Leinster Take First Leg Lead, But Connacht Still In The Hunt

Connacht are very much alive in this Heineken Champions Cup round of 16 tie, a tense 26-21 defeat to Leinster at the Sportsground meaning there is all to play for in next Friday’s deciding leg in Dublin.

Two sparkling James Lowe tries in the space of four minutes had Leinster leading 18-11 at half-time, the visitors finding their groove in the second quarter after John Porch’s early effort had provided the fireworks for Connacht.

Leinster captain Jonathan Sexton kicked the other eight points, but Jack Carty’s second penalty just before the break pleased most of 8,129 sell-out crowd.

Although Hugo Keenan’s 52nd-minute try cancelled out another Carty penalty, Connacht capitalised on Jamison Gibson-Park’s sin-binning when Leva Fifita crashed over on the hour mark.

Only two points separated the sides until replacement Ross Byrne sealed Leinster’s hard-fought victory with a 76th-minute penalty.

Having launched Connacht’s barnstorming start with a trademark midfield bust, Bundee Aki combined with Carty to send Porch scurrying over in the second minute. Carty’s conversion stayed wide.

Despite Leinster initially regaining their poise, Aki forced a turnover penalty after Dan Sheehan had broken off a promising maul platform in the hosts’ 22.

Sexton knocked over his opening penalty in the 18th minute, and Leo Cullen’s men hit the front just four minutes later when Keenan’s switch pass released Lowe through a gap to score from 35 metres out.

Sexton’s conversion was quickly followed by Lowe’s second score, the expected loop move not materialising as Keenan cut past Aki and his return pass put the Nelson-born winger over despite Porch’s last-ditch tackle.

Now 15-5 in arrears, Connacht threatened from Mack Hansen’s classy chip-and-collect before Carty drove home a penalty.

A Luke McGrath interception paved the way for Sexton to restore the 10-point gap, but Cian Healy infringed late on and Carty duly hit the target from 41 metres out.

Turning into the wind, Connacht restarted at a high tempo and Carty tagged on his third penalty, rewarding a Conor Oliver break from a ruck which saw him link up with Aki.

Leinster wrestled back control, driven on by player-of-the-match Caelan Doris. A prior knock-on from McGrath denying Lowe his hat-trick before some scrum pressure ended with replacement Gibson-Park sending Keenan over for an unconverted try.

Referee Karl Dickson took a while to decide on the colour of the card for Gibson-Park, who made contact with Kieran Marmion’s head in an upright tackle. After Connacht pressed from a maul, lock Fifita scrambled over for Carty to make it 23-21.

The hosts deserved a try from some thrilling running from deep by Porch and replacement Conor Fitzgerald, while a knock-on saw Leinster replacement James Tracy miss out on a score following some brilliant pilfering and carrying by Josh van der Flier.

Byrne, who slotted in for Sexton, kicked a penalty dead but, on the back of a strong Lowe carry, the replacement out-half was called upon to go for the posts and made no mistake.

Despite being disappointed to lose at home, Connacht head coach Andy Friend was pleased with the manner of their performance which means a quarter-final place is still there for the taking at the Aviva Stadium on Good Friday.

“We are in it but we didn’t come here to lose tonight, we came to win,” insisted Friend afterwards. “We had a few chances and we missed them, unfortunately.

“We are five points behind now but we can take a lot out of that game. That’s really important to stress that. There were some really good bits in it.

“One thing to be really pleased with is that in attack and defence we saw some of our best moments this year against what is a very good rugby side. If any of our players were in doubt of the systems we’ve put in place, that is now dispelled.

“It’s about everyone sticking to system and doing that. We did it tonight for large chunks and I thought we were very good.”

Meanwhile, Leinster boss Cullen says his side are ‘basically five points up at half-time’ as they look to kill off Connacht’s challenge when they return to Irish Rugby HQ next week.

“Connacht stretched us right from the first passage of play, obviously got in for a try,” he reflected. “Our guys battled their way back into the game, and it was different bits of control in the second half.

“We had some opportunities that we didn’t quite take towards the end, which would have given us a slightly bigger lead.

“We knew it was going to be a very, very tough challenge down here. That’s exactly what we got from Connacht.”

With a dose of home comforts to come for the four-time champions, he added: “What’s made this competition over a long period of time is the crowds and the occasions.

“We’re back in the Aviva and the players really enjoy playing at the Aviva. We’ll have that energy and connection with the crowd, that’s so important for us.”