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Leinster end Exeter home streak, La Rochelle shine again
By Christopher Devine
Exeter Chiefs' year-long unbeaten run at home came to an end as Leinster won a fiercely contested battle between the two front-runners in Pool 3 of the European Champions Cup.
Jack Conan's second-half try ultimately secured a deserved 18-8 victory for Leinster on Sunday, condemning Exeter to a first home loss in the Premiership or Champions Cup since they were beaten by Bordeaux-Begles on the corresponding weekend in 2016.
Leinster were dominant in the opening quarter and tries from Jack McGrath and Devin Toner were controversially chalked off before Jonathan Sexton went over in the corner to open the scoring with the Chiefs down to 14 men following the sin-binning of Harry Williams.
After Gareth Steenson and Sexton – with his only successful kick from three first-half attempts – had exchanged penalties, the English champions saw a spell of pressure late in the opening period go unrewarded.
James Short surged over to level things up after the break, but Leinster came on strong again and Isa Nacewa kicked them back in front before Conan's match-clinching score, which came after more than 40 phases of attack.
La Rochelle turned on the style once again, making it three wins out of three in Pool 1 with a 49-29 victory over Wasps that leaves the Premiership side in a position of peril.
Levani Botia and Vincent Rattez each went over twice as La Rochelle crossed six times. Wasps, who had Thomas Young and Juan de Jongh sin-binned in the first half, did at least claim a bonus point thanks to five tries of their own.
John Cooney kicked four penalties and played a key role in Jacob Stockdale's first-half try as Ulster beat Harlequins 17-5 on a snowy afternoon at Twickenham Stoop. Ulster now sit second in Pool 1, two points clear of Wasps, while Harlequins have just a solitary point and are staring at an early exit.
The much-anticipated Pool 2 clash between last year's finalists, Saracens and Clermont Auvergne, was postponed due to hazardous conditions on the approach roads to Allianz Park and in the immediate vicinity of the stadium.
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Latest Comments
Yet Ethan Blackadder was one of our best against the World Champion Springbok. When he came back to the Crusaders later in the season , he made a huge difference, ( a long with others like Codie Taylor), we nearly made the Play Off's. Ethan has plenty of rugby left in him. His family , Dad Todd Blackadder must be very [proud of him. Todd Blackadder was a 3 time champion captain of the Crusaders, '98, '99 and 2000.An icon in this area. Also twice captain of Canterbury , '97 and 2001 when we won the NPC and Ranfurly Shield winning captain in 2000.
Go to commentsIt's the same criticism of Dmac and Mo'unga as well. Sadly the way the game has been heading recently it's the only way to break down a defence, and a player of Lawrences nature would have a very limited chance at doing that because he's too one dimensional.
Noah Lolesio is your sort of player and that worked OK, but only because his team is far more creative than Englands for example. The highly organized Irish attack was also another that didn't require much from the 10, but that is now changing with Prendergast who is in that league mold like the most new age 10's.
So it is in fact your two which would require even more change to make the most of than Marcus Smith.
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