Masterclass lights up the Aviva
The result propels the champions six points clear of second-place Glasgow Warriors at the helm of Pool 3, with two rounds of the group stages to play.
Joe Schmidt’s side travel to Firhill to face the Warriors before welcoming Montpellier to the RDS in Round 6 next month with their place in the last eight all but assured.
But ever the perfectionist Schmidt, the concession of three tries in a flaky last quarter had the Leinster coach searching for explanations as much as superlatives in his post-match press conference.
Despite those misgivings, Schmidt admitted: “We got a number of things right tonight that I’m delighted with. I thought the running lines and some of the quality of the play was fantastic but you must put into context the fact that Bath had a number of front-liners out. They lost Dan Hipkiss after last week and had already lost Olly Woodburn and Tom Biggs so their fringes were probably under a bit of pressure; that allowed us a little more space.”
A dominant forward pack in which Devin Toner had a stand-out display kept Bath on the backfoot in scrum, lineout and maul. The visitors had no answer to the spectacular Leinster back division with Rob Kearney and Luke Fitzgerald a constant threat from broken play while Johnny Sexton dominated at out-half.
Schmidt continued: “We are obviously delighted to get the five points. We were also delighted with the way some of the tries were scored and some of the running lines. We’ve come a long way from drawing at Montpellier but that was probably only our second or third game together. Fortunately it was exhibited in fantastic conditions in front of a fantastic crowd tonight. I think that’s certainly something that sparks a real enthusiasm among the players.”
Sexton was a worthy man-of-the-match recipient following a five-star performance. Apart from an early penalty attempt that came back off an upright (but which led to the opening try), he was unerring in his judgment and grabbed a try, a brilliant drop goal and six conversions for a 20-point tally.
It was also a triumph for the new midfield partnership of Fergus McFadden and Eoin O’Malley, who have had to play second fiddle to Brian O’Driscoll and Gordon D’Arcy for so long.
McFadden was thrilled at the outcome and praised coach Schmidt for encouraging positive attacking rugby. He explained: “Joe lets us go out there and play because the structures are in place with different set-piece moves. He’s very much of the opinion that if it’s on, then go, so there were opportunities where it did work from deep. We’re creating our own culture and we’re certainly not trying to copy or be any other team.
“We’re trying to add different things to different aspects of our game, whether that’s attacking from our 22 or just being more ruthless in theirs.”
Leinster stormed into the lead inside two minutes when Kearney grabbed a try that Sexton converted. Following an opening penalty from Ollie Barkley, Sexton brilliantly stretched Leinster’s lead to seven again with a perfectly executed long-range drop goal in the 10th minute.
Bath were not inclined to lie down and Barkley kicked a second penalty before Jamie Heaslip did well to stifle a promising Bath move midway through the half by turning over possession right on the Leinster line.
Ironically, it all changed for the better when Leinster were reduced to 14 men with the sin binning of Leo Cullen. Within minutes, the hosts were in control, courtesy of two brilliant tries from Luke Fitzgerald and Sexton, who converted both to secure a comprehensive 24-6 lead.
Bath had hardly time to draw breath when they found themselves 31-6 down after Fitzgerald nabbed his second try 30 seconds after the restart and Sexton converted that bonus point score.
Eoin Reddan and Rhys Ruddock scored tries that Sexton converted to stretch the advantage to 45-6 before Bath’s mini revival. Stephen Donald and Dave Attwood scored tries converted by Barkley, Ian Madigan hit back for Leinster and Isa Nacewa converted but Ben Williams and Barkley combined to secure another seven points for the visitors in an action-packed conclusion.
LEINSTER: R Kearney, I Nacewa, E O’Malley, F McFadden, L Fitzgerald, J Sexton, E Reddan, H Van Der Merwe, R Strauss, M Ross, L Cullen (captain), D Toner, S O’Brien, J Heaslip, S Jennings.
Replacements: C Healy for Van Der Merwe (44), S Cronin for Strauss, R Ruddock for O’Brien, G D’Arcy for McFadden (all 53), K McLaughlin for Cullen, I Madigan for Sexton (both 59), N White for Ross (64), I Boss for Jennings (71).
BATH: S Vesty, J Cuthbert, M Banahan, O Barkley, N Abendanon, S Donald, M Claassens, D Flatman, C Biller, D Wilson, D Attwood, R Caldwell, F Louw (captain), S Taylor, G Mercer.
Replacements: C Cook for Classens, R Batty for Mercer, B Williams for Cuthbert (all 55), N Catt for Flatman, A Perenise for Wilson (both 65), T Heathcote for Donald (67), W Spencer for Mercer (75).
Referee: R Poite (France).
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