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Crucial score: Jamie Heaslip
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Teams
- Glasgow
- Leinster
Also see
- O'Driscoll injury worry for Lions
- Barkley swaps Paris for Grenoble
Leinster defied a highly-charged performance from Glasgow to set up an all-Ireland RaboDirect PRO12 final against Ulster.
A try from Jamie Heaslip and 12 points from the boot of fellow British and Irish Lion Jonny Sexton helped the former Heineken Cup champions to a 17-15 victory that sees them through to their second Dublin final.
Already assured of a place in the European Challenge Cup final at the RDS Stadium on May 17, Leinster went into the game as favourites against a side they defeated by four points at the same stage of the competition this time last year. And it was the Irish province who were first on the scoreboard when Sexton made no mistake with his second attempt at goal on 12 minutes.
However, Glasgow responded almost immediately to take the lead after Leinster had been rocked by the loss of talisman Brian O'Driscoll to injury.
Livewire scrum-half Nikola Matawalu burrowed his way over from close range to score a try under the posts which Stuart Hogg converted, before Glasgow went close to extending their advantage only for prop Ryan Grant to be held up over the line.
Hogg struck a penalty to make it 10-3 to Glasgow, but Leinster hit back with a try for Heaslip when the number eight broke free from a driving maul to score the second try of the evening.
Sexton missed the conversion but added a penalty late on in the half while Matawalu was in the sin-bin to hand Leinster a one-point interval lead.
What the third quarter lacked in points it more than made up for it in the physicality stakes with big hits going in from both sides. With just over an hour gone Leinster were denied a second try because of a forward pass but Sexton punished Glasgow ill-discipline with another three-pointer.
Sexton struck the upright with his next shot at goal but the attempt that followed, from the halfway line, was true to hand Leinster a seven-point cushion.
Glasgow's never-say-die spirit kept them in the hunt and they were rewarded with a try for Mark Bennett. Crucially the conversion was missed and Leinster hung on to maintain their hopes of a league and cup double.
The scorers:
For Leinster:
Tries: Heaslip
Pens: Sexton 4
For Glasgow:
Try: Matawalu, Bennett
Con: Hogg
Pens: Hogg
Yellow Card: Matawalu
Leinster: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Isa Nacewa, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Isaac Boss, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Sean O'Brien/Shane Jennings, 6 Kevin McLaughlin, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Leo Cullen (c), 3 Mike Ross, 2 Richardt Strauss, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Jamie Hagan, 19 Quinn Roux, 20 Shane Jennings/Rhys Ruddock, 21 John Cooney, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Andrew Conway.
Glasgow: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Sean Lamont, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 DTH Van der Merwe, 10 Peter Horne, 9 Niko Matawalu, 8 Ryan Wilson (c), 7 John Barclay, 6 Josh Strauss, 5 Al Kellock, 4 Tim Swinson, 3 Jon Welsh, 2 Pat MacArthur, 1 Ryan Grant.
Replacements: 16 Fraser Brown, 17 Moray Low, 18 Ed Kalman, 19 Tom Ryder, 20 Rob Harley, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Ruaridh Jackson, 23 Mark Bennett
Referee: Pascal Gauzere
Comments
new_j4a says...
@Toulousain, I was filled with a surge of respect for Johnny Sexton on the page about his respect for Jonny Wilkinson, but this was tempered with a surge of disgust at Leinster_goys response....it is people like Leinster_goy that ensure the world will celebrate when Leinster fails.
Posted 12:45 15th May 2013
Toulousain says...
It is indeed kind of you to respond @new_j4a. I fear I have dragged you from the busier and deeper waters of the S15 pages to this shallow rock-pool!! Don't expect a reply from crunch_goy91317 by the way. He thinks ignoring people will make them go away, or annoy them. But fear not, he will be reading these posts for sure, and yes, you are annoying him..... The fact there is "dissent" on a Leinster page that he cannot wipe clean for posterity just makes the hair on his head stand on end I imagine.....
Posted 18:21 14th May 2013
new_j4a says...
note to self (aka @Toulousain, @lacroix, @damo, @makemestupid): I think we fooled him....remember to stay in character or he'll figure it out.....he's a lot sharper than your average Leinsterman.
Posted 17:31 14th May 2013
new_j4a says...
