Leinster In Rampant Form On Return To Croke Park

Leinster had a comfortable passage through to the Investec Champions Cup’s last-eight, emerging as 62-0 winners at Croke Park where Harlequins’ challenge petered out during a one-sided second half.

Leo Cullen’s men scored 10 tries to make it five wins out of five in this season’s competition, and set up a quarter-final showdown with Glasgow Warriors, the 43-19 conquerors of Leicester Tigers, at the Aviva Stadium next Friday (kick-off 8pm).

Player-of-the-match Josh van der Flier sent Jamie Osborne powering over in the 27th minute, adding to earlier scores from Sam Prendergast and Joe McCarthy, as the hosts opened up a 19-0 half-time lead.

A dominant third quarter saw Leinster break through for three more tries, two of them coming from lineout mauls as van der Flier and Dan Sheehan crossed either side of a well-taken Garry Ringrose effort from the left wing.

A well-beaten Harlequins, who had started the game strongly, had no answer to Leinster’s sharp attack. Yellow cards for replacements Luke Northmore and Jamie Benson, which briefly overlapped, meant they were stretched even further.

Northmore’s deliberate knock-on also gave the province a 65th-minute penalty try, before replacement Ross Byrne and James Lowe, who darted clear for a late brace, took the try haul into double figures.

Sheehan had highlighted Harlequins’ try-scoring ability beforehand, with eight bonus points in their 13 Gallagher Premiership matches so far this season. Van der Flier was obviously pleased to keep them scoreless, saying ‘that good defensive set at the start kicked us off for a good performance’.

Playing at GAA headquarters for the second time in the 2024/25 campaign, and the first in EPCR action since last May’s semi-final victory over Northampton Saints, Leinster welcomed back 17 Ireland internationals from Guinness Men’s Six Nations duty.

Harlequins were unable convert some early pressure into points, as veteran full-back Leigh Halfpenny dropped a monster penalty attempt short, and their forwards made inroads before being held up from a maul.

Leinster had a couple of false starts before things clicked for them in the 14th minute. Prendergast’s nicely-delayed pass to Jack Conan provided the initial incision, and the young out-half popped up a few phases later to crash over from Jamison Gibson-Park’s short ball.

With Lowe leading an attack straight from the restart, van der Flier soon bumped off Tyrone Green’s attempted tackle to reach the Harlequins’ 22. Captain Caelan Doris then retrieved a chip kick from Prendergast, whose floated pass gave McCarthy a simple run-in to the right of the posts.

Following Prendergast’s conversion for a 12-0 advantage, the beginning of the second quarter had a stop-start feel to it. Van der Flier had another determined charge forward, but a series of knock-ons meant neither side made much headway.

That was until Robbie Henshaw’s inside pass put Ringrose through a gap, the latter slinging a pass wide to Osborne who linked neatly with van der Flier before storming over for a fine converted try, handing off Alex Dombrandt just before the line.

The unfortunate Will Porter had to come off, with ‘Quins bad luck with injuries continuing. In a crisp move off a scrum, Ringrose threatened to tag on a fourth try before the break, but Nick David scrambled to bring him down, and Jack Kenningham won a relieving penalty.

Gibson-Park and van der Flier were prominent again as Leinster began the second half as a more fluid attacking force. RG Snyman was held up from close range, but a surging forwards drive soon propelled van der Flier over to make it 24-0.

Fit-again prop Tadhg Furlong came on to make his first Leinster appearance since January, and try number five, topped off by a third Prendergast conversion, quickly followed.

Hugo Keenan and van der Flier supplied the final two passes in another free-flowing move, releasing Ringrose to step inside the covering Green and evade two more tackles on his way to the whitewash.

Despite a possession and territory-starved Harlequins gaining a reprieve when a Lowe kick went too long, Leinster were soon back in prime position courtesy of a tremendous Prendergast touchfinder. The forwards had a second bite at driving over in the left corner, and Sheehan was the scorer.

Leinster’s aggressive defence kept an off-colour ‘Quins in and around halfway, a Marcus Smith pass being picked off by Lowe before Luke McGrath led a break down the opposite wing but was unable to link with fellow replacement Jordie Barrett for an almost certain try.

The margin was widened to 43 points with a quarter of an hour remaining, as Prendergast and Barrett’s fingerprints were all over another rapid raid out wide. Valiantly defending an overlap, Northmore’s outstretched hand knocked the ball on and resulted in his yellow and the awarding of a penalty try.

Cullen’s charges kept their foot on the gas, a Doris turnover sending Barrett downfield to further test the overworked ‘Quins defence. Leinster’s next visit to the opposition 22 saw them hit the half-century mark with impressive hands from both backs and forwards.

Playing with a penalty advantage, Byrne helped Henshaw to make a half-break, and Lowe, McGrath, Barrett, and Conan combined with some silky interplay to put Byrne over in the right corner. The replacement out-half was just as accurate from the tee.

It went from bad to worse for the English outfit with Benson seeing yellow for an early tackle on the advancing Barrett. Northmore had only just returned from the sin bin when McGrath, having pounced on a loose ball, teed up Lowe on the left to make it 55-0.

The Ireland winger completed a late double, following up on some deft approach work from Doris and Furlong as he dummied and then accelerated clean through to score from 40 metres out. Byrne’s conversion completed the rout.