Leinster 76 Glasgow 14
It almost felt that Glasgow were taking the backlash of Marseille misery. Leinster were back to normal and then some on a blustery, sunny Dublin Saturday. Twelve tries later and a thrashed Warriors left the RDS out of the United Rugby Championship with Leinster securely moving in the right direction and a semi-final date against the Bulls next Friday in Dublin.
It was all one way for Leinster except for four furious minutes at the beginning of the match. Glasgow began like their hair was on fire and were quickly into the Leinster 22, firing bodies at the line. Two attacking lineouts later and with the ball moved left, Zander Fagerson crashed over with Ross Thompson converting for the perfect start.
But when Richie Gray was yellow carded for coming over bodies at the breakdown to hit Jamison Gibson-Park, Glasgow found themselves a man down and Leinster pressing. Then in a dazzling eight-minute spell between the 16th and 23rd minutes, Leinster all but put the game beyond the visitors with three quickfire tries and a lead of 21-7.
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Seconds after Gray was pointed towards the bin an attacking Leinster lineout gathered by James Ryan was rolled towards the Glasgow line with Dan Sheehan in possession. The hooker broke perfectly and there was little resistance to his touchdown with Ross Byrne converting to level the scores.
Three minutes later man-of-the-match Jordan Larmour was showing his footwork in midfield breaking forward. With Gibson-Park in support, Larmour delivered what looked like a try-scoring ball. But Gibson-Park generously passed back to Larmour with the throw taking a deflection. Still Larmour calmly ran it in, Byrne again converting for 14-7 .
Four minutes after that, it was Tadhg Furlong making ground into the Glasgow 22 and Joe McCarthy in support with a well-timed pick and drive. After Italian referee Andrea Piardi had a second look, he awarded the try. Just 23 minutes had passed in the game and Leinster had already one foot in the semi-final.
While Glasgow earned some territory late in the half, another attacking lineout two minutes from the break brought the Leinster first-half try count to four. Ryan again rose in the lineout as the Leinster maul rolled forward and again it was Sheehan bolting from the bodies to touch down again and close out the half 26-7.
The sense was Leinster had more in them and it didn’t take long for Glasgow to figure that out. Try five came from Caelan Doris on 43 minutes, try six from replacement Michael Ala’alatoa, try seven from Gibson-Park and try eight from Garry Ringrose in an early second-half surge.
Glasgow scored on the hour through George Horne but it didn’t stop the try tsunami from the home side.
Larmour crossed again on 64 minutes for 57-14 with Ciarán Frawley then intercepting and bursting in from the halfway line for 64-14. Finally replacement scrumhalf Luke McGrath brought the Leinster try count to 11 and fullback Jimmy O’Brien to a dozen as Leinster romped away with it in a good run out and surging confidence to face the South African team at the same venue next week.
Scoring sequence – 4 mins: Z Fagerson try, R Thompson con 0-7; 16: D Sheehan try, R Byrne con 7-7; 19: J Larmour try, R Byrne con 14-7; 23: J McCarthy try, Byrne con 21-7; 38: Sheehan try 26-7. Half-time. 43: C Doris try, Byrne con 33-7; 48: M Ala’alatoa try, Byrne con 40-7; 54: J Gibson-Park try, Byrne con 47-7; 56: G Ringrose try 52-7; 60: G Horne try, Thompson con 52-14; 64: Larmour try 57-14; 69: C Frawley try, H Byrne con 64-14; 70: L McGrath try, H Byrne con 71-14; 77: J O’Brien try 76-14
LEINSTER: Jimmy O’Brien; Jordan Larmour, Garry Ringrose, Ciarán Frawley, Rory O’Loughlin; Ross Byrne, Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Furlong; Joe McCarthy, James Ryan; Ryan Baird, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris.
Replacements: Michael Ala’alatoa for Furlong (40 mins); C Healy for Porter, S Cronin for Sheehan, L McGrath for Gibson-Park (all 55), R Moloney for Ryan, R Henshaw for Ringrose, J Conan for Van der Flier (all 57); H Byrne for R Byrne (67).
GLASGOW WARRIORS: Ollie Smith; Josh McKay, Sione Tuipulotu, Sam Johnson, Rufus McLean; Ross Thompson, Ali Price; Jamie Bhatti, George Turner, Zander Fagerson; Rob Harley, Richie Gray; Ryan Wilson, Gregor Brown, Jack Dempsey.
Replacements: O Kebble for Bhatti, F Brown for Fagerson, G Horne for Price (all 52 mins); L Bean for Harley, K McDonald for Wilson (both 58); D Miotti for Thompson (69).
Referee: A Piardi (Italy).