@Toulousain who says "Or perhaps any of these posters, if reading, might like to make their own posts?" There is very little point in trying to convince Leinster_Goy of anything....he is paranoid and more than a little thick. What I like most about Leinster's misfortune and decline to the appropriate level is that they....and Leinster_Goy....have disappeared into the irrelevant recesses of a "Celtic" Club competition (with added minnows Italy) where we don't have to run into them every day...... Wales 5th, Ireland 9th, Scotland 10th, Italy 12th in the IRB rankings. This can hardly be called top level rugby, can it? Besides @Toulousain, I am fairly flattered at being mistaken for you.....I'll only really get upset if I am confused with Leinster_Goy or Lacroix, our resident expert on the necessity of top flight refs to have good table manners.
Posted 14:26 14th May 2013
mishmash says...
Key imports that add value to Glasgow? Sounds like good recruitment to me.
BTW goy, I hope that incoming recruits Jimmy Gopperth and Zane Kirschner are as successful signings as Felipe Contepomi, Nacewa, Rocky Elsom, Chris Whitaker, le Roux, van der Linde, Stan Wright, Finegan, Brad Thorn and Nathan Hines, not to mention current coach Joe Schmidt, forwards coach Jono Gibbes, scrum coach Greg Feek and former coaches Michael Cheika and whichever one of the Ella brothers coached Leinster way back. You obviously know much more than I do how much overseas talent can add to a club, so I bow to your superior knowledge about it. I apologise if I've missed any of Leinster's foreign legion, or should I say legions of foreigners.
Just to put your mind at rest goy, the SRU are putting as much effort into Edinburgh as Glasgow, as can be seen by the extensive recruitment last year Nel, Rees, Yapp, Atiga and the high profile coaches that have been recruited over the last few years.
As for Glasgow, appreciate your concern abut short term, but am happy with the way we're going, all bar about 4 of the squad Scottish, almost all the backs under 25 on Saturday, attendances significantly up. Appreciate your concern, but we're quite happy with the way things are progressing.
As for the match on Saturday, 'best team' is the team that scores more points.
Posted 16:19 13th May 2013
mcdb06 says...
@leinster_goy and @Toulousain
Can you two just skype each other and have an argument rather than subject us all to your lovers tiff?
Was funny for a while but it's going too far overboard with stupid accusations. And both appealing to PR to side with them and prove the other is wrong? It's gone beyond pathetic
Posted 13:57 13th May 2013
Toulousain says...
Wow, replies from both goy and crunchfit on one thread, two posters who have studiously ignored me since October but now address me with casual familiarity (I now learn, of course, that you have read and analysed my every post - good to know they have not been in vain hehehe....). Coincidence? Hmmm.
Once again, apologies to all those decent Leinster fans out there. Goy has brought up the issue of "doing a public service" in ousting me as a troll or doppelganger. He is the vigilante of these pages after all. I am usually a harmless middle aged woman, but at my age, 60, I've learned not to be particularly frightened of bullies!
Posted 12:56 13th May 2013
crunchfit says...
@Toulousain
lol no actually, just the entire basis of their offense... So many excuses, but if it were all down to Glasgow being unlucky, perhaps they'd win more in Europe. But it isn't, and they don't.
You can continue microanalysing each game and ignore underlying issues with my other personalities buddy! I'm out, have a good day.
Posted 11:55 13th May 2013
Toulousain says...
sorry, @crunchgoy91317, didn't see your post of 18:55 since PR took a little while to upload it. so, who are saying has cracked?
Perhaps@PR Editor (and I don't know if this is possible or might be in breach of client confidentiality or other rules? and I'm not even sure that it will resolve anything....) you might simply put the issue to rest and confirm to leinster_goy that I am not any of the following?:
@new_j4a
@lacroix
@damo
@makemehappy
(Or perhaps any of these posters, if reading, might like to make their own posts?)
This idea you have of goy multiple personalities is what first alerted me to your very own game. Takes one to know one I think the saying goes....?
Posted 07:57 13th May 2013
Toulousain says...
The logical absurdity is too much! "Shame about Glasgow's inaccuracy" makes no sense from you goy. "Shame" because we all would have liked to see a better game, yes? "Shame" because Leinster were very underhand in their spoiling tactics, possibly? But you can't say "shame Glasgow weren't better" because really you mean "thank heavens they didn't put us to the sword like they could and should have".
Then this business of "deserving". Exeter this year at home. Montpol last year away. Clermont in Bordeaux. All games you should have lost but miraculously didn't. A single breath of respect for your opponents from you? Recognition that luck plays a part in sport? Of course not.
Then those games vs Ospreys. The boot on the other foot, so to speak. And we hear nothing but complaints about the ref. The sheer injustice of it all. Or the 6N games vs Scot and Italy this year. Same noise from you. Well, by your own philosophy, if ya coulda ya woulda, right?
