Leinster 37 Sale Sharks 27
Van der Flier: “It was a tough first half, Sale are a very good team. Disappointing last few minutes to concede few tries but overall very happy with that. Credit to Sale, they came out quickly. It was really good how we dug in and came back with a few scores. Going into Christmas with two wins in Europe after two good teams, we’ll enjoy Christmas.”
Match report from John O’Sullivan to come...
80 mins: TRY FOR SALE! Wow, great finish by Sale, Reed showing his blistering pace again from the wing and sets up Curtis to score. A third try to Sale and a spirited display. Try is converted.
FULL-TIME: Leinster 37 Sale Sharks 27
Good second half performance by Leinster, a lot to improve in the first half but overwhelmed Sale in the second.
78 mins: Good play by Sale, dummy and pass to Reed who had the pace and then a very cynical play by Keenan takes Reed out and gets a yellow card.
TRY FOR SALE! Maul is too strong for Leinster, Taylor gets it down. Some fracas afterwards and du Preez scores the conversion. Unfortunately Ngatai is left hobbling after what was a good impact off the bench, doesn’t look good for Leo Cullen.
Player of the match is Josh van der Flier, flying back into form. Can’t argue with that, scored a try, big contribution in another one and stopped another.
72 mins: TRY FOR LEINSTER! Cian Healy getting in on the action! Just on the field, the 36-year-old scores after a good carry by McCarthy. Murphy lays off to Baird, fumbles into Healy who scores. Sam Prendergast scores the conversion.
68 mins: Lineout for Sale, they maul towards the line but it’s held up by van der Flier. Joe Carpenter kicks into the corner. Leinster hang on and Sale are sloppy with the ball and Leinster end up on the attack. Sam Prendergast hits a clever kick that almost leads to Keenan being through for a try, would have been a great first moment in Champions Cup rugby.
65 mins: Brilliant break by Joe Carpenter passes to Roebuck and gets Sale up to 5 metres from the line. Penalty advantage, crossfield kick but Keenan is safe under the high ball. Sam Prendergast is on for his European debut at 10, only 20 years old.
63 mins: TRY FOR LEINSTER! Poor kick by du Preez gives Leinster another good chance. They make significant ground up to 5 metres from the line, Henshaw and Keenan almost over the line, Ngatai with some lovely passes and Ryan Baird takes it and clinically finishes. Bonus point for Leinster and that should be that.
60 mins: Break by James Ryan about 22 metres out after a sharp pass by Keenan and looked like another Leinster try but Gibson-Park takes his eye off the ball and knocks on.
56 mins: Leinster put the pressure on Sale, 10 metres out. Henshaw almost breaks through the gap, as does Sheehan. Kept out a metre out, trying to bundle it over near the touchline. Penalty advantage, Frawley tries a long pass but intercepted.
TRY FOR LEINSTER! They go again, pressure too much for Sale, Henshaw pushes off van Rhyn and puts it down under the posts. Frawley converts.
53 mins: Inconsistent day for Leinster today summed up, Leinster turn over the ball but Ringrose kicks it out on the full, slicing the kick. Keenan claims a kick from the middle of the pitch and Leinster win a penalty, Hill unnecessary on van der Flier.
49 mins: Replacement Opoku-Fordjour makes an impact off the bench, the young prop wins a penalty from the scrum. Sale’s lineout goes to plan and they win another penalty, du Preez kicks to touch only 5 metres out but Leinster steal it.
43 mins: Positive start to the half by Leinster, running and passing it better. Frawley kicks it to the wing and Keenan collects over Roebuck’s head.
TRY FOR LEINSTER! Bit of magic from the two top Irish internationals, Gibson-Park and van der Flier. Gibson-Park with a long pass to van der Flier who makes a run a winger would be proud of an lays back off to Gibson-Park and it’s a good finish in the corner by the scrumhalf. Frawley misses the conversion. Leinster ahead.
40 mins: TRY FOR LEINSTER! Josh van der Flier, perfect lineout, maul and then van der Flier finds a gap and powers it over and touches it down near the touchline. The conversion misses to the right and Sale lead at the break.
HALF-TIME: Leinster 11 Sale Sharks 13
Important finish to the half for Leinster to reduce the gap with a man advantage. Far from vintage Leinster so far and Sale have been good value for their lead. With some players missing, some people were expecting an easy game for Leinster, but it’s far from the case. All to play for in the second half at the RDS.
38 mins: Yellow card for James Harper of Sale for consistent infringing in the scrum. Leinster with the man advantage will be looking to score before the end of the half. Jimmy O’Brien makes a good break after a good pass by Frawley. They go across to the other side. Frawley breaks a tackle and plays to Sheehan on the wing, he can’t get to the line but back to the middle and 5 metres out. Long floating pass to Baird and he can’t collect but it’s a penalty to Leinster after a high tackle by Quirke.
35 mins: Sale put Leinster under pressure, and Frawley drops a high ball. Keenan claims a mark after a crossfield kick but a mishit kick into touch. Lineout is solid for Sale, Roebuck nearly over but a great defensive tackle by Ryan saves the day.
30 mins: Some great catches by Roebuck, one gets du Preez off the hook after a wayward kick. A Sale scrum is overwhelmed by Leinster. Frawley goes for the posts and it’s well taken and over the bar.
26 mins: TRY FOR SALE SHARKS! Shock for Leinster after a great grubber kick bounces perfectly for du Preez and he passes it to Doherty who has the pace to get to the line and touch it down. Du Preez converts.
