Four Tries Enough For Leinster To Set Up Semi-Final Showdown With Glasgow

Leinster failed to hit top gear but did enough to see off the Scarlets in a scrappy 33-21 BKT United Rugby Championship quarter-final win at the Aviva Stadium.

Defending champions Glasgow Warriors are Dublin bound for next Saturday’s semi-final (kick-off 2.45pm), after top seeds Leinster capitalised on Alec Hepburn and Vaea Fifita’s second-half sin-binnings to reach the last-four.

Early tries from James Lowe and Jamison Gibson-Park gave Leo Cullen’s men the ideal start, before the resilient Scarlets snapped back to only trail 15-14 at half-time.

Tom Rogers touched down from the visitors’ first real opportunity, and just before the break, Blair Murray cancelled out a Sam Prendergast penalty with a cracking counter-attacking try.

However, Leinster had the better of the closing half, with Jamie Osborne and player-of-the-match Hugo Keenan contributing tries, and Johnny Williams grabbing the Scarlets’ only response.

Jimmy O’Brien led Leinster out on the occasion of his 100th senior appearance for the province, and it was their forwards who quickly set about their task. Josh van der Flier carried twice as they got within metres of the Scarlets’ try-line.

Prendergast’s pull-back pass set up Keenan and captain Jack Conan to get the ball out wide, the latter’s pass coming off Rogers’ fingertips as the waiting Lowe finished comfortably with just over four minutes on the clock.

O’Brien thwarted a Scarlets break with a ball-dislodging tackle on Ellis Mee, and it was not long until Leinster extended their lead. Nine minutes in, Lowe’s nicely-timed pass put Conan through a gap, and Gibson-Park was up in support to score under the posts.

Prendergast converted to put a dozen points between the teams, and his impressive touchfinder from a penalty soon had the home side knocking on the door again. Their lineout misfired though, and Sam Costelow was first to the ball.

Archie Hughes, deputising for the injured Gareth Davies at scrum half, and the Scarlets gradually grew into the game. From their first visit to the Leinster 22, Roberts cut in with a strong finish over the whitewash to reward nice passing from Joe Roberts and Costelow.

With the conversion dispatched by Costelow, the Welsh outfit began the second quarter just 12-7 down. During some helter-skelter phases, Sam Lousi and Costelow picked up interceptions to break up Leinster’s momentum.

Van der Flier’s precautionary withdrawal was due to a tight hamstring, and despite Roberts winning a turnover penalty, the Scarlets lineout misfired. Prendergast was deadly accurate from the tee a few minutes later, nailing a 47-metre penalty to leave eight points in it.

Gibson-Park’s decision to take a late penalty quickly backfired though, as the Scarlets’ speedy outside backs stung the table toppers to make it a one-point game.

As Leinster moved infield and at pace in search of a third try, Prendergast could not collect a pass, allowing the alert Mee to twice hack downfield, and the electric Murray expertly dribbled away from Jordie Barrett to score. Costelow tagged on the extras.

The first half sunshine gave way to rain at the interval, and Leinster applied the early pressure after the restart. Five minutes in, Osborne chased down Prendergast’s precise chip kick, with TMO Andrew McMenemy’s decision on the grounding going the centre’s way.

It remained 22-14 with Costelow pushing a penalty attempt wide, and it took a short lineout move between replacement Dan Sheehan and Joe McCarthy to get Leinster flooding back into the opposition 22.

Lowe was brought down five metres short, but Scarlets prop Hepburn saw yellow for not rolling away. Handling errors and penalties prevented Leinster from taking advantage until Sheehan charged down a Hughes kick.

RG Snyman also carried well, leading to Keenan slaloming over in the 59th minute from a Barrett pass out of contact. Although Prendergast missed the conversion, he was on target with a 65th-minute penalty to punish Taine Plumtree for going offside.

30-14 became 30-21 when Williams darted over with 10 minutes remaining. Ioan Lloyd’s delayed pass opened up the Leinster defence, and Fifita and Marnus van der Merwe showed their offloading ability to put the centre raiding in behind the posts.

Nonetheless, Fifita went too high when tackling Keenan as Leinster got back on the front foot. Referee Hollie Davidson reached for her yellow card after a TMO review, and Prendergast’s three-pointer clinched the result.