If you cannot recognise that chance plays a part in sport, and that victory is less important than respecting your opponent and the game itself, you are truly lost mon ami.
(The fact that leinster_goy, crunchfit, paddy91317 and quite possible others are all the same individual shows a pathological need to wipe these pages clean of any opposing views - btw the self-dialogue on Jonathan Davies vs BOD has been hilarious, as if the selectors read these pages!)
I will stick to reading what J_HDK, The_Dange and others have said. That luck plays a part. That Glasgow really came to play. And that they, as Leinstermen, were relieved to escape with a win. Nothing wrong with that!
Posted 20:41 12th May 2013
leinster_goy says...
@PR not going to publish my first post? i reckon you ought to do so. it is in the interests of the wider commenting community on PR to know about this troll
Posted 19:29 12th May 2013
leinster_goy says...
about the match itself: i'm a tad confused about all the comments saying that glasgow were "unlucky" and "deserved to win".
i've always been intrigued by the concept of a team that "deserved to win" yet lost. surely if you are the better team and you deserve to win, then you win. 9 times out of 10, that is invariably the case. the only exception is where the losing team has suffered a mighty injustice, or a series of injustices that denied them victory. a perfect example would be the final last year: Leinster leading 30-21 on 73 mins, nathan white wrongly sinbinned by poite = pro 12 title lost
last night was quite clearly not one of those cases. both teams were sometimes guilty of bending the rules at the breakdown but apart from a few strange scrum calls, there were no crucial incorrect decisions either way. it seems to me that glasgow only have themselves to blame for the loss. trying to throw miracle offloads that weren't on. unable to capitalise on their early dominance (and thwarted by our brilliant defence - nothing unlucky about that. that's just Leinster quality). and for about the half the game, they were barely near our line at all. so if they truly "deserved to win", then why didn't they?
or, as jack nicholson's character in the departed put it: "if ya coulda, ya woulda"
Posted 19:16 12th May 2013
leinster_goy says...
we are very privileged to be witnessing the meltdown of Planet Rugby's most prolific super-troll. his elaborate network of multiple accounts, each with their own specific personality, is collapsing before our very eyes
the defining characteristic of this super-troll is that he hates Leinster, and this is reflected in all of his personae. he relentlessly trolls Leinster topics with words like "rubbish" (new_j4a), "in decline" (lacroix) and childish "na-na-n-na-na" gloating when we lose, alternating between the names damo, makemehappy and Toulousain
interestingly, through his "Toulousain" account he's attempted to adopt a more generous tone towards Leinster lately, showering us with praise, again in the hope of covering his tracks. but in this thread, he's dropped the ball and thrown a tantrum. the hatred of Leinster shines through. he's hurting, cos we beat glasgow deservedly and are in yet another final. he can't take it. he's cracked, you could say
the thing is, i've been monitoring Toulousain's odd posts since he first appeared a year ago. why odd, you say? well the fact that he claims to be a 60-year old french woman from toulouse should raise a few eyebrows for a start. a university professor, apparently. has an argentinian husband working in the toulouse medical staff. has absolutely impeccable written english skills. posts comments on Leinster defeats like "wow, the best team in the NH just got OWNED :-)". trolls constantly about the pro12, implying that it's crap. a model of the france's senior citizenry and educational establishment, eh?
basically, this troll has over-reached himself completely, concocting a character so absurd and far-fetched that his charade was doomed to failure. and he's been rumbled. i've given up responding to him (something that has actually caused him to get in a bit of a strop lately). other posters with sense should do likewise
Posted 18:55 12th May 2013
Toulousain says...
"shame about Glasgow's constant inaccuracy" You're joking, right crunchfit?
If you mean a spilt pass after 20 phases, could it be that the Glasgow player was being tackled before receiving the ball? If you mean a knock-on by 9 at the base, could it be because a Leinster player was interfering on the wrong side of the ruck? If you mean being yellow carded for lazy running, could it be a Leinster player deliberately throwing the ball at you? If you mean forward/flat passes, could it be because the crowd was influencing the ref? If you mean letting Heaslip score with about the only Leinster attack of the game, could it be because of blocking by half the rest of the Leinster pack?
We obviously saw two completely different games mon ami. Your opinion appears so biased as to be irrelevant, except insofar as it is amusing!
(Perhaps goy or paddy91317 would like to answer on your behalf hehehe?).
