a bonus-point win that keeps them in the driving seat to qualify for the Champions Cup last-16 as the number one seed.

Concerns will abound at the set-piece for Leo Cullen and co, the scrum leaked penalties while Gloucester’s lineout maul led to a pair of both penalty tries and yellow cards, but seven tries down the other end away from home is by no means to be sniffed at, Leinster’s attack firing as impressively as ever thanks largely to deft tip passes close to contact and a lightning speed of ball at the breakdown.

Jordan Larmour, Michael Ala’alatoa, Jamie Osborne, Caelan Doris, Hugo Keenan, Josh van der Flier and Rónan Kelleher were the ones to cross the whitewash for the visitors, the Byrne brothers combining for a 100 per cent record off the tee off the back of the scores.

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[ Gloucester 14 Leinster 49: As it happened ]

On a day when Osborne was named player of the match ahead of Thursday’s Six Nations squad announcement in front of the onlooking Ireland coaches Simon Easterby and Mike Catt, an already established international led the way for Leinster in a try-laden first half.

The visitors had the try bonus point secured by half-time, thanks largely to the work of Doris who had two first-half assists and a score of his own.

His domineering influence on proceedings started just two minutes in, his short tip to Ala’alatoa in midfield sending the prop galloping into the Gloucester 22. A penalty shortly thereafter was kicked into the corner, from which Doris ran with purpose at the Gloucester line, spotting that Osborne had sucked in enough defenders to open the gap for Larmour to score, the wing’s inside step beating the last man.

Minutes later, after Garry Ringrose’s defensive read on Chris Harris shut down Gloucester’s first attack of note, Doris was at it again close to the line. This time via another clever set-play from a tap and go penalty, he popped to Ala’alatoa again for the Samoan international to barge over.

Leinster’s number eight turned from provider to scorer with the last play of the half, Leinster again threatening with a close-range penalty as James Ryan’s latch shunted the backrow man over the line.

In the interim, Osborne followed up his excellent display last weekend at 13 vs the Ospreys by showing off his running lines and power in the carry at 12. His clean pair of heels out wide set up the second score for Ala’alatoa, Leinster scoring after Seb Atkinson saw yellow for failing to release once the Naas man was tackled.

Osborne himself crossed for Leinster’s third, Jamison Gibson-Park’s accurate flat ball putting him through a gap as he cut in on a hard angle, his footwork too good for the cover defence once he broke the line.

Leinster were at times untouchable with ball in hand, Ross Byrne and Hugo Keenan prominent when pulling the strings behind their forward pods, but the performance elsewhere was not without cracks.

Both Michael Milne and Andrew Porter conceded scrum penalties on the loosehead side, Gloucester’s Kirill Gotovtsev impressing at tighthead. Porter did atone later in the piece when earning set-piece penalties of his own.

Milne’s initial appearance came when deputising for Porter who was in the bin after hauling down a lineout maul, giving away the penalty try that got Gloucester on the board. It was a cameo to forget for Milne, Porter’s period in the bin expiring 30 seconds after he was needed to come on, that penalty concession his only initial contribution.

Leinster’s fifth try came in the early stages of the second half. Byrne, as he was all day, was prominent in the build-up, his inside pass to Ryan setting up the initial break before his one-handed slap of the ball under pressure from a shooter out of the line sent Keenan into space. Barton had the Leinster fullback numbered up, only for his opposite number to step him on the outside for the score.

Inaccuracy was the order for the day from there. Both sides struggled at lineout time in the breeze, two crooked throws apiece, while a Ryan spill, a penalty for lineout lifters blocking a maul and a choke tackle cost Leinster further attacks in the 22. Gloucester, too, struggled with handling errors, leading to an inability to get the ball out of their half.

Santi Carreras missing touch with a penalty off a scrum five metres from his own line didn’t help that cause either. He did make up for it moments later with a beauty of a touch finder that gave the hosts their best attack of the half. Ollie Thorley thought he had put Jonny May over with a deft pop, only for it to be adjudged forward.

Advantage was being played for another Leinster maul infringement. Gloucester tried again, this time earning a penalty try once more, Doris becoming the second Leinster man to see yellow for hauling down a maul.

Leinster responded with the final two scores of the game, a mad scramble for the loose ball down the left touchline leading to a series of pick and drives at the line, Van der Flier ultimately the one to power over. On a day when the defensive maul faltered, Leinster nabbed a maul score of their own to finish.

Kelleher was the beneficiary in the closing stages as Leinster attacked against a 14-man Gloucester, Carreras finishing the game in the bin due to a deliberate knock-on.

SCORING SEQUENCE – 4 mins: Larmour try, R Byrne con 0-7; 11: Ala’alatoa try, R Byrne con 0-14; 25: Penalty try 7-14; 27: Osborne try, R Byrne con 7-21; 40: Doris try, R Byrne con 7-28; HT 7-28; 45: Keenan try, R Byrne con 7-35; 63: Penalty try 14-35; 71: Van der Flier try, H Byrne con 14-42; 78: Kelleher try, H Byrne con 14-49.

GLOUCESTER: George Barton; Jonny May, Chris Harris, Seb Atkinson, Ollie Thorley; Santi Carreras, Ben Meehan; Val Rapava-Ruskin, George McGuigan, Kirill Gotovtsev; Freddie Clarke, Matias Alemanno; Ruan Ackermann, Lewis Ludlow (capt), Ben Morgan.

Replacements: Billy Twelvetrees for Barton (53 mins), Seb Blake for McGuigan (55), Stephen Varney for Meehan, Harry Elrington for Rapava-Ruskin (both 57), Ciaran Knight for Gotovstev, Cam Jordan for Clarke, Jack Clement for Morgan (all 60), Tom Seabrook for Harris (67).

Yellow card: Atkinson (11 mins), Carreras (77).

LEINSTER: Hugo Keenan; Jordan Larmour, Garry Ringrose, Jamie Osborne, Jimmy O’Brien; Ross Byrne, Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Michael Ala’alatoa; Ross Molony, James Ryan; Ryan Baird, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris.

Replacements: Michael Milne for Larmour (34-35 mins) and for Porter (75), Rónan Kelleher for Sheehan, Cian Healy, for Ala’alatoa, Harry Byrne for Ross Byrne (all 52), Jack Conan for Baird, Nick McCarthy for Gibson-Park (all 56), Brian Deeny for Ross Molony, Liam Turner for Ringrose (both 75).

Yellow cards: Andrew Porter (25 mins), Doris (63).

Referee: Pierre Brousset (France).