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Irish Times
3 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
Leinster class shines through in bruising URC semi-final that proved familiarity breeds contempt
URC semi-final: Leinster 37 Glasgow Warriors 19 There were reminders aplenty of the dominance exerted by Ireland and Leinster over their Scottish counterparts for much of the professional era. This United Rugby Championship semi-final had echoes of Ireland dismantling and eliminating Scotland in the World Cup at the Stade de France, both in the scale of the victory and the undercurrent of hostility bubbling between the two sides. Watching Adam Hastings grappling with, and sneering at James Lowe toward the end of the first half – by which point Leinster were almost out of sight – brought to mind some of the scuffles that day in Paris as well. Once again, it made you wonder why some Scottish players seem so intent on riling their Irish opposition. Two late converted tries were of modest consolation to the Warriors and merely distorted the scoreline. Such was Leinster's command of the physical exchanges that this was much closer to the 52-0 rout in the Champions Cup quarter-final two months ago than the hard-earned 13-5 win in a dead-rubber three weeks ago. After all, Leinster had two tries ruled out in the first half for crossing and a forward pass, and Jordie Barrett also couldn't ground the ball over the line. Furthermore, Sam Prendergast left behind 11 points off the tee by missing four conversions and a penalty. READ MORE They say familiarity breeds contempt and it's evident that this ultra-focused and ruthless upgrade on Leinster's previous two displays was a backhanded compliment to Glasgow in dethroning the champions. It was evident, right from the start, that Leinster were in the mood 'When you play a team you play quite frequently, and that gives it back to you in spades, there is that motivation to do your best,' admitted Jack Conan afterwards. 'We spoke just about being physical and dominant and we were for the majority and that is really pleasing. We'll use this as another stepping stone for next week.' Equally as revealing was Jamison Gibson-Park when he told an array of ex-players-turned-pundits on Premier Sports: 'I suppose it was the ideal opponent for us in the semi-finals. We've a bit of history with Glasgow. We've had some ding-dong battles with them over the years.' Dan Sheehan celebrates with Jamison Gibson-Park after scoring Leinster's first try against Glasgow Warriors. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho It was evident, right from the start, that Leinster were in the mood. Prendergast's hanging kick-off led to Tommy O'Brien leading the charge as Henco Venter was engulfed. He conceded a penalty for not releasing. Cue a kick to the corner, a lineout maul and a patient power play which culminated in the first of another brace by Dan Sheehan, thus taking his tally to 14 for the season. When Leinster are 'on it' like they were here, to quote Conan, it serves to demonstrate how under-par their display was a week beforehand against the Scarlets. It also makes the performance against Northampton in the Champions Cup semi-final harder to understand, particularly the lack of urgency and intensity in defence. As well as dominating on the ground, rarely has a team so reigned supreme in the air as Leinster did here. Franco Smith must regret restoring Hastings's kicking game to outhalf and seeking to target a fired-up Lowe in the air. Even so, the gulf in class was so pronounced that it probably