Caelan Doris barges over late on for bruising Leinster bonus point win

BONUS POINT: Leinster’s Caelan Doris scores a try. Pic: ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne

Leicester’s place in the knockout stages of the Champions Cup remains uncertain after the Ireland winger James Lowe inspired Leinster to a dogged victory that underlined his side’s title credentials. Lowe was the standout performer for Leinster who on paper were packed with star quality and on the pitch showed enough of it to deny Leicester the losing bonus point they needed.

The Tigers can still make the last 16 but will have to wait on other results this weekend to be sure. They can hardly argue, as for all their industry Tigers were considerably short on imagination and Leinster had only to occasionally move through the gears to claim victory over Leicester for the third season in a row.

It was an absorbing spectacle nonetheless, witnessed by a sell-out crowd at Welford Road, but if this is a harbinger for the Six Nations, as matches at this stage of the competition can be, Ireland are shaping up well considering all 15 of their starters have been named in Andy Farrell’s squad for the championship. They scored four tries - McCarthy scoring the first with Jordan Larmour, Dan Sheehan and Caelan Doris adding the rest - ensuring another bonus point in a 100% pool stage record.

Leicester had their illustrious opponents rattled in the opening stages. The returning Hanro Liebenberg scored the first try after taking a smart pass from Dan Kelly and running in on the left and Handre Pollard converted before adding a penalty - conceded by Dan Sheehan in a manner which demonstrated how flustered Leinster were - for a 10-0 lead.

A couple of minutes later a Harry Byrne penalty in front of the posts got Leinster up and running but it was the excellence of Lowe, whose influence was growing by that stage, that dragged last year’s losing finalists back into the match. Using his booming left boot to impressive effect and repeatedly cropping up in midfield, the winger was a galvanising force for the visitors. It was also his powerful break down the left and offload to Garry Ringrose that began the move which ultimately resulted in Larmour stepping his way over for Leinster’s second try.

Byrne had converted the first try but just missed the second and when Leicester held Doris up under the posts just before the half-time interval, the Tigers were at least in touching distance, trailing by five points. They had, however, lost the winger Harry Simmons to a painful looking facial injury.

Three minutes into the second half and they lost the scrum-half Tom Whiteley to the sin-bin for a deliberate knock-on after another move sparked by Lowe and from the resulting penalty, Dan Sheehan was soon going over at the back of a lineout drive for Leinster’s third try. Ollie Chessum also trudged off the field in a worrying departure for Steve Borthwick, with England’s Six Nations campaign looming and the head coach already without fellow Tigers lock George Martin.

The Leinster lock McCarthy showed a remarkable turn of pace to run clear of Matt Scott for what appeared to be his side’s fourth try but the referee Andrea Piardi pulled play back for an infringement for the visitors and that let-off seemed to galvanise Leicester. The introductions from the bench of Kyle Hatherell and Ben Youngs made a difference too and the Tigers found themselves camped in the Leinster 22 and battering away at the door. Their chances of scoring improved when Jack Conan was sent to the sin-bin but Doris’ crucial turnover on his own line continued to keep Leicester at bay.

The Tigers kept huffing and puffing but a wobbling lineout and an attack shorn of the necessary quality to break down Leinster’s defence ensured they came up short as Doris had the final word from close range.

LEICESTER: F Steward; H Simmons, M Scott, D Kelly, O Hassell-Collins; H Pollard, T Whiteley; J Cronin, J Montoya (capt), J Heyes; H Wells, O Chessum; H Liebenberg, T Reffell, J Wiese.

Replacements: K Hatherell for Reffell (HIA, 30 mins); J Shillcock for Simmons (36); S Carter for Chessum (HIA, 42); F van Wyk for Cronin (52); W Hurd for Heyes, S Kata for Kelly (both 56); B Youngs for Whiteley (57); A Vanes for Montoya (78).

Yellow card: T Whiteley (42 mins).

LEINSTER: H Keenan; J Larmour, G Ringrose, R Henshaw, J Lowe; H Byrne, J Gibson-Park; A Porter, D Sheehan, T Furlong; J McCarthy, J Ryan; R Baird, J van der Flier, C Doris.

Replacements: R Kelleher for Sheehan, M Ala’alatoa for Furlong, J Conan for Van der Flier (all 57 mins); S Prendergast for Byrne (64); R Molony for McCarthy, L McGrath for Gibson-Park (both 69); C Healy for Porter (71); T O’Brien for Larmour (75).

Yellow card: J Conan (65 mins).

Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy).