Leinster were too strong for the Tigers Photo: Reuters/Cat Goryn Leicester 10 Leinster 27
Star power and skill in The decisive moments exceeded all expectations of stubborn defiance in the East Midlands as Leinster topped their group and secured a home draw in the Round of 16, leaving Leicester Tigers to wait until Sunday's results to determine their fate.
Joe McCarthy, James Lowe and Kalean Doris have prepared for the Six Nations, cementing their value to both the province and the country. McCarthy, the marauding loc, is easy to spot thanks to his mullet and enormous size. At 22, he is putting together a breakthrough campaign with terrifying momentum, prompting Leo Cullen to rhapsodise as an «inconvenience». Lowe and Doris radiated class. The Tigers started out strong and would see it through to the end without making any unfortunate mistakes. But once Cullen's visitors overcame a 10-0 deficit to take the lead in the 33rd minute, they kept Leicester at arm's length. Meanwhile, a failed assessment of Ollie Chessum's head injury could complicate England's preparations for the game against Italy on February 3.
It was a Leinster team filled with internationals, with 18 of Andy Farrell's senior team taking part in their 23rd tour. It would have been quite a task for the Tigers without the fresh wounds inflicted on La Rochelle six days earlier. There was also the fact that these opponents had knocked Leicester out of the competition in each of the last two seasons. Leo Cullen's side are still a formidable force despite crashing out of the last two European Cup finals, just as Ireland will remain seriously strong despite losing a World Cup quarter-final to the shin-width of Geordie Barrett.
< p>The beginning of the match was marked by loud tackles. Leinster were strengthened by the arrival of Jacques Nienaber, the former Springboks head coach. Tigers also attacked aircraft carriers. George Martin was absent and will be absent for several weeks, but Chessam was in full force. As he did earlier this month against Saracens, Tom Whiteley was scurrying around to apply pressure. Leicester always had to manage the exchanges with kicks and they earned their first points after Jordan Larmour slammed home Whiteley's free-kick. The visitors went into touch and the Tigers struck before Dan Kelly hit a short side to free Hanro Liebenberg.
Leinster's response was swift, with Jamison Gibson-Park sending McCarthy into the middle and Robbie Henshaw heading into space. Leicester recovered to hold Andrew Porter on the try line. Julián Montoya was the savior and his side soon won back the penalty with more defensive displays thanks to Tommy Reffell's trademark jackal. An unnecessary Leinster infringement almost halfway through allowed Pollard to make it 10-0 from around the same distance as the penalty that beat England in the World Cup semi-final. However, Harry Byrne immediately canceled out the strike and Leinster maintained their momentum with further penalties. McCarthy stretched out and Byrne, who had leveled with Chessum a few minutes earlier, converted. The tigers had reason to be irritated. Reffell appears to have had a legal interception before Byrne's penalty, leaving McCarthy's result in doubt.
Leicester suffered a complete defeat. Photo: Pennsylvania/Mike Egerton
Half an hour later, Reffell staggered away. Almost immediately Leinster settled into their rhythm. Lowe switched off the left flank and passed the ball to Harry Ringrose. Gibson Park slid in support and although Freddie Steward scrambled well, Larmour danced past some desperate cover in the far corner. The half ended in madness, with Tigers simply stopping Leinster as Ryan Baird rumbled through and firing a loose ball at the other end, but Dan McKellar's men went into the dressing rooms trailing 15-10.
Pollard missed a penalty early in the second half and Leicester were punished. Seconds later, Whiteley was booked for deliberately dropping Henshaw's pass. Leinster did find contact and, with Chessum also leaving the field, an unstoppable lineout strike blasted the Tigers. The beneficiary was Dan Sheehan. McKellar, whose side must go through unless La Rochelle lose to Sale Sharks in Salford tomorrow lunchtime with two bonus points, called it a decisive setback. “I was talking about it being a Test match and I wanted the boys to empty the tank,” he said afterwards. «They did it, but the reality is we didn't take advantage of opportunities at key moments and [Leinster] took advantage of it.»
What is impressive is that the Tigers did not disappear and gained greater fluency after the introduction of the Solomon Kata. Their lively forwards helped win the penalty shootout, which led to a yellow card for Jack Conan. When a try seemed imminent, Doris raced to take the penalty in the shadow of his posts. Both teams were chasing bonus points in the crunch finale. Accordingly, it was the outstanding Doris who fought to complete the contest, which Cullen called «a real dogfight.»
Match Details
Scoring Sequence:5-0 Liebenberg try, 7-0 Pollard conversion, 10-0 Pollard penalty, 10-0 Byrne penalty, 10-8 McCarthy try, 10-10 Byrne conversion, 10-15 Larmore try, 10-20 Sheehan try, 10- 22 Byrne conversion, 10-27 Doris try
Leicester Tigers: F Steward; H. Simmons (J. Shillcock 36), M. Scott, D. Kelly (S. Kata 57), O. Hassell-Collins; H. Pollard, T. Whiteley (B. Youngs, 59); J Cronin (F van Wyk 53), J Montoya (A Vanes 79), J Hayes (W Hurd 57), H Wells, O Chessum (S Carter 43), H . Liebenberg, T. Reffell (C. Hatherell, 30) ), J. Wiese
Leinster:H. Keenan; J Larmour (T O'Brien 76), G Ringrose, R Henshaw, J Low; H Byrne (S Prendergast 63), J Gibson Park (L McGrath 71); A. Porter (K. Healy 71), D. Sheehan (R. Kelleher 58), T. Furlong (M. Alaalatoa 58), J. McCarthy (R. Moloney 70), J. Ryan, R. Baird, J. van der Flier (J. Conan, 58), C. Doris
Judge:A Piardi (Italy)
Attendance: 25,849
Yellow cards:< /strong> Whiteley (42), Konan (66)
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