Champions Cup live updates – The Irish Times

On May 4, 2024By Vaseline

43 minutes: TRY FOR LEINSTER! Great break from Baird, running hard and he makes a lot of ground before being stopped. Crowds find their voice. Henshaw miraculously keeps him alive on the wing and he stands five yards from the line. Nice offload from Sheehan makes the move, Frawley shows composure to pass to Lowe for his hat-trick. Byrne misses the conversion.

Leinster 20 Northampton 3

42 minutes: Leinster win straight from the restart and one last attack. McCarthy makes a break and then there are several phases about 15 yards out. Frawley, Doris and Moloney make it five, but Van der Flier drops it and it’s half time.

Halftime: Leinster 15 Northampton 3

A well-deserved lead for Leinster, who have risen to the occasion. Gibson-Park with some magical passing and excellent defense. Northampton was off colour, but showed some signs of a revival towards the end of the half. There is still plenty to play for the second half in Croke Park.

39 minutes: Penalty scored by Northampton. Oh dear. Northampton finally finds space and has numbers to spare. Ramm with a pass to the wing isn’t great and Freeman can’t hold the ball with the line in sight. It’s back for a penalty and it’s a lovely kick from Smith straight over the posts in Croke Park. However, Leinster got away with it.

Leinster 15 Northampton 3

35 minutes: High ball from Gibson-Park is hit forward by Lowe. Better attack from Northampton, but it’s a battle against the Leinster defence. A kick backwards is well received by Lowe who plays a good ball away.

Leinster 15 Northampton 0

30 minutes: Penalty scored by Leinster! Another penalty in the scrum goes to Northampton. Byrne chooses to kick straight in front of the posts.

Leinster 15 Northampton 0

28 minutes: Great Leinster defence, Nienaber’s influence seen there, turns the ball over again. I don’t give Northampton an inch. An attacking lineout is won by Baird, but it is a rare mistake from Gibson-Park when he knocks on.

Leinster 12 Northampton 0

23 minutes: So far it’s the Gibson-Park show, with the passes fizzing and penalties being won. Good carry from McCarthy and it’s another penalty for Leinster. Northampton must have had seven or eight handling errors in the first 23 minutes.

Leinster 12 Northampton 0

19 minutes: Another downer from Freeman after a good tackle from Osborne and Henshaw, who struggled to cope with Leinster’s intensity.

Leinster 12 Northampton 0

15 minutes: TRY FOR LEINSTER! Northampton is nervous and gets another pass intercepted halfway through. Byrne catches Smith out, but Byrne doesn’t have the pace to get through. Leinster win a penalty and Gibson-Park tries another clever kick, just outside play. Back to a penalty and straight into contact. Baird wins a clean lineout after a fine throw from Sheehan. Doris nears the line and more ingenuity from Gibson-Park as he almost hits the ball back to Lowe who is free to finish. Byrne’s conversion hits the post.

Leinster 12 Northampton 0

12 minutes: TRY FOR LEINSTER! Leinster must get within five yards, Baird with the suitcase. Penalty advantage for Leinster. Byrne against Lowe on the wing, but just short. Back for the penalty, Gibson-Park takes it quickly and plays a brilliant long pass on a dime to Lowe over several players. Lowe wraps it up nicely. Byrne converts. The first piece of real quality in an error-prone game and that had to be the magician at number 9.

Leinster 7 Northampton 0

9 minutes: Another downer for Freeman this time, not a great pass from Dingwall. Leinster don’t make good ground from several phases, a small kick from Gibson-Park and it’s Hendy’s turn to drop it. Attacking scrum for Leinster.

Leinster 0 Northampton 0

6 minutes: Leinster get a penalty, Porter in the scrum and Smith kicks for touch. Leinster almost stole the lineout, but Northampton kept it. Another downer from the England team and Leinster back for a scrum. Another downer from Leinster, Sheehan this time. Sloppy start to this game.

Leinster 0 Northampton 0

3 minutes: First lineout dropped by Alex Mitchell. First Leinster attack, James Lowe with a great kick into the corner after a few passes. However, there is no great passage of play for Leinster as Lowe misses a pass, Frawley kicks and Larmour knocks on.

Leinster 0 Northampton 0

From our reporter in the stadium:

In the good tradition of Dubs being late entering Croke Park, Leinster v Northampton has been postponed by ten minutes.

— Malachy Clerkin (@MalachyClerkin) May 4, 2024

The teams again:

LEINSTER: Ciaran Frawley; Jordan Larmour, Robbie Henshaw, Jamie Osborne, James Lowe; Ross Byrne, Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Furlong; Ross Molony, Joe McCarthy, Ryan Baird, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris (captain).

