Boss barges Leinster home

ISAAC BOSS came off the bench to clinch Leinster’s place in the Heineken Cup last eight and leave them in the comfortable position of playing Montpellier at the RDS next week with only their seeding in the final stages at stake.

It was a hard-fought win, with the visitors having to come from behind to secure victory against a Scottish side that, on the whole, edged the forward battle but could not match their visitors when it came to line-breaking flair and the ability to secure tries when they had the pressure.

In the end, it came down to two home mistakes, the first a failure to cover a cross kick, the second losing the ball in their own 22, to give Leinster the scores they needed. In both cases there was still work to do to exploit the opportunities but when they did get these chances, the European champions were ruthless in taking them. That was enough to make all the difference.