| Leinster: (26) 76 |
| Tries: Sheehan 2, Larmour 2, McCarthy, Doris, Alaalatoa, Gibson-Park, Ringrose, Frawley, McGrath, J O’Brien Con: R Byrne 6, H Byrne 2 |
| Glasgow: (7) 14 |
| Try: Fagerson, G Horne Con: Thompson |
Leinster defeated the Glasgow Warriors to make it to the United Rugby Championship semifinal with Bulls.
The hosts trailed by a Zander Fagerson score, but they retaliated to severely punish yellow cards for Richie Gray or Ollie Smith at half-time.
Dan Sheehan led the way with 19 points after Joe McCarthy and Jordan Larmour’s double bookended tries as Leinster.
The visitors finally gave in and put pressure on Danny Wilson.
Leinster also added second-half scores for Larmour and Caelan Doris as well as Michael Alaalatoa (Jamison Gibson-Park), Garry Ringrose. Ciaran Frawley was Ciaran Frawley, Luke McGrath, and Jimmy O’Brien’s reply.
The Dublin side responded strongly to the loss to La Rochelle last week in the Champions Cup final. They now seek a fifth consecutive title.
After a last-gasp goal, Bulls beat South African rival Sharks 30-27 to make Leinster a home semifinalist.
Glasgow finished eighth in the table. But they were faced with a huge task at RDS Arena.
But, the optimism soon faded when Gray was convicted of foolishly catching Gibson Park in the face with his arm.
Leinster capitalized with a three-try surge – including two in just three minutes – as Sheehan crossed unopposed. Then Larmour and Gibson-Park combined to score below the posts.
Glasgow were in a state of shock now. They conceded a string of penalties. McCarthy grabbed the ball from a scrum and managed to hold off Fagerson’s tackle.
Sheehan scored his second goal with a dash wide. Ross Byrne converted the ball to give Sheehan a fourth-half total of four from four.
After the interval, there was no stopping. Doris completed a Leinster drive, before Smith’s deliberate knock-on saw the visitors become overwhelmed. Alaalatoa pulled over, while Gibson-Park galloped over from the distance.
Ringrose lifted Leinster to the 50 point mark, after some great work by Larmour. Byrne converted again, before Horne responded for Glasgow, after a one-two between Kiran McDonald and Horne.
Leinster was back and O’Brien fed Larmour wide to win. Glasgow contributed to their downfall when Smith returned from the field to witness his failed pass to Sione Tiipulotu being intercepted and scored an easy score by Ciaran Frawley at halfway.
Luke McGrath joined the party with Leinster’s 11th attempt, Harry Byrne performing the groundwork and Glasgow’s misery compounded by O’Brien dancing down the wing and jinking past a defender in order to complete the rout.
Leinster: O’Brien. Ringrose, Frawley. O’Loughlin. R Byrne. Gibson-Park. Porter. Furlong. McCarthy. Ryan. Baird. Van der Flier. Doris.
Replacements: Cronin, Healy, Ala’alatoa, Molony, Conan, McGrath, A Byrne, Henshaw.
Glasgow Smith, McKay. Tuipulotu. Johnson, McLean. Thompson. Price, Bhatti. Turner. Fagerson. Harley. Gray. Wilson. G Brown. Dempsey.
Replacements: F Brown, Kebble, Berghan, Bean, McDonald, Gordon, Horne, Miotti.