Leinster finish strongly to hold off Harlequins

Investec Champions Cup

Leinster (24) 45

Tries: Larmour 2, Ringrose, Frawley, T O’Brien, Conan, J O’Brien Cons: Prendergast 2, Byrne 3

Harlequins (14) 28

Leinster finished strongly to hold off a spirited Harlequins and launch their latest quest for a fifth Champions Cup title with a bonus-point pool 3 win at Aviva Stadium.

Jordan Larmour’s double and tries from Garry Ringrose and Ciaran Frawley secured Leinster’s bonus point before half-time in Dublin, but Luke Northmore and Cassius Cleaves scores gave Harlequins a glimmer of hope.

Ten minutes after the restart, Harlequins narrowed the deficit to just three points with a penalty try as Jimmy O’Brien was yellow-carded for a deliberate knock-on.

But after Quins lost Jarrod Evans to a yellow card, Tommy O’Brien and Jack Conan touched down for the hosts before New Zealand international Rieko Ioane marked his debut with a try assist for Jimmy O’Brien.

Leinster – who scored 10 tries in a 62-0 thrashing when the sides met in the last 16 at Croke Park in April – opened their account in the fifth minute when Larmour barged his way over in the corner.

But Harlequins, who were without rested England internationals Marcus Smith, Fin Baxter and Chandler Cunningham-South, responded strongly as Northmore touched down under the posts after sustained pressure from the visitors.

Quins, however, were unable to repel a relentless Leinster attack as Ringrose finished off a sharp move before Prendergast teed up Larmour’s second try with a superb crossfield kick.

The visitors narrowed the deficit again when Cleaves sprinted through a gap in the Leinster defence to finish off a smart line-out move.

Having kept Leinster within reach, Quins heaped pressure on the four-time champions early in the second half when they were awarded a penalty try after a deliberate knock-on from full-back O’Brien with the visitors poised to score on the left wing.

While O’Brien was yellow-carded, Harlequins were unable to score again before Evans was sin-binned, and their hopes of a statement away win were further dented when Tommy O’Brien produced a lovely piece of skill to knock a grubber kick past Cameron Anderson and score Leinster’s fifth.

From there, the pressure told on the Quins defence as Conan finished a fine move before Ioane teed up Jimmy O’Brien to atone for his earlier indiscretion.

Leinster captain Caelan Doris told Premier Sports:

“It’s a bonus-point win, but performance-wise we’re going to have to improve quite a bit going into Leicester away and as we get deeper into the tournament.

“[There were a] few moving parts, not to make that an excuse, but we’re going to need to improve as we go on.”

On Ioane: “He’s been great so far, he’s fitted in pretty quickly. It’s tricky coming in and learning a new language in terms of all the play-calling and whatnot, but he’s done a good job and he’s one of us already.”

Harlequins head coach Jason Gilmore told Premier Sports:

“[It was] a bit frustrating. I thought the boys put plenty of effort in there and a really proud performance for the fellas. I was really happy that we got the bonus point, I felt we deserved that.

Leinster: J O’Brien; T O’Brien, Ringrose, Frawley, Larmour; Prendergast, Gibson-Park; P McCarthy, Sheehan, Clarkson, Snyman, J McCarthy, Conan, Van der Flier, Doris (capt).

Replacements: Kelleher, Boyle, Furlong, Mangan, Deegan, McGrath, Byrne, Ioane.

Sin-bin: J O’Brien (50 mins)

Harlequins: Anderson; Cleaves, Beard, Northmore, Murley (capt); Evans, Porter; Wenger, Walker, Williams, Treadwell, Lewies, Carr, Evans, Lawday.

Replacements: Turner, Hobson, Delgado, Launchbury, Schmid, Friday, Benson, Bradley.

Referee: Craig Evans (Wal)

Assistant referees: Adam Jones (Wal) & Ben Breakspear (Wal)