didn't make a huge difference to the outcome. Tacit admittance of this came at half-time when Hastings was withdrawn and the departing Tom Jordan shifted back to outhalf, from where he had orchestrated the commanding quarter-final win over the Stormers. While four of the six tries were down to the pack's dominance and power plays, a couple were a product of the highly-skilled, high-tempo rugby they are capable of producing when also in the mood. The counterattack to set up an overload on the blindside of the recycle was nicely worked. The crowd witnessed quick hands by Prendergast, Barrett and Jimmy O'Brien before Lowe's one-handed offload sent Jamie Osborne through to finish along the touchline. That made it 15-5 and was vintage Leinster. So too was the bout of continuity initiated by Lowe's high take and carry, and support play by Ryan Baird which culminated in Tommy O'Brien keeping the ball alive for Ciarán Frawley to finish. 'We always want to play at pace,' said Conan, although there seemed to be a much more concerted effort to do so in this match than in that pedestrian quarter-final against the Scarlets. Leinster's Ryan Baird, who was outstanding throughout, offloads the ball. Photograph: Dan Sheridan/Inpho 'If you look at our athletes, the players, we have pace across the board. We want to stretch teams, we want to put them under pressure, we want to play quick from rucks.' Nor was this a pre-ordained tactic, as such. 'It was just the way the game developed. It started fast, we had the ball a lot. Sometimes you can get sucked into kick-battles and stuff like that and you are trying to play territory or whatever. 'But that wasn't the case today. We rolled up our sleeves and got to work and got the bit of pace which suits us.' The energy brought by the less exposed players this season, such as Tom Clarkson, Baird, Osborne and the O'Briens, underlined that going deep into a season requires going deep into a squad. In his fifth successive 80-minute outing, the outstanding Baird never let up, invariably leading Leinster's hungry kick-chase, even when first to a long restart in the 79th minute. Watched by Andy Farrell, the thought occurred that such a rare talent should really be a Lion. SCORING SEQUENCE – 3 mins: Sheehan try, Prendergast con, 7-0; 5: Horne try, 7-5; 23: Prendergast pen, 10-5; 28: Osborne try, 15-5; 33: Clarkson try, 20-5; ( half-time 20-5 ); 41: Sheehan try, 25-5; 54: Osborne try, Prendergast con, 32-5; 58: Frawley try, 37-5; 72: Dobie try, Jordan con, 37-12; 79: Tuipulotu try, Jordan con, 37-19. LEINSTER: Jimmy O'Brien; Tommy O'Brien, Jamie Osborne, Jordie Barrett, James Lowe; Sam Prendergast, Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Thomas Clarkson; Joe McCarthy, James Ryan; Ryan Baird, Scott Penny, Jack Conan (capt). Replacements: Rónan Kelleher for Sheehan, RG Snyman for Ryan (both 55 mins); Rabah Slimani for Clarkson, Ciarán Frawley for Barrett (both 56); Jack Boyle for Porter (59); Ross Byrne for Prendergast (61); Max Deegan for Conan (64); Luke McGrath for Gibson-Park (70 mins). GLASGOW WARRIORS: Josh McKay; Kyle Steyn (capt), Sione Tuipulotu, Tom Jordan, Kyle Rowe; Adam Hastings, George Horne; Jamie Bhatti, Gregor Hiddleston, Fin Richardson; Alex Samuel, Scott Cummings; Euan Ferrie, Rory Darge, Henco Venter. Replacements: Stafford McDowall for Hastings (h-t); Johnny Matthews for Hiddleston, Rory Sutherland for Bhatti, Sam Talakai for Richardson, Max Williamson for Samuel (all 45 mins); Jamie Dobie for Horne (52); Macenzzie Duncan for Venter (59), Jack Mann for Ferrie (73). Referee: Andrea Piardi (FIR).
