Leinster nail down spot in semi-final

Leinster 19 Cheetahs 7

[team1]Leinster[/team1][score1]19[/score1][team2]Cheetahs[/team2][score2]7[/score2][/score]

On a night where the ball was kicked more than a rodeo clown, Leinster got the job done and booked their place in the Guinness PRO14 semi-finals.

There was no bonus point earned at the RDS against a dogged Cheetahs side, but the four point win was enough – and puts them 26 points ahead of second place Benetton in Conference B, with just 25 points available to the Italians.

The win not only guarantees Leinster a home semi-final when the Playoffs come around, it crucially offers a potential two-week run up to the Heineken Champions Cup final, with the home semi-finalists given a weekend off before the blue riband showdown in Newcastle.

Leinster weren’t home and hosed until late in the second half, but it looked as though they might have an easy night when Ox Nche was sent to the bin for his clumsy tackle on Fergus McFadden just 11 minutes into the game.

Just thirty seconds later Conor O’Brien added salt to the wound, running home after a break by Max Deegan from the back of a lineout, the midfielder’s sixth try of the season.

But the hosts were not overwhelmed despite ten minutes with just 14 men, and by the time Nche returned to the pitch, his side was level.

Ross Byrne lost possession at the bottom of the ruck, and Cheetahs centre Benhard Janse van Rensburg pounced to kick the ball into space. Spiralling in the air, Rabz Maxwane gathered in style and the flying winger ran home unopposed for his 13th try in 15 PRO14 games.

Leinster created the only other score before the break, with Rory O’Loughlin’s long pass finding Adam Byrne out wide, where the winger stepped outside then in, squeezing by full back Louis Fouche.

Chances continued to be few and far between, with Tian Schoeman pushing his penalty attempt wide that would have brought Cheetahs to within one score, and that was followed by Caelan Doris knocking on yards from the visitors’ tryline.

Out of nowhere, though, Rory O’Loughlin conjured a try good enough to win any game. The ball went through five pairs of hands before finding the midfielder out wide where he spotted open grass behind Fouche and chipped and controlled it with his boot, before touching down.

Byrne split the posts from out wide, putting clear air between the sides for the first time, creating a two score lead they’d never give up.

LEINSTER: D Kearney (Rep: B Daly, 66), A Byrne, R O’Loughlin (Rep: N Reid, 66), C O’Brien, F McFadden; R Byrne, J Gibson-Park (Rep: H O’Sullivan, 76); P Dooley (Rep: E Byrne, 54), B Byrne (Rep: J Tracy, 54), M Bent (Rep: A Porter, 44); R Molony, S Fardy (Rep: M Kearney, 71); R Ruddock (Rep: J Murphy, 63), M Deegan, C Doris.

CHEETAHS: L Fouche (Rep: R Paige, 78); W Small-Smith (Rep: C Marais, 17-20; S Venter: 51), BJ van Rensburg, D Swanepoel, R Maxwane; T Schoeman, T Meyer; Ox Nche (Rep: C Marais, 63), R Venter (Rep: J du Toit, 51), A Coetzee (Rep: L de Bruin, 51); W Steenkamp, JP du Preez (Rep: S Manjezi, 53); G Olivier, A Nonkontwana (Rep: M van der Merwe, 77), J Pokomela (Rep: H Venter, 40)

Referee: Nigel Owens (WRU).