Leinster's stand-in captain Garry Ringrose was ultra efficient in everything he did during their third round clash with Montpellier ©INPHO/James Crombie
Leinster cruised past an under-strength Montpellier to resume their Heineken Champions Cup campaign with a thumping 89-7 bonus point win at the RDS.
Despite some obvious rustiness, Leinster pocketed their bonus point by the 23rd minute and led 40-7 at half-time with Masivesi Dakuwaqa mustering Montpellier’s only response.
Jack Conan, Jamison Gibson-Park, Ross Byrne, Ross Molony, Michael Ala’alatoa and Jordan Larmour all touched down, the province’s opening five conversions fired over by out-half Byrne.
Byrne finished with 19 points and Jonathan Sexton, who was sprung from the bench on his return, kicked ten as Leinster took their try haul to 13 in the end.
Heineken star-of-the-match Josh van der Flier (2), Jimmy O’Brien, Dan Sheehan (2), Conan and James Lowe shared out the second half scores.
A wilting Montpellier played the final 13 minutes without Fijian flanker Dakuwaqa who was sent off for a swinging arm tackle.
Disruption caused by Covid-19 meant this was Leinster’s first game in over a month and they quickly got down to business.
Conan was in acres of space for the third-minute opener before O’Brien’s pass was batted backwards by Henry Thomas, allowing Jamison Gibson-Park to pick up an opportunist second try.
Montpellier’s teenage number 10 Louis Foursans then had a kick charged down by Ronan Kelleher, Byrne following up for a simple finish under the posts.
The only real concern for Leo Cullen’s men was on the injury front, as James Ryan pulled out beforehand with a minor muscle issue and Tadhg Furlong went off early with a calf injury.
Second row Molony stretched over to make it 28-0, but Montpellier’s attack sparked into life from the restart.
Boyne RFC product Karl Martin made the initial break, and with a knock-on ruled out, Dakuwaqa’s lunging 27th-minute effort from a ruck stood.
Marco Tauleigne was denied a second Montpellier try due to Guilhem Guirado’s foot in touch, before a terrific pass from Gibson-Park played in prop Ala’alatoa for Leinster’s fifth.
Livewire winger Larmour deservedly got on the scoresheet in the 38th minute, reaching over after a classy run and offload from Caelan Doris.
Just three minutes after the interval, van der Flier scored from a fine Conan offload. Byrne converted for a 40-point margin.
Kildare man O’Brien soon accelerated through for a superb solo score from 40 metres out, with Byrne again converting.
The newly-introduced Sexton added the extras to van der Flier’s second try, as the flanker gobbled up Vincent Giudicelli’s long lineout throw and sped clean through from Montpellier’s 10-metre line.
Into the final quarter, replacement hooker Sheehan galloped over from Lowe’s return offload for Sexton to convert.
Dakuwaqa was then dismissed for a loose challenge that made contact with van der Flier’s head.
Sheehan completed his brace from a lineout maul, and Leinster eclipsed their biggest European winning margin from 2003 (92-17 against Bourgoin) thanks to closing tries from Conan and Lowe.
Leinster were forced to hand Montpellier a 28-0 walkover before Christmas, giving them a tougher route to the round of 16, so Cullen was thrilled with the intent shown by his players today.
“We’ve been waiting for this game for a while now. I think the guys applied themselves well over the last number of weeks, training-wise. It has been a frustrating period for all, but for us it was just about trying to control what we can,” he said.
“We know we’re sort of chasing the pool to a certain degree, so every point is so important for us now.
“We talked about the fact that we can’t afford any slip-ups going into the game and trying to maximise every single point from the game. I thought our guys did a pretty good job overall.”
Now on 10 points and safely nestled inside the top eight of Pool A, Leinster will once again be aiming for a maximum reward when they face Bath at the Recreation Ground next Saturday.
Cullen added: “We’re still chasing, in terms of trying to climb up the seedings in the pool and Bath won’t make it easy for us next week.
“They’re a very, very proud club and going to the Rec is always challenging. For us it’s making sure we’re just ready for that challenge now, because it’s a short turnaround.”
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