LEINSTER 30-19 SARACENS
Leinster joined Munster, Scarlets and Racing 92 in the Champions Cup semi finals after comprehensively seeing off Saracens at the Aviva Stadium.
Tries from Garry Ringrose, Dan Leavy and James Lowe were enough to do for a spirited but outclassed Saracens side. Leo Cullen and Stuart Lancaster’s men will meet Scarlets in the last four, back here in Dublin, at the end of the month.
Leinster got off to the perfect start when Isa Nacewa and James Lowe combined to set Garry Ringrose free, giving him 40 metres of open field to steam through and score. Johnny Sexton converted and Leinster could have been further ahead – Rob Kearney’s kick for Fergus McFadden going out of play – before Owen Farrell made it 7-6 with two simple penalties.
Sexton and Farrell traded penalties to leave the hosts 10-9 up after 27 minutes. We were only warming up.
Leinster pressed for their second try just after the half hour mark but settled for a Sexton penalty when it was awarded right in front of the posts. The Leinster 10 popped that over but stupidly gave those three points right back when he was penalised for kicking the ball away from Liam Williams before the restart.
Sexton, who had been targeted for hits [borderline legal and plain illegal] all match, had obviously been rattled but he and Leinster went in for half time with a one point lead.
Sexton had the perfect response after catching his breath at the half-time break. When Saracens erred near the halfway line, the outhalf elected to kick from 48 metres and landed a crucial penalty.
Ringrose put a gem of a kick in behind the English side’s defence, after 47 minutes. When Saracens failed to exit as they would have liked, McFadden kept the ball alive. Dan Leavy played scrum-half and traded passes with James Ryan before bursting through to score.
A standout for Ireland in the Six Nations, Dan Leavy has carried his form into the Champions Cup…
A try he started a finished, excellent score from the Leinster's number 7️⃣ pic.twitter.com/CyndSn4sbu
— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) April 1, 2018
Sexton’s conversion made it 23-12.
Sensing Saracens were beginning to wilt, Leinster ramped it up a notch. They plundered down the left, through Sexton, and made their scrambling guests pay. The forwards had a dart or three before James Lowe had a dash. He was stopped short but James Ryan and Jordi Murphy arrived in the next wave and drove him over.
Saracens were kings of Europe not so long ago and showed some fight in the final quarter. Blair Cowan had just replaced Liam Williams [HIA] when he finished off a Sarries drive. Farrell converted to make it 30-19.
Devin Toner got himself sent to the sin-bin in the final minutes but his Leinster teammates finished the job he had a massive part in to reach the last four.
