Leinster Sweep Saints Aside In Dominant Second Half Performance

Leinster stung Northampton Saints with 24 unanswered second half points to win 43-16 at Franklin’s Gardens and move five points clear at the top of Heineken Champions Cup Pool 1.

Cian Healy and replacements Ross Byrne, Luke McGrath and Ed Byrne all crossed after the break, with Leo Cullen’s seven-try side in ruthless mood in attack while their defensive masterclass was led by man-of-the-match Josh van der Flier.

The visitors built a 19-16 lead by the end of a fiercely-contested first half, Andrew Porter’s first European try topping off earlier converted efforts from James Lowe (2 minutes) and Rhys Ruddock (15). Dan Biggar converted Ahsee Tuala’s score and landed all three of his penalty attempts.

However, Saints, who currently lead the Gallagher Premiership, were held scoreless during the second period as early seven-pointers from Healy and Ross Byrne, who replaced injured captain Jonathan Sexton (knee), set the tone for Leinster’s ninth successive pool victory over English opposition.

The traditional pre-Christmas return fixture takes place at the Aviva Stadium next Saturday, and Cullen’s charges will be mindful that Northampton bounced back from a heavy home defeat six years ago to defeat Leinster 18-9 in Dublin and make it a win apiece in the December double header.

It was Leinster who were first on the scoreboard this afternoon, a surging break from deep catching Saints out. Garry Ringrose rushed in to gobble up a loose Cobus Reinach pass and Jordan Larmour was able to ghost through a gap on the left, scamper clear and feed Lowe to round in behind the posts for seven points.

Sexton converted but Northampton were level within four minutes, continuing the fast-paced start with some direct midfield running that got them in behind the blue defensive wall. Possession was moved wide to the left where there was enough space for full-back Tuala to dive over in the corner past Jamison Gibson-Park.

Following Dan Biggar’s impressive conversion, Lowe’s excellent high take and break was spoiled by a loose offload to Sexton, and Northampton cleared the danger with a subsequent Tom Wood penalty win at the breakdown.

A slashing break from Matt Proctor had Saints close to their second try, before a Biggar three-pointer edged them ahead at 10-7. The game maintained its breakneck speed and Larmour was revelling in it, taking Sexton’s inside pass to tear past halfway and link with Gibson-Park who was hauled down a few metres short by his opposite number Reinach.

Leinster retained possession, using the forwards to barge even closer before Ruddock was well-supported as he crashed over to the left of the posts. Sexton sent the conversion over for a 14-10 lead, and Caelan Doris soon picked up a muscular turnover to launch the pool leaders forward again.

A Devin Toner lineout steal came in response to Leinster’s loss of field position from another costly breakdown penalty. Biggar split the posts after Porter was slow to roll away, and a powerful attacking spell from Saints led to the Welsh star kicking them back in front in the 30th minute.

Lowe and Gibson-Park almost manufactured the ideal reply, a left wing break being spoiled by the latter’s knock-on, but Leinster’s patience was rewarded before the interval. Northampton leaked successive penalties – including Reinach playing the ball on the ground – and after a maul was grounded, Porter burrowed in under Wood and Teimana Harrison to make the line.

Sexton’s conversion tailed away to the right of the posts, leaving just three points in it at half-time. Crucially, Leinster went up through the gears early on the restart, Larmour once more exploiting space with tremendous acceleration. Saints leaked three penalties for offside as the visitors carried closer before Healy spun out of a tackle to ground the bonus point score.

Sexton injured his right knee during the build-up, falling awkwardly in a tackle from Proctor, so Ross Byrne took over the reins at out-half. The young replacement converted his own try just minutes later, using a dummy to raid in from the left corner after great ground was gained by Robbie Henshaw, Gibson-Park, the increasingly-influential James Ryan and Doris.

Northampton lost loosehead Alex Waller to the sin-bin for cynical play, and with Byrne’s quick-fire seven points, Leinster now held a handsome 31-16 lead. The hosts should have profited from a Tom Collins break, but Leinster scrambled very well and van der Flier got over the ball to win a clearing penalty.

The numbers were evened up when Ringrose saw yellow for a tip tackle on Biggar, although van der Flier led some more blockbusting defending from the men in blue. The tireless flanker’s key tackle dislodged the ball from the grasp of the onrushing Taqele Naiyaravoro as Northampton missed out on a gilt-edged try-scoring opportunity.

Naiyaravoro looked dangerous when countering from a kick receipt, yet Leinster’s unrelenting defence continued to frustrate the English high-flyers. Pressure from van der Flier and Larmour forced a forward pass from Saints, while a promising surge from Proctor was also foiled by the covering openside.

Northampton’s frustration grew further when van der Flier, combining with replacement Scott Fardy in a big double tackle, ripped the ball away from Api Ratuniyarawa. A scrappy and scoreless closing quarter was ebbing towards its finish until Leinster landed a neat one-two combination to add twelve late points.

Profiting from his forwards’ pick-and-goes, McGrath sniped around the blindside for a well-taken five-pointer with five minutes remaining. With the clock just in the red, Carlow-born prop Ed Byrne also finished smartly, barging through from a close-in ruck for his first Champions Cup try.

Leinster head coach Cullen said afterwards: “We’ve seen it first-hand ourselves in this exact fixture where we’ve had a win – similar to what we had today – and then go back to the Aviva the following week and Northampton were very clever that day (in December 2013).

“They kicked us into the corner, had a lot of possession, George North eventually scored. They put a lot of pressure on us and we just literally ran out of time. At the end of the game, we were pushing hard, dropped a ball, they ran the length of the field and we lost out on even a losing bonus point.

“That meant we were away in the quarter-final against Toulon which I remember because it was my last game as a player in this competition. There’s a huge knock-on effect of every single point in these round robin games. We can’t take anything for granted because every point is so important.”

He added: “Leading into this game, we’ve talked about not quite taking chances that have been there for us in games. Even in the first half, I thought we pushed things a little bit.

“We tightened up a lot better in the second half, we’d much better ball control and two good tries early in the second half and two good tries at the end and that was the most pleasing piece.”