Leinster power past Clermont in second half for bonus point win
Tommy O'Brien scored Leinster's seventh try against Clermont Seb Daly/Sportsfile
Big picture. Seven tries, a bonus-point win in France, a dominant scrum and lineout, the constituent parts of a super pack performance, collectively and individually. Small picture. Leinster will reflect on untidy passages, lack of precision, some wayward passing and, at times, an absence of stickability in their first-up tackling.
On balance, the ledger is appreciably positive, the only material downside that impressive number eight Jack Conan was walking around in the aftermath with his arm in a sling, a legacy of a dunt he received when scoring a second-half try.
Sam Prendergast was the official player-of-the-match for the second week in succession. His repertoire is considerable, some of the touches, passing, spiral bombs and crosskicks were a delight and when afforded any time and space, he tormented Clermont. His try – he started and finished an 80-metre counterattack – showcased that innate talent beautifully.
He still has the odd rash moment but playing on the edge is hardly risk averse; it goes with the territory. Dan Sheehan grabbed two tries and threw superbly; Tadhg Furlong crossed for another and along with the indefatigable Andrew Porter were bedrocks in a Leinster scrum that shunted their opponents from pillar to post.
Read More
Josh van der Flier was outstanding in a back five who all contributed handsomely. Clermont hooker Barnabe Massa will see Ryan Baird’s face in his nightmares. Joe McCarthy, James Ryan and Conan were diligent and unrelenting in their work.
Leinster’s first-half performance was a mishmash of the good, sporadic, and the downright careless as the Irish province gift-wrapped points for their opponents. Clermont didn’t have to work for their scores, just piggyback on Leinster mistakes and there was a surfeit of those moments.
Referee Matthew Carley was pedantic, consistently so – TMO Andrew Jackson missed a couple of dangerous clearouts – with Leinster scrumhalf Fintan Gunne incurring the Englishman’s displeasure, penalised for taking longer than five seconds to clear ball from a breakdown and subsequently for a crooked feed. Spooked into playing quickly he was also blocked down on another occasion.
To his credit he didn’t shy away from playing his natural game, a significant contributory factor in Furlong’s try. Gunne will benefit from the exposure to games of this ilk. The O’Briens, wings Jimmy and Tommy, were standouts, in different aspects of the game, the former in a creative capacity, Tommy as a finisher.
Leinster trailed 16-15 at the interval but were hardly panicked because the reasons were obvious, as all of Clermont’s points could be traced to mistakes. The home side were generous in their largesse too, especially in Sheehan’s first try.
The visitors started sharply and might have scored an early try before they did through Furlong, the product of a slick lineout move in which Conan, Sheehan and Baird did the heavy lifting before Gunne’s vision and pop pass sent the prop barrelling over.
Clermont outhalf and captain Harry Plummer is a consummate ball-striker as he demonstrated twice kicking long-range penalties to reduce the deficit before Sheehan’s speed and strength saw him quickest to react to a loose Clermont tap into their in-goal area.
The home side grabbed a try after a couple of Leinster errors after Gunne was charged down and Prendergast’s thumping clearance flew 70 metres and over the dead-ball line. Clermont wing Joris Jurand was the beneficiary of his pack’s softening up process in their carries that ensured space out wide for the try scorer.
Plummer kicked the conversion and then exchanged penalties with Prendergast. In the opening moments of the second half Clermont threatened to score another try but the elegant Argentinian Bautista Delguy slipped as he escaped into the Leinster 22. Darcy Swain threw a loose pass and from the turnover, Prendergast sized up the opportunity.
He accelerated out of the 22 and his beautifully weighted diagonal grubber-kick was hacked on by Jimmy O’Brien, who regathered and passed inside to his supporting outhalf, who dotted down and then added the conversion.
Leinster’s scrum dominance was the conduit for a penalty try and a yellow card for Clermont’s 19-year-old tighthead prop Nohem Ez Zahouany. Sheehan’s second try, from another lineout launch play, took the Irish province out to a 36-16 lead heading into the final quarter.
But the visitors retained that capacity for sloppiness and that played its part in a try for Clermont replacement centre Mathys Belaubre. Any thoughts of a revival were dashed emphatically within 60 seconds. Jimmy O’Brien won the kick-off brilliantly in the air and from that point, Conan beat a handful of tacklers to the line but hurt his arm in grounding the ball.
Leinster had the final say on the scoreboard, Tommy O’Brien, showed speed and nous in switching the ball from one hand to the other as he rode contact to power over in the corner. Four minutes earlier Joey Carbery returned after his eight-year or 3,079-day hiatus from his last appearance in the province’s colours.
It’s unlikely that Leinster will sweat too much about the performance imperfections. There was enough for them to take into next week’s return to the URC and a clash with Munster at the Aviva Stadium.
With Caelan Doris sidelined, and Conan, also likely to be out, the fitness of Max Deegan and James Culhane will take on greater import. Before that they can reflect on a mission accomplished.
J Bouraux; B Delguy, A Lam, L Darricarrere, J Jurand; H Plummer (capt), B Jauneau; G Akhaladze, B Massa, N Ez Zahouany; T Lanen, D Swain; K Tixeront, A Hemery, K Noah.
L Michaux Vargas for Lanen (HIA, 22-31 mins and 57); P Narisia for Massa, A Chalus-Cercy for Swain (both 57); S Lotrian for Akhaladze, M Belaubre for Lam (both 62); L Vermeulen for Noah (66); M Frisach for Ez Zahouany, B Germain for Jauneau (both 68).
N Ez Zahouany (57 mins).
H Keenan; T O’Brien, G Ringrose, R Henshaw, J O’Brien; S Prendergast, F Gunne; A Porter, D Sheehan (capt), T Furlong; J McCarthy, J Ryan; R Baird, J van der Flier, J Conan.
J Osborne for Henshaw (60 mins); R Kelleher for Sheehan, T Clarkson for Furlong (both 62); S Penny for Conan, C O’Tighearnaigh for Ryan, O Coffey for Gunne (all 67); A Usanov for Porter (70); J Carbery for Prendergast (73); Gunne for Coffey (75).
J McCarthy (80 mins).
M Carley (England).
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
