Following Leinster’s 40-21 victory over Bath in the Investec Champions Cup, we pick out our winners and losers.
A match that certainly lived up to the billing as both teams went hammer and tongs at one another but ultimately, once the Premiership outfit were reduced to 14 men they simply could not deal with the pressure.
Winners
Lee Blackett
Much was made of the Jacques Nienaber-led Leinster defensive system in the build-up to this match and justifiably so. However, it was coming up against the best Premiership attack led by Lee Blackett.
In the first half, Bath made a mockery of other teams’ efforts against Leinster as they ran in three tries with Alfie Barbeary opening the scoring before Tom de Glanville grabbed a brace.
It takes something special to open up a Nienaber defence in that manner and Bath’s attack coach certainly deserves his flowers, as do the likes of Finn Russell, Ollie Lawrence and Max Ojomoh who found a route through and around the blue wall.
Ultimately, it was all undone as being a man down was just too much for Bath to deal with against a team as good as Leinster.
Tom de Glanville
Tom de Glanville certainly made the most of his opportunities today as the full-back crossed for two well-taken tries. After being overlooked for the England Six Nations squad, he stepped up in a rare opportunity to prove himself in what was effectively a Test match in club colours.
He was put under immense pressure by the likes of Hugo Keenan, Jamison Gibson-Park and Sam Prendergast but, on the whole, he rose to the challenge and impressed.
Jack Conan
Backed in the starting XV ahead of regular captain Caelan Doris, Jack Conan repaid the faith shown in him by Leo Cullen and his coaching team with a stunning performance.
His quick repeated actions paid dividends with a try while he put in a powerful 40-minute shift before Leinster used the Springboks’ bench tactics to blow a 14-man Bath away.
Brilliant Bath centres
On today’s evidence, one cannot help but think that the solution to England’s midfield woes is the Bath centre pairing. Lawrence is quite clearly the first-choice starter whether it be at 12 or 13 but questions have been raised about Henry Slade.
However, Max Ojomoh has been overlooked for the upcoming Six Nations but surely can’t be too far away from a call-up. He continued his excellent form again, even with the formidable duo of Jordie Barrett and Robbie Henshaw in opposite him.
The pair provide a wonderful mix of pace, power and playmaking ability but crucially impressed defensively too. In fact, Leinster got the best purchase on attack when they attacked the places where the pair were not.
Ted Hill
Steve Borthwick surely tuned into this one as Bath effectively took on an Irish side not dissimilar to the one his team will take in round one of the Six Nations.
While several of the Bath snubs impressed against Leinster, Ted Hill surely improved his chances of cracking the matchday 23. The flanker was immense with the ball in hand, relentless in defence and a brilliant operator at lineout time.
Chandler Cunningham-South was superb last year in his debut international season but he is not able to go the full 80 minutes just yet in Test rugby and with the kind of form that Hill is in, they could provide Borthwick with a brilliant double punch in the number six jersey.
Powerful all-court blindside flankers of Test quality are a rarity in the modern game and in the case of Hill, he just hasn’t been given the opportunity to prove himself at the highest level but boy on current form does he deserve it.
Leinster bench
An embarrassment of riches that few, if any, teams in this competition can actually match. Having World Rugby Player of the Year nominee Caelan Doris as the ‘second half skipper’ coming off your bench with a double Rugby World Cup winner was the difference between Leinster edging a 14-man Bath and blowing them completely off the park.
RG Snyman was stupidly good as the Springboks lock not only crashed over the line with his lanky arms but the powerhouse lock also killed off Bath’s attack with his lineout steals.
The aforementioned pair made the most telling impacts but one cannot overlook the performances of the rest of the bench who all made positive impacts.
It’s not quite the ‘copy and paste’ forward-heavy tactics the Springboks have imposed to win the past two World Cups, but Leinster have certainly fully embraced the idea of using the replacements to change and influence the match and when they smelt the blood of a 14 man Bath, they went for the jugular.
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Losers
Jacques Nienaber
Leinster made a selection decision that on paper makes a lot of sense but may need a bit more testing to get right with centres Garry Ringrose and Jamie Osborne deployed as wingers.
With Nienaber’s system relying on the wingers to make sharp and effective decisions at break-neck speeds, putting a midfielder who have been required to do just that throughout their careers is a seemingly straightforward call. Previously, the likes of Jesse Kriel and Lukhanyo Am have impressed in filling those roles for the Springboks but Nienaber did not get the same results today.
In the first half, Bath managed to exploit the pair and find space around them out wide and crossed for their three tries. Nienaber knew that Bath’s attack would be a real challenge for his defence and the second-half adjustments certainly helped. He is never one to shy away from a brave call and will take learnings from this match and, while he will not be pleased that Leinster leaked 21 points in the first half, he will be content that Johann van Graan’s side were nilled in the second.
Beno Obano
A torrid day at the office for Beno Obano who was given his marching order in another huge match for Bath as he relived his Twickenham nightmare. While there was little argument over his red card against Northampton Saints in the Premiership final, today there is much more sympathy for the loosehead prop.
His first yellow card was rather unfortunate more than a technique issue. He did attempt to dip and Jamison Gibson-Park slipped before contact.
Then with Bath’s scrum creaking under pressure from Leinster, Obano stayed on the pitch despite clearly struggling against the experienced Rabah Slimani. Bath were issued a warning about their scrummaging illegalities but the staff did not react and Obano was given his marching orders.
In the week that Obano was snubbed by the England coaching team, he failed to bite back and respond with a commanding performance.
Garry Ringrose
As mentioned above, the centre deployed on the wing didn’t have it all his own way. Ringrose is renowned for his defensive nous and won’t be pleased with his efforts in the first half. He did improve as the game went on and will be pleased to have claimed a lineout win too.
Sam Prendergast
It was a tough day in Dublin for those defending in the number ten channel with both teams terrorising the playmakers, particularly from first-phase possession.
While both Sam Prendergast and Finn Russell got up time and time again after being shunted to the ground, the former seemed more rattled by the events than the latter.
Particularly in the first 40, Prendergast threw several suspect passes as the Bath blitz defence made life hell for him. After Jack Crowley’s sensational shift against Northampton Saints, albeit in defeat, Prendergast will be feeling the pressure.
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/leinster-v-bath-winners-and-losers-as-england-snub-relives-nightmare-while-sam-prendergast-feels-the-pressure-and-rg-snyman-powers-irish-bomb-squad
