Leinster v Northampton live updates: Champions Cup semi-final
6 minutes ago
Hello and welcome to the Champions Cup semi-final between Leinster and Northampton Saints at the Aviva Stadium.
John O'Sullivan
here, and I'll take you through all the pre-match fare, the game and the post-match reaction including
Gerry Thornley's
match report and
Johnny Watterson
who has his red pen ready for the Player Ratings.
It's a repeat of last season's semi-final, a game Leinster led 20-3 early in the second half through a James Lowe hat-trick but had to cling on for dear life to edge home 20-17. There's been plenty of throughput in the Saints pack, Courtney Lawes, now with Brive a huge loss. But the visitors have a precocious young flanker in Henry Pollock who obviously believes that all the world's a stage for his talent.
The Saints are without some stellar attacking talent in Ollie Sleightholme, George Furbank and George Hendy too.
Leinster are without secondrow James Ryan – he hasn't started any of Leinster's last five Champions Cup knockout matches as he was a replacement in the 2024 final – but otherwise have few injury concerns. Tommy O'Brien and Max Deegan are rewarded for their brilliant form, Cian Healy gets another starting role like the last day, while the bench contains………well a hell of a lot of talent not least Leinster's man of the match in the quarter-final, Jordie Barrett.
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