23 mins: Great turnover by Dan Sheehan after Quirke tried to go quickly and he is penalised for not releasing. Frawley kicks to touch. After good work by Sheehan he doesn’t throw the ball straight from the lineout and concedes a scrum. Sale win a penalty from the scrum. They’re well up for it.
18 mins: Again James Ryan gets told only Ringrose to speak to the referee. Referees not taking the co-captaincy too seriously in the Champions Cup. Henshaw comes on and knocks it on. Leinster concede a penalty then after the scrum and du Preez takes a fine penalty and scores.
15 mins: Sale can’t get it far out of their defensive area and Leinster go again on the attack, 22 metres out. Sale concede another penalty and Henshaw is back on. Leinster opt to kick. Frawley kicks it over, back to level.
12 mins: A mess of a scrum by Sale and Leinster win a penalty that came from the knock-on. They go again, Sheehan to Baird who was over the line but it’s good defence for Sale, couldn’t get it down.
8 mins: Sale give away the ball, big Leinster scrum and they win a penalty for a collapsing scrum. Frawley kicks for the corner. Good lineout, Leinster within 5 metres. Offside Sale, penalty advantage goes nowhere and another penalty.
Try for Leinster. Touch penalty, Sale can’t hold out the pressure from the Leinster forwards and Josh van der Flier gets it down.
Or so it seemed. a TMO check comes just before Frawley was kicking to convert... turns out Ryan Baird knocked the ball on. Still 3-0 Sale.
5 mins: TMO check finds Henshaw had interfered causing the knock-on, and gets a yellow card, looked a tad harsh. Du Preez kicks over and Sale lead 3-0.
3 mins: Some early pressure on Leinster after a clever kick into the corner by Sale. The lineout and Sale play it smartly over to the other side and Reed is stopped just short of the line. Should have been the first Sale try, Doherty with a chance, offload to Veainu but a knock on just in front of the posts.
Gordon D’Arcy, writing about Leinster last weekend, said it was built on a foundation of guts as much as technical virtues and while it was very much a team dynamic that won the game, there were a few individuals with no, or very little, baggage from previous defeats to the French club who came to the fore.
“Jacques Nienaber has only been in Leinster a wet week, but you can already see that there is something different in the way that the team defends, one that places a huge emphasis on line speed. It is going to suit some players better than others, while possibly for a few, they may not reach the required standard.”
“The new format is much like its predecessor, heavily biased towards home advantage for qualification and top seeding. Munster now have a monster of a hill to climb, travelling to the Exeter Chiefs on Sunday, their hosts coming off a win in Toulon.”
ICYMI, one of the big stories of the week was a report from Gerry Thornley that RG Snyman is to join Leinster after contract with Munster ends. Gerry writes about coach Jacques Nienaber’s influence on the decision in the Counter Ruck newsletter.
“The more one thinks about it, the more the prospect of Leinster signing RG Snyman makes sense, and the more it signals Jacques Nienaber’s immediate influence. This in turn also demonstrates how willing Leo Cullen is to afford his coaches full scope for their abilities, so comfortable is he in his own skin.”
[ Gerry Thornley: Nienaber’s influence all over Leinster’s interest in RG SnymanOpens in new window ]
Earlier, Connacht let a first-half lead slip as Saracens pile on the points in a high-scoring clash. Mark McCall’s team recovered from defeat against the Bulls in Pretoria last weekend to claim a bonus-point triumph by 55-36. That’s two losses to start now for Connacht.
Reports John O’Sullivan: The 20-year-old outhalf Sam Prendergast is likely to make his Champions Cup debut today upon his introduction from the bench. Cullen said: “I thought between Harry [and Ciarán last week] they did a great job in how they ran the team. Sam has been excellent, he’s a young player and he is taking it all in.
Sale Sharks, who beat Stade Francais at home last weekend – Leinster play the French side at the Aviva Stadium in January – retain just four players from that win, wing Tom Roebuck, hooker Tommy Taylor, secondrow Ben Bamber, and flanker Sam Dugdale.
Head coach Alex Sanderson has elected to travel without a host of frontline players including Tom O’Flaherty, Manu Tuilagi, George Ford, Ben Curry and Cobus Wiese, Jonny Hill is among the replacements while a couple more including number eight Dan du Preez are injured.
[ Leo Cullen dodges RG Snyman talk as Leinster focus on meeting with Sale SharksOpens in new window ]
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the Champions Cup game between Leinster and Sale Sharks at the RDS in Dublin. Kickoff is at 5.30pm. Leinster were impressive last Sunday against defending champions La Rochelle, and will look to keep the momentum going against the English side Sale. There are four changes to the Leinster team that beat La Rochelle. Ciarán Frawley follows his cameo as a replacement wins the starting role, replacing the unfortunate Harry Byrne, who is following the graduated return to play protocols following a head injury, while there are three changes to the pack.
Leinster: H Keenan; J Larmour, G Ringrose, R Henshaw, J O’Brien; C Frawley, J Gibson-Park; A Porter, D Sheehan, T Clarkson; J Jenkins, J Ryan; R Baird, J van der Flier, C Doris. Replacements: R Kelleher, C Healy, M Ala’alatoa, J McCarthy, J Conan, B Murphy, S Prendergast, C Ngatai.
Sale Sharks: T Veainu; T Roebuck, C Doherty, S Bedlow, A Reed; R du Preez, R Quirke; R Harrison, T Taylor, J Harper; B Bamber, J Beaumont; E van Rhyn, S Dugdale, R Birch. Replacements: E Caine, T Onasanya, A Opoku-Fordjour, J Hill, JL du Preez, N Thomas, T Curtis, J Carpenter.
Referee: P Brousset (France)
