Leinster Take Bonus Point-Winning Form Into Europe

Leinster ran in five tries as they launched their Heineken Champions Cup campaign with an impressive 35-14 bonus point win away to French side Montpellier.

Ciaran Frawley, on his first European start, and Champions Cup debutant Jimmy O’Brien both touched down, with Josh van der Flier, Dave Kearney and replacement Dan Leavy also scoring tries.

Leo Cullen’s men led 20-6 at half-time, and although the hosts hung in through Benoit Paillaugue’s reliable right boot, Leinster pulled clear again with Heineken star-of-the-match Rhys Ruddock to the fore.

Giving his reaction afterwards, head coach Cullen said: “It was always going to be a difficult week for us with a number of guys having been away for a decent chunk of time. Six international games in seven weeks, and another week away before that.

“You aren’t really sure how guys come through, but they all pitched up and were keen to be involved. We had to make some assessments on what we already had and, because we had no game the week before, we had the chance to look at Montpellier in a bit more detail with that group.

“That’s why we made some of the calls we did. Overall we are pretty happy to get through with a bonus point as well. There was good tempo and the fact Josh got over so early to score that try made a difference because it meant we weren’t chasing the game.

“We had good variety in our attack and the kick from Ross (Byrne) to Dave was an important score for us. It got a bit stop-start when the subs came in during the second half.”

The province had to cope with the late loss of regular captain Jonathan Sexton (dead leg) from the replacements, meaning the promotion of European debutant Harry Byrne to the bench.

The first Leinster swarm at the GGL Stadium came early on, Michael Bent helping to force a scrum penalty and the ever-ready Luke McGrath gaining ground up into the 22.

They got on the scoreboard in the fourth minute, with a nice run of passes from Robbie Henshaw, Ross Byrne and full-back O’Brien releasing van der Flier for the right corner and a 5-0 lead.

Indeed, van der Flier made up for a lost Leinster lineout by soon seizing the ball on the ground from Jacques du Plessis. An ensuing penalty was knocked over by Byrne for further points.

O’Brien was looking the part on his tournament bow, earning a penalty for a high tackle before showing his defensive skills to tidy up play after a threatening Montpellier move had broken down.

Scrum half Paillaugue sent over a penalty to open their account at the end of the first quarter. The decision went against Scott Fardy as a fierce battle at the breakdown continued.

With prop Peter Dooley showing some nice touches on the ball, Leinster worked their way back into scoring range. Some deft handling from Robbie Henshaw and Ruddock then put Skerries man Frawley over in the left corner.

Paillaugue pulled back a penalty to leave a manageable 13-6 deficit, but Leinster were looking to shift the ball at every opportunity, finding joy in the wide channels.

Caelan Doris dug in to earn a turnover, allowing van der Flier to carry strongly, before out-half Byrne’s crisply-struck cross-field kick sat up nicely for Kearney to ground in the 35th minute.

The try’s creator tagged on the difficult conversion, and Leinster hit the break with their 14-point buffer thanks to McGrath’s astute covering of some dangerous kicks, and a late lineout steal by Fardy.

Montpellier were first out of the traps on the restart, Doris leaking a penalty which Paillague arrowed through the uprights for a 20-9 scoreline.

The third quarter was tightly contested and try-less, despite Dooley and Henshaw almost putting Kearney away. Montpellier clawed back territory with a Bismarck du Plessis poach and a scrum penalty.

Leinster ended their scoreless second half spell with a 63rd-minute penalty from the newly-introduced Harry Byrne, putting 14 points between them again.

Paillaugue threatened for Montpellier but their discipline let them down. Byrne booted Leinster downfield, the maul powered through and Leavy lunged over for a 68th-minute bonus point score.

It was Leavy who prevented hooker du Plessis from getting the ball down for Montpellier’s lone try. That score came late on through Gabriele Ngandebe, who cut in from out wide.

However, there was still enough time for O’Brien to claim Henshaw’s tap down from a speculative kick and run in a deserved 79th-minute try, which Byrne converted to cap off a convincing victory.