6 April 2024; Jamison Gibson-Park of Leinster on his way to scoring his side’s third try during the Investec Champions Cup Round of 16 match between Leinster and Leicester Tigers at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile
Got the job done, next week facing into a La Rochelle battered by a round trip from west France to Cape Town and back where they botched their travel arrangements and now return to La Rochelle before moving to Dublin, it won’t be easy for them overcoming that round trip on top of a decent examination by the Stormers. Jamie Osborne really proved himself last night, given the age profile of the 3 best centres in Ireland that is a very positive development for the medium term.
John Hyland
That Leicester pack was good but the ref was astonishingly inconsistent at the set-piece. Only Leinster were asked to leave a lineout gap. Cole and Montoya were up to all kinds of skulduggery. I find that our front row doesn’t lack power but is short of guile at times. I hope Porter and Sheehan are ready for Atonio boring in as usual next week.
Niall Moonan
We have no 10, why will Leinster not give Frawley a consistent run at 10? Why keep trying Ross Byrne he’s proven time and time again he’s not up to it. He was anonymous tonight
Robert Cashell
A win but that performance won’t be good enough next week. Leicester should have exposed our narrow defence but botched it more than one.
Odran John OBrien
Leinster really needs a Five Eighth to win anything in my opinion
If I threw a rugby ball over my shoulder right now where I'm sitting I swear JGP would be there to catch it#LEINvLEIC
LEINSTER : 15. Hugo Keenan 14. Jordan Larmour 13. Robbie Henshaw 12. Jamie Osborne 11. James Lowe 10. Ross Byrne 9. Jamison Gibson-Park
1. Andrew Porter 2. Dan Sheehan 3. Tadhg Furlong 4. Ross Molony 5. Joe McCarthy 6. Ryan Baird 7. Josh van der Flier 8. Caelan Doris (c)
16. Rónan Kelleher 17. Cian Healy 18. Michael Ala’alatoa 19. Jason Jenkins 20. Jack Conan 21. Ben Murphy 22. Harry Byrne 23. Ciarán Frawley
LEICESTER TIGERS : 15 Jamie Shillcock 14 Freddie Steward 13 Dan Kelly 12 Solomone Kata 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins 10 Handré Pollard 9 Jack van Poortvliet
1 James Cronin 2 Julián Montoya 3 Dan Cole 4 Harry Wells 5 Kyle Hatherell 6 Hanro Liebenberg 7 Olly Cracknell 8 Jasper Wiese
16 Charlie Clare 17 Francois van Wyk 18 Will Hurd 19 Finn Carnduff 20 Emeka Ilione 21 Tom Whiteley 22 Phil Cokanasiga 23 Mike Brown
20 January 2024; Joe McCarthy of Leinster celebrates after scoring his side’s first try during the Investec Champions Cup Pool 4 Round 4 match between Leicester Tigers and Leinster at Mattioli Woods Welford Road in Leicester, England. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
At this rate, Caelan Doris will be getting World Rugby Player of the Year…… Unbelievable in all aspects of his game currently. ☘️💪🏉👏
Jamie Bermingham
Good win and great going getting the BP at the end. We really seem at times to be pushing the physical game this season, as a way to show we can deal with it
Eamon Phelan
Good win harry byrne struggled in forts 10 mins when Leicester were on top after that class . Very good team with loads of options from a jealous Munster fan
Andrew Byrne
I can’t be the only person who is this excited to see just how high the ceiling is for Joe McCarthy…still just 22 years old and he’s playing like an old master. I feel like we are witnessing the start of something special here.
Michaela Monaghan
Can’t believe we’re playing Leicester again In round 16!!
Brian Corr
I thought they showed great determination to chase the bonus point, in the past they’ve kicked out on 80 mins happy with what they got, fair play to Leicester for also trying to get the losing bonus and the ref for not blowing up straight after their knock on.
Leinsters big squad is showing its true value and they’ve shown players stepping in and out doesn’t make much difference
Kevin OCeallaigh
The first time in a long time that I’ve seen true grit, determination and old-school grind by a Leinster side to get that bonus point on 85 minutes. Lowe was imperious in the air. Henshaw looked to be back to where we know he can be, and McCarthy just gets better and better. What a great game!
Bernie Cunningham
Great performance 27 unanswered points after going behind by 10. Lads were brill
I had to head out the door the second Doris got his iconic BP try and couldn’t tweet at the FT whistle like I normally do but Whiff of Cordite pretty much said what I would have…
Great away day stuff from Leinster. Doris’ turnover on 5m line broke Leicester. Counter ruck the difference, it’s really working for Leinster this season especially in these sorts of dogfights. Joe Mc, Lowe, Doris all with huge performances. Hope Harry’s ok – played well.
13 January 2024; James Lowe of Leinster dives over to score his side’s first try during the Investec Champions Cup Pool 4 Round 3 match between Leinster and Stade Francais at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
Wasn’t the strongest display V poorish opposition tbh. The pure world class of each individual player was clear but as a collective it lacked overall. I’m forever impressed by the strength, skill and athleticism of Baird, McCarthy and especially Doris…… Next week away V Tigers SHOULD be a proper test of where we are currently.
