FULL-TIME: Leinster 36 Racing 92 10
Racing put it up to Leinster for 50 minutes and then Leinster hit another level, which ensured they will be number one seeds for the knockouts of the Champions Cup. All Leinster’s games will be at home now, should they progress.
Ringrose stood out as their backs were fluid and overwhelmed the French side in the second half. A crowd of more than 40,000 at the Aviva leave satisfied.
Read John O’Sullivan’s report here. That’s all from me, goodbye!
83 mins: TRY FOR LEINSTER! Leinster with one more for the road. Ringrose gets his try on the wing, great pass by Byrne. Good finish. Byrne scores the conversion.
Leinster 36 Racing 92 10
79 mins: Garry Ringrose deservedly star of the match, involved in heavily involved in two of the best moments of the game. Jack Conan was through again but slipped and lost the ball.
Leinster 29 Racing 92 10
75 mins: TRY FOR LEINSTER! Kick and chase by Ringrose on the volley, chases down the ball and laid off to O’Brien for an easy try. Ringrose on fire, magical skill. All of a sudden Leinster have turned on the afterburners. Byrne misses the conversion.
Leinster 29 Racing 92 10
70 mins: TRY FOR LEINSTER! Jack Conan forces the turnover with some good play. Leinster with the momentum now and Jimmy O’Brien finds a gap and lays off to Keenan. Super run by O’Brien. Leinster on song now! Bonus point score. Converted by Byrne under the posts.
Leinster 24 Racing 92 10
66 mins: TRY FOR LEINSTER! The resulting line-out is mauled over the line, swarmed the ball-carrier and Van der Flier scores. Conversion missed by Byrne again, to the left. Still a seven-point game then.
Leinster 17 Racing 92 10
65 mins: Very even battle. Gibson-Park with a nice shimmy creates an opening and then Larmour gets a gap in the defence and makes 20 metres. Baird up to the 22. Gibson-Park to within 10 metres. Onto the wing finally, O’Brien tries to offload but Ringrose can’t hold onto the ball. Advantage though and penalty, which Byrne kicks to corner.
Leinster 12 Racing 92 10
58 mins: Leinster shouts ring around the Aviva as Caelan Doris receives treatment. Some kicking back and forth before Gelant kicks to touch inside Leinster’s 22.
Leinster 12 Racing 92 10
53 mins: TRY FOR LEINSTER! Ross Byrne races through, Dan Sheehan on the wing burst through tackles and lays off, touched down by Hugo Keenan. Check by the referees and the try is given. Conversion missed by Byrne.
Leinster 12 Racing 92 10
50 mins: TRY FOR RACING 92! Fickou to Russell, who weaves through the defence and passes to Wade, who scores on the wing. Shock in the Aviva. Superb try. Russell misses the conversion, which hits the inside of the post. Leinster in a bit of trouble.
Leinster 7 Racing 92 10
47 mins: Good play by the Leinster backs, Ringrose makes some ground, but again Leinster can’t get through and concede a penalty for not releasing, Ringrose this time.
Leinster 7 Racing 92 5
43 mins: Leinster concede a penalty after the restart and Russell takes a kick from more than 40 metres out. It doesn’t make the distance though and is collected by Osborne.
Leinster 7 Racing 92 5
HALF-TIME: Leinster 7 Racing 92 5
Didn’t go all Leinster’s way that half, as Racing 92 competed well and Leinster’s indiscipline saw them concede a number of penalties. All to play for in the second half. Ringrose’s play for the O’Brien try the highlight of the half. Here it is again.
39 mins: Disappointing for Leinster as they immediately concede a penalty for offside, maybe should have gone for the points. A lot of penalties conceded in this half.
Leinster 7 Racing 92 5
37 mins: Leinster have a game on here as Racing have grown into the game taken advantage of the Larmour yellow card. Leinster in the middle of the pitch but Racing 92 strong in the tackle. Leinster win a penalty, which Byrne kicks to the corner as Larmour comes back on.
Leinster 7 Racing 92 5
32 mins: TRY FOR RACING 92! Good play by Trevor Nyakane in the scrum as Racing win penalty. Russell kicks to touch. Successful lineout, Racing go to the centre but Leinster are penalised again. Another lineout and a super break by Janick Tarrit from the maul and touches it down. Russell’s conversion just falls to the right.
