Leinster 25 Montpellier 3:Leinster clinched a home tie in the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup as Joe Schmidt's side brought their unbeaten run in Europe to 12 games at The RDS this afternoon.
In blustery conditions, Seán O’Brien’s ninth-minute try settled any early nerves and man-of-the-match Rob Kearney used his speed and strength to nab his fourth try of the pool stages.
Montpellier had no points to show for a long spell in the home 22, trailing 20-0 at the break with Fergus McFadden booting the rest of Leinster’s points.
Joe Schmidt’s men went further ahead with a try from Cian Healy and, in a scrappy final half-hour, Martin Bustos Moyano kicked a penalty for the visitors.
Healy later had to leave the field with a leg injury, but Ireland coach Declan Kidney will be relieved after Leinster reported that the prop was fine and the injury was no cause for concern.
Leinster were forced into a late change with Schmidt not willing to risk Jonathan Sexton, who suffered a knock to his left ankle in the win over Glasgow Warriors.
Ian Madigan came in for his first Heineken Cup start, distributing well early on as the wind-backed hosts enjoyed the early possession.
Purposeful runs from frontrowers Richardt Strauss and Healy pinpointed the chinks in Montpellier’s defence, and soon after a short burst from O’Brien, aided by Damian Browne, saw him muscle over from close range.
McFadden added the conversion and a penalty to take the province into double figures, before Kearney sliced through off first-phase ball.
From a midfield scrum, Isaac Boss and Gordon D’Arcy combined to send the fullback through the defensive line and, although Paul Bosch hauled him down, Kearney stretched out his left arm to get the touchdown.
McFadden made it a seven-pointer but good ball retention from the visitors’ bulky forwards got them close to a first try, big Mamuka Gorgodze being thwarted by Leo Cullen and O’Brien.
Leinster held them up again through a series of five-metre scrums and assaults on their line, albeit with Browne being sin-binned for side entry at a ruck.
It was a punishing period for the home forwards but the French outfit just could not break them down, with a steal from tournament debutant Jamie Hagan lifting the siege.
Montpellier captain Fulgence Ouedraogo infringed at a central ruck as Leinster finished the first half back in the visitors’ half. McFadden rifled over the resulting penalty.
A sparkling run from Isa Nacewa helped Leinster lay down an early marker in the second half.
D’Arcy went close to scoring in the right corner before Healy powered over on a muscular drive with support from Rhys Ruddock and replacement Mike Ross.
Kearney was inches away from scoring his second try, his attempt from a quick tap being snuffed out by the well-placed Alex Tulou.
Substitutions diluted the intensity slightly until a final spurt from both sides saw Montpellier get off the mark and Leinster fail to muster a bonus-point score, with McFadden lacking the support required to finish off the best of the chances.
In today's other Pool 3 clash, Bath beat Glasgow 23-18 at The Recreation Ground to end the Scottish side’s outside chance of a place in the last eight.