Jamie Bermingham
Looks like the team are still adjusting to a new play style, seeing flashes of great plays but also a lot of silly mistakes and errors. I’m going to hold judgement till later in the season, that being said we may just be holding back till the business end.
Gav Heg
Quite disappointed that we didn’t nil them. We should easily have topped 60 here but we’re let down by stupid and unforced mistakes. It could be put down to an adjustment period but we lacked the ability to just finish moves off.
Ringrose should have been motm but Doris also deserving. I felt sorry for Baird that he didn’t go over after that colossal run.
Can’t help but feel that a decent would have picked is apart. For Leicester we need a far better performance.
Johnny McGovern
Frawley in Leinster is jinxed …Is he robust enough for professional rugby ? I could say unlucky but he just isn’t …happening too often – he actually took two knocks during the game tonight and seemed to have effected his vision. The physios checked one eye and the second issue was the heavy tackle he took . I didn’t see the end of the tackle but he was in bits . Leo said he got a knee in the back which then spasmed but the tackler must have connected with his kidneys . Not a great Leinster performance given a very poor SF team .
Andrew Bailey
Let’s not get carried away. Given the selections – the result was a formality ((When is the last time there has been a decent contest in the Aviva group game). Sloppy game punctuated by mistakes and aimless kicking. The return of Lowe a huge positive. Lineout improvement once Ryan on the pitch marked. Just worry about sluggish performances by so many
Was really pulling for a zero there because the D deserved it but while far from perfect against a second string Stade that was a decent enough job done. Still much to work on but biggest concern Frawley's injury. Doris rightful PotM, congrats to Luke on 200. #LEIvSTF
16 December 2023; Cian Healy of Leinster dives over to score his side’s fifth try despite the tackle of Ethan Caine of Sale Sharks during the Investec Champions Cup Pool 4 Round 2 match between Leinster and Sale Sharks at the RDS Arena in Dublin. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
My biggest annoyance from this match (and I’m seriously fucking pissed off) was our complacency. Much as I was elated with our attitude last week, today was the complete opposite. That said I believe our expectations as supporters are not taking account of the huge vacuum created by the departures of Johnny and Stu. It will take time for the new coaching set up and 10 to settle and thrive
Alan Murphy Awful game. A game dominated by pedantic adjudication. Every phase seemed to end with a blow of the whistle. Stop, start. Happy with 5 points but dreadful to watch.
Kevin Kelehan Sloppy start and lax finish but a lot of grit for the middle half of the game either side of half time. Biggest news from the pool was La Rochelle losing again yesterday
SeanieH ·Terrible for Charlie. He’s had some lovely touches lately. Looking classy
No doubt Sale deserved those late scores but Leinster came out strong after the break and took control of both match & pool. Josh clearly has been working on his awesomeness. Charlie a big loss at the end and some work ons for sure but overall a good start to comp. #LEIvSAL
10 December 2023; Ciarán Frawley of Leinster kicks a penalty during the Investec Champions Cup match between La Rochelle and Leinster at Stade Marcel Deflandre in La Rochelle, France. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
Away in France to the reigning champs and we finally get it right! I couldn’t be happier to see the team finally figure out how to get the better of them. Delighted to see the only try scored is Larmour, he’s had a tough couple of years.
No trick plays, no bounce off the ball stuff, and no situation where the ref was clearly biased towards us. We beat them fair and square.
The future is bright at 10, the squad will take a lot from this and fingers crossed no major injury concerns as we prepare for Saturday
Chris McDonnell
Fantastic result, can’t fault anything on the pitch. Onwards and upwards.
Greg Kelly
Really well fought win. I seem to remember LAR struggling in similar conditions last year against Ulster. Byrne was pretty solid in what he did and Frawley fronted up well on a difficult night. Certainly a big weekend in the post Johnny period in blue and green.
Bert McLoughlin
What was best about today’s performance was the hunger to make dominant tackles and be physical in poor conditions. That hunger will make us strong contenders this season. No signs of a wc hangover
Gavin Hegarty
To me Byrne stood up when asked and frawley did the same. We’re good @10 for a few years!
Hats off to connors, he delivered and then some. Epic performance.
We had some unleinster mistakes but we’ll learn as the game evolves. Porter was constantly talking to the ref, this I like.
I did not like the ref telling ringer he won’t talk to Ryan but fear this is a result of ‘co’ captains. We need to sort thst.
William Andrew
Appalling display by the Ref, looked like he was been coached by LR. Said it twice to them but still did nothing to shut them up.
Honestly Refs need to realise a big scrum can actually bring a scrum down and play the odds like they play the red zone odds.
Jamie Donohoe
Very proud of that very courageous performance in those conditions. And i thought the Ref handled the game well too
Not ready for analysis yet except for THAT. WAS. AWESOME!!!!#LARvLEI
HARPIN' ON RUGBY 