Replacements: Rónan Kelleher, Cian Healy, Michael Ala’alatoa, Jason Jenkins, Jack Conan, Luke McGrath, Harry Byrne, Jimmy O’Brien.

NORTHAMPTON: George Furbank; James Ramm, Tommy Freeman, Fraser Dingwall, George Hendy; Finn Smith, Alex Mitchell; Alex Waller, Curtis Langdon, Trevor Davison; Alex Moon, Alex Coles; Courtney Lawes (captain), Sam Graham, Juarno Augustus.

Replacements: Sam Matavesi, Emmanuel Iyogun, Elliot Millar Mills, Temo Mayanavanua, Angus Scott-Young, Tom James, Tom Litchfield, Tom Seabrook.

Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France).

Croke Park is obviously a big part of today’s match.

John O’Sullivan writes about the Croke Park effect on the match.

“Croke Park and rugby – what’s on your mind? Tears, cheers but no beer, at least on the seats? Greetings from Martin Corry? Dan Parks’ punishment. Perhaps the time Vincent Clerc, who would later become Irish rugby’s nemesis, sucked the joy out of the stadium as it went from colosseum to mausoleum with a lean of the shoulder and a twist of the hips?

Or a quiz question where the answer is Tommy Bowe? Perhaps it was part of, or watched in, 2009 when a then world record crowd of 82,208 descended on the GAA headquarters as Leinster dethroned the reigning Heineken Cup champions, a brilliant Munster team.

( The Croke Park effect: ‘It was one of the few times I cried during the opposition anthem’ )

The answer to the question is of course: he is the last Irish player to score a Test match goal in Croke Park.

Leinster fans before the match. Photo: Ryan Byrne/Info

Leinster fans take over the north side of Dublin.

Some Noordampton analysis by Nathan Johns. Head coach Sam Vesty believes significant improvements have been made and these are the strongest Saints in recent memory. Size clearly matters. In the top club competitions – URC, Premiership, Top14 and Super Rugby – a bigger Northampton team are ranked 10th in the world for their dominant tackling rate (9.5 per cent). Leinster is a handful of places ahead with 9.1 percent. More statistics can be read here:

( Northampton’s rise to the last four: bulking, defensive steel and attacking prowess )

There is a feeling of unfinished business James Lowe Next up, the Leinster winger is determined to return to another Champions Cup final and this time claim the coveted silverware

“I mean, I think everyone understands the history of what Croke Park represents to the Irish people and I’m sure there are kids all over the country who dream of one day being able to represent their counties here and their counties,” he said.

James Lowe of Leinster. Photo: James Crombie/Info

“Ireland has been my home for a long time. I’ve been here to watch a few football matches and to get the chance to play a rugby match here, only the second club rugby match ever played here, it’s pretty special and an absolute privilege and tomorrow is going to be a great day of one day. So look, I know very well what happened here.

( The feeling of unfinished business drives James Lowe forward )

In his preview of today’s match, John O’Sullivan writes that Leo Cullen’s Leinster side must be tough, unrelenting and ruthless to ensure they gain the upper hand over the formidable Northampton.

“Northampton’s two wins over Munster earlier in the campaign included both quality and weakness; wonderfully defiant and courageous as a man at Thomond Park, while brittle and insecure for much of the knockout match at Franklin’s Gardens.

“Leinster have a legitimate claim to be the better team, the bookmakers have them as 14-point favorites and they have an overwhelming groundswell of support. The integrity of performance must be harsh, unrelenting and unforgiving to prevail.”

( Leinster looking for a special performance on a special occasion )

Hello and welcome to live coverage of Leinster’s match against Northampton in the Champions Cup semi-final. Leinster have been quite dominant in the URC league stages and the early stages of the Champions Cup in recent seasons, but have to go back to 2018 for their last Champions Cup title. While La Rochelle was a big reason for that, this is the kind of big match they have struggled with. Against a talented Northampton side it’s time to stand up and be counted, and what better place than Croke Park? The Aviva is unavailable due to preparations for the Europa League and Croke Park will host the first rugby match in many, many years. It’s sold out and a historic match awaits. The kick-off is at 5:30 PM.

Replacements: Rónan Kelleher, Cian Healy, Michael Ala’alatoa, Jason Jenkins, Jack Conan, Luke McGrath, Harry Byrne, Jimmy O’Brien.

Replacements: Sam Matavesi, Emmanuel Iyogun, Elliot Millar Mills, Temo Mayanavanua, Angus Scott-Young, Tom James, Tom Litchfield, Tom Seabrook.

Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France).