Leinster 7 Racing 92 5
28 mins: Yellow card for Leinster. Poor kick by Byrne intercepted by Fickou. Jordan Larmour penalised for a deliberate knock-on from Fickou’s pass. Racing try to drive through but concede a five metres from the line after good defending.
Leinster 7 Racing 92 0
24 mins: Good pressure by Leinster but they lose it sloppily and Racing 92 survive. They win a penalty at the breakdown and Russell kicks for touch to the Leinster 22. Great break but a sloppy pass by Le Garrec after Wade made ground charging forward. Advantage given, the penalty is kicked to touch. Leinster under pressure.
Leinster 7 Racing 92 0
16 mins: TRY FOR LEINSTER! Garry Ringrose with a brilliant break, diagonal run through the defence and lay-off to O’Brien for an easy try. Good passing by the backs released Ringrose at pace. Great conversion by Ross Byrne from near the touchline.
Leinster 7 Racing 92 0
13 mins: Good kick by Jamison-Park inside the Racing 22 gets good territory. Racing kick to near midfield, Leinster pass crisply but another penalty conceded. No sign of a breakthrough.
Leinster 0 Racing 92 0
9 mins: Leinster are penalised for tackling in at the side and Finn Russell kicks to touch just inside Leinster’s half. Another penalty give away by Leinster, brings Racing close to the corner. A maul follows but Racing are penalised and Leinster survive after ferocious play at the breakdown.
Leinster 0 Racing 92 0
4 mins: Leinster with their first attack of the game, Doris takes it well, Byrne with crossfield kick to O’Brien. Conan loses control of the ball but it’s advantage and a penalty. Leinster take it short, but knock it on and Racing get a reprieve.
Leinster 0 Racing 92 0
2 mins: Early break for Munster results in a knock-on from Byrne’s pass, hitting Christian Wade. Question of deliberate knock-on but lets the Racing player away with it. Scrum to Leinster but goes nowhere and Racing turn it over.
Leinster 0 Racing 92 0
In other rugby news, Bundee Aki has been left out of Connacht squad amid rumoured Munster interest. It is understood that the Connacht hierarchy are unhappy with Aki’s fitness levels and, as much as anything, are keen to give Cathal Forde another start after his man of the match performance in the bonus-point win over the Sharks before impressing again last week in the rout of Brive.
[ Bundee Aki left out of Connacht squad amid rumoured Munster interestOpens in new window ]
From Naas to Ireland call-up: Jamie Osborne is heading for the top, writes Gerry Thornley. The spotlight will be on the inside centre today after his call-up to Andy Farrell’s squad. Thornley profiles a player seemingly born to play rugby, as his family are steeped through the generations in Naas RFC. His versatility has helped him accumulate game time and quicken his development, starting 20 of his 28 games; two at fullback, 13 times outside centre, twice at inside centre and once on the left wing. Today’s he’s at number 12.
[ From Naas to Ireland call-up: Jamie Osborne is heading for the topOpens in new window ]
The teams for today’s game. Leinster head coach Leo Cullen has made three changes to the team that crushed Gloucester at Kingsholm for their final pool assignment. Racing 92′s Laurent Travers has made nine changes to the starting team.
Leinster: H Keenan; J Larmour, G Ringrose (capt), J Osborne, J O’Brien; R Byrne, J Gibson-Park; A Porter, R Kelleher, M Ala’alatoa; J Ryan, J McCarthy; C Doris, J van der Flier, J Conan. Replacements: D Sheehan, M Milne, C Healy, R Molony, R Baird, L McGrath, H Byrne, S Penny.
Racing 92: W Gelant; C Wade, O Klemenczak, G Fickou (capt), L Dupichot; F Russell, N le Garrec; E Ben Arous, J Tarrit, T Nyakane; B Chouzenoux, B Palu; W Lauret, M Coulibaly, K Kamikamica. Replacements: P Narisia, G Gogichashvili, G Kharaishvili, A Hemery, M Baudonne, A Gibert, F Saili, M Spring.
Referee: M Carley (England).
Hello and welcome to live coverage of Leinster’s game against French side Racing 92 in the Aviva Stadium. Leinster can secure number one seeding with a win this evening, which would ensure home games all the way to the Champions Cup final, should they progress. Kickoff is at 3.15pm.
