Leinster 13-3 Munster: Off-colour hosts dump rivals out at PRO14 semi-final stage again
Leinster will now face either Edinburgh or Ulster in the PRO14 final on Saturday, September 12
By Michael Cantillon at the Aviva Stadium
Last Updated: 05/09/20 10:04am
An out-of-sorts Leinster consigned Munster to a third PRO14 semi-final defeat in as many seasons, as a Ronan Kelleher try and the boot of Johnny Sexton recorded a 13-3 victory at a damp - and empty - Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
The occasion proved novel as the first PRO14 semi-final in history to be played behind closed doors, but the result remained the same as Leinster proved more clinical than their rivals, despite a host of errors stemming the flow of their performance.
Head coach Leo Cullen will be aware of such a fact ahead of next weekend's final, as a series of knock-ons and penalties were uncharacteristically present in Leinster's play, and but for Munster's JJ Hanrahan missing twice off the tee, the display could have proven far more costly.
The defending champions got the job done though, as they have so routinely in recent years. Indeed this victory keeps them unbeaten in the league this season - a remarkable statistic.
The first points of the semi-final arrived the way of Munster on six minutes, when after CJ Stander had won yet another breakdown penalty - the No 8 having been utterly sensational at that facet in recent weeks - Hanrahan converted well off the tee on the angle.
Within a minute Leinster were within the Munster 22 when Hanrahan became trapped at a ruck - or rather held in by Jordan Larmour - but they were untypically wasteful as hooker Kelleher's lineout was overthrown.
A Jack O'Donoghue high tackle on Jack Conan brought Leinster another penalty soon after, which skipper Sexton chose to kick off the tee from just beyond the halfway line, but his effort drifted wide by the narrowest of margins.
Leinster's inauspicious start to the contest continued when Caelan Doris dropped a Hanrahan 22 dropout in midfield, before Will Connors was caught offside soon after, conceding a penalty.
Munster failed to take advantage of the territory that followed within the Leinster 22, however, when centre Damian De Allende was held up by a combination of Sexton and Robbie Henshaw, with the Leinster duo forcing the turnover via an unplayable maul.
Yet, Leinster remained out of sorts as a Doris offload was thrown out of play, before another penalty was conceded for lying on the wrong side.
Munster's consequent lineout was disrupted in the Leinster 22, though, and again Johann van Graan's side came away with no points when well-placed.
Munster were made to pay for such profligacy when Leinster demonstrated the sort of ruthless efficiency they are known for, scoring the opening try of the game through hooker Kelleher.
A Keith Earls knock on under little pressure within his 22 handed Leinster a huge opportunity. A scrum penalty followed - which Sexton dispatched to the corner - and the ensuing maul had just enough forward momentum for Kelleher to reach out and dot down on the line.
Sexton then hammered a wonderful conversion over from wide-out, leaving Munster 7-3 behind despite having had most of the early play and pressure.
Leinster scrum-half Luke McGrath kicked out on the full following the restart, but despite further concerted Munster pressure, points continued to allude them as little errors undermined progressive build-up.
On Leinster's next visit to the Munster 22 in the final minutes of the half, they once again garnered points - Sexton bisecting the posts from close-range off the tee after an offside.
In the second half, things went from bad to worse for Munster as wing Andrew Conway was forced off injured with a head knock, and with Van Graan and co opting for a 6-2 split on the bench, they had no back-three cover, forcing an entire backline re-shape.
Despite the disruption, Munster forced the next scoring chance when Peter O'Mahony and Stander combined to win a breakdown penalty on the Leinster 22, but the decision was overturned when the TMO - and Sexton - brought to the referee's attention an earlier infringement by Shane Daly in the air.
Munster remained in the contest and a scrum penalty presented a lineout in the Leinster 22, but having gone long, Devin Toner stole the ball for the hosts and the chance disappeared.