The game I saw was a brave Glasgow team, playing ALL the rugby, away from home, being cruelly denied by bad luck (2 held-up tries, 1 super-soft try conceded), missed kicks, and a ref influenced by the home crowd that did not allow them any quick ball or space to run into in the mid-field.
Posted 17:35 12th May 2013
crunchfit says...
Great game. Shame about Glasgow's constant inaccuracy. You can praise them all you want for putting Leinster under pressure and not converting pressure into points, but that's the case every time they lose. If you play that sort of game, you have to be accurate with every single pass. It doesn't matter if do 10, 20, 30, 40 passes if you're going to go and then make a single bad one, which they generally do. That's Glasgow's problem. Sure, you can praise them for some entertaining rugby, but I would be critical, particularly if I was a Glasgow fan, that they haven't sorted out the most important factor of that style of play. It's a shame, they could beat pretty much anyone in HC or Pro12 if they could get that right.
Why are most professional referees idiots? I mean, this isn't a simple game. You have to have a bit of intelligence to be a good rugby referee. Very few around right now, in this league or worldwide.
And every time Glasgow play Leinster, they are considered the better side and people say it's a shame they lost. Leinster are the better team and the record shows it. The only shame is that they still haven't fixed the crux of their game.
Posted 16:06 12th May 2013
Dannyboy says...
@ Leinster_goy Without a doubt the imports have pushed Glasgow on. And they haven't won anything yet, but it's the positive indicators that are my reasons for optimism. It takes a sharp backroom team to consistently bring in good foreign players and seems they've been pretty shrewd in their imports. Added to this Gregor Townsend seems like he has the right motivation and temperament for success, and he's going to stick around a while. So that's looking good too. Also, they've got to the last four of the league, showing great consistency. They've been there or thereabout for a while.No reason to not see them their again next year. Unlike Scarlets who have been stripmined of their talent.
Only 3 year ago Scottish rugby was looking pretty dismal but since then they've had a HC semi finalist, and a few pro12 semis. Plus their best 6 nations results in quite a while. Nobody is dancing in the streets but what was looking like terminal decline has been stopped and looks to me like they entering a more stable phase. Reasons for optimism I reckon.
Posted 14:45 12th May 2013
Greyprop says...
I am astounded that some on here think that the Ref had a good game. He abdicated all control, letting players do as they will at ruck, maul and even in open play. Is there any point in the IRB continuing to keep certain laws in the book if they don't hold their referees to account for not upholding them on the pitch.
@ ABlack in total agreement on all points.
Posted 14:25 12th May 2013
Rosbif says...
What a fantastic match! So much tension for the full 80. Incredible..
Now it's done, I'm curious to see the stats. Ball in play time for Glasgow with kick run pass ratios, attacking breakdowns won in opp 22, line breaks, metres made, possession, territory etc. And for Leinster, number of tackles, time without ball, turnovers made, pens conceded etc. To the naked eye, it reminded me so much of the Fra NZ QF in Cardiff in 2007. Graham Henry, years after the event, was at pains to understand how his team lost that day, after looking at the stats. I wonder how Townsend will come to terms with losing this one. Not enough precision with the final pass, yes. A missed kick or two, yes. A few lottery-style scrum pens against you, yes. A silly yellow card, yes. All this can be expected. But how can one team defend for almost the entire game and not concede more kickable penalties? How many times might the ref have blown for midfield offsides after 20 phase offloading line-breaking moves? Or as ABlack has said, more prosaic breakdown offences....
Anyway, well played both teams. Once again, an incredibly watchable spectacle.
Looking ahead for Leinster, I am beginning to have some doubts about the double. Stade Francais have been resting up for next Friday's game for 3 weeks now. And they like to play a high paced all court game. Then comes Ulster, who have 2 weeks to prep for the Pro 12 final. Meanwhile Leinster, taken to the wire in a very high paced game last night, after playing Ospreys and Biarritz in previous weeks (admittedly all at home - but it still adds up), are starting to stretch at the seams. Bodies that aren't broken will be aching today. Can they really play 5 massive games in a row?
We will find out I guess. But if they do it, that will be a truly Herculean mission accomplished. Allez les bleus !!!
Posted 13:07 12th May 2013
j_hdk says...
Glasgow seem to have taken one or two leaves from the clermont playbook around the breakdown :P that coupled with a heads up unstructured attack has made themvery difficult opponents this season. A very tight game that had me swearing at the tv right to the end.
If only there weren't so many forward passes could have been a classic
Posted 12:10 12th May 2013
tellitlikeitis says...
well refereed? You must be joking. Gauzere is a clown. A drisgrace.
Posted 11:11 12th May 2013