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Sport
- Daily Mail
We weren't good enough, admits Warriors coach Franco after reigning champions are blown away by Leinster
Leinster 37 Glasgow 19 GLASGOW WARRIORS boss Franco Smith admitted his team were nowhere near good enough after they were blown away by Leinster in the URC semi-finals. Leinster ran in six tries in a dominant performance to bring Glasgow's reign as champions to a brutal end in Dublin. The Irish side scored 30 unanswered points at one stage to race clear as the Warriors sank without a trace at the Aviva. In particular, Smith was left to rue a slow start which had seen his team chasing the game and, ultimately, making too many unforced errors. 'Ultimately, we weren't good enough on the day, especially in the first half,' admitted the Glasgow head coach. 'I felt we should have started the game much better. 'It was a huge performance from Leinster. They started so quickly and we were chasing things from there, which is so hard. That just led to more errors from our side. 'They did a job on us in the first 20 or 25 minutes, where we had to make about 100 tackles. Leinster are a quality outfit, but we could have been better. 'They kept the error and penalty count down while we didn't. They put us on the back foot and it was an uphill battle from there.' Smith had started the match with two fly-halves on the pitch, as Adam Hastings started at 10 and Tom Jordan at 12 in an effort to match Leinster's kicking game. But it didn't work. Glasgow lost the aerial battle and Hastings was taken off at half-time, as Leinster dominated. Insisting that it was not the wrong approach, Smith said: 'I don't think the strategy was wrong. I think that's the right way to play against Leinster. We just didn't compete well enough in the aerial battle.' Despite the heavy defeat, Smith insisted he was proud of the efforts from his players in a title defence which fell short at the semi-final stage. 'I am really proud of our boys for our title defence this season,' he added. 'We must see it in context. We've had a lot of guys injured and not available for selection. You have to look at the big picture. 'We had to be extraordinarily good and they would have had to be average at least and that didn't happen.' Meanwhile, Leinster forward Ryan Baird, who was named man of the match, said: 'We want to win this tournament. Simple as that. We needed to turn up, no excuses and we did that. 'Glasgow are a great team full of Lions players and we never took them for granted. We were physical and energetic which is just as pleasing as the scores we got.'
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Glasgow make two changes for Leinster semi-final
Glasgow Warriors have made two changes from the side that beat Stormers in the URC quarter-finals for Saturday's semi-final against Leinster. Fin Richardson replaces Murphy Walker as the starting tighthead prop, while Adam Hastings starts at fly-half with Tom Jordan shifting to 12 and Stafford McDowall dropping to the bench. Advertisement Scotland centre Huw Jones misses out again, as do forwards Matt Fagerson, Jack Dempsey and Zander Fagerson. Ireland and Leinster full-back Hugo Keenan will miss the game having not been included in the matchday squad. He is replaced by Jimmy O'Brien in the 15 shirt, while Tommy O'Brien starts on the right wing.. Dan Sheehan returns at hooker, with Ronan Kelleher dropping to the bench, while Scott Penny replaces the injured Josh van der Flier at open-side flanker. Glasgow have lost on their past two trips to Dublin, having been thrashed 52-0 by Leinster in April in the Champions Cup and beaten 13-5 in the final match of the regular URC season. Advertisement Glasgow XV to face Leinster: McKay, Steyn, Tuipulotu, Jordan, Hastings, Horne; Bhatti, Hiddleston, Richardson, Samuel, Cummings, Ferrie, Darge, Venter. Replacements: Matthews, Sutherland, Talakai, Williamson, Mann, Duncan, McDowall, Dobie.
Irish Daily Mirror
5 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Leinster vs Glasgow: What is kick-off time, TV channel, betting, line-ups
Leinster and Glasgow Warriors go head-to-head in the first of the two URC semi-final clashes this Irish side have home advantage but have been forced to juggle selection as injuries build up and, indeed, none of Hugo Keenan, Garry Ringrose, Robbie Henshaw, Tadhg Furlong and Caelan Doris make the matchday squad This has forced three personnel changes from the side that started last week's quarter-final with Tommy O'Brien, Dan Sheehan and Scott Penny - who played the last hour last week - coming into the sideTighthead prop Fin Richardson and out-half Adam Hastings have been called into Glasgow Warriors starting what you need to know about the game:Where and when is it?The match takes place at The Aviva, Dublin, Saturday June time is kick-off?The action gets under way at are the Match Officials?Italian referee Andrea Piardi (FIR, 54th league game) will be in the centre with Craig Evans (WRU) and Gianluca Gnecchi (FIR) as the touch judges. Matteo Liperini (FIR) is TMO "Glasgow, you think back to the question around kicking... they'd a very different plan around kicking last time to when we played them the first time. Adam Hastings is in at No 10 instead of Tom Jordan, he's more of a kicking 10, so that would suggest he might kick the ball more, but we'll wait and see." Premier TV's rugby analyst, former Wales star Tom Shanklin: 'I don't think it's all about game plan or tactics for Leinster - they are really intelligent players, it's all to do with emotion and motivation and that's down to the senior players and coaches to get the team in the right mindset to approach this game. 'The Lions of Leinster have to drive standards in this game. Chuck in Jordie Barrett as well for his experience - he's been so great for them, I have not seen a poor game from him since he arrived.'Glasgow Warriors Head Coach Franco Smith: 'Leinster are the standard setters in this competition. They finished top of the standings for a reason, and have consistently out-performed teams across the course of this season while showing their strength in depth.'It is a challenge that we know we will need to be at our best to meet, and the players are focused on the task at hand. Training this week has been sharp and competitive, with every player working hard for each other to put this squad in the best possible position for tomorrow afternoon.'Premier TV's rugby analyst, former Scotland captain John Barclay: "Glasgow are looking good, looking sharp and are peaking at the right time, I think they will be confident going over there. They dominated the Stormers up front last weekend which surprised a few people given the size of them, but the Warriors are so well coached now, they know how to do that. 'If you look at the coaching ticket that Glasgow have, the way they evolve and have a plan for every week, I think they'll be pretty comfortable in what they have to do as a team on odds:Leinster win: 1/8Glasgow Warriors win: 11/2Draw: 35/1 Betting tip: Scott Penny to score anytime time try - 5/2. A free-scoring flanker at the best of times (91 games, 63 starts, 34 tries), Leinster like to use their no7, whoever it is, as an auxiliary scoring option at the back of mauls. Given Penny is popular within the squad and there will be some sympathy for his missing out on Ireland selection, expect him to be tee-d up at some point. How will they line out?Leinster: Jimmy O'Brien, Tommy O'Brien, Jamie Osborne, Jordie Barrett, James Lowe, Sam Prendergast, Jamison Gibson-Park, Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Thomas Clarkson, Joe McCarthy, James Ryan, Ryan Baird, Scott Penny, Jack Conan (CAPT)Replacements: Rónan Kelleher, Jack Boyle, Rabah Slimani, RG Snyman, Max Deegan, Luke McGrath, Ross Byrne, Ciarán FrawleyGlasgow Warriors: Josh McKay, Kyle Steyn (CAPT), Sione Tuipulotu, Tom Jordan, Kyle Rowe, Adam Hastings, George Horne, Jamie Bhatti, Gregor Hiddleston, Fin Richardson, Alex Samuel, Scott Cummings, Euan Ferrie, Rory Darge, Henco VenterReplacements: Johnny Matthews, Rory Sutherland, Sam Talakai, Max Williamson, Jack Mann, Macenzzie Duncan, Stafford McDowall, Jamie DobieReferee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
BBC News
5 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Warriors must 'stay in the fight' against Leinster
Glasgow Warriors must "stay in the fight" and use the pressure of the occasion to overcome Leinster in the URC semi-finals, according to the club's former scrum-half Colin Smith's side travel to Dublin for Saturday's match seeking a first away win over Leinster in six Gregor believes there is a mental fragility to Leinster that could benefit defending champions Glasgow."They seem to have a bit of a wobble at the latter stages," Gregor told BBC Scotland. "Three European Cup finals they lost, they lost at home this season in the semi-final of the European Cup, and at home last season in the URC semi-final."There's question marks around the mental resilience, their decision-making under pressure. Maybe they are missing the experience Johnny Sexton provided for a number of years. They had a bit of a wobble, but got through last week in the quarter-finals against Scarlets."For Glasgow, it's about staying in the fight and making it really difficult for Leinster. Keep the game as close as possible and see if that home crowd get on the backs of the Leinster players who are desperate for a victory. The longer they go without it, the more the pressure builds."Glasgow can take real heart from how they dispatched Stormers last week, but also last season when they went over to Munster in the semi-finals."Smith is a very astute coach. He'll have the team ready to go. He'll know what he's doing with picking Adam Hastings and having six forwards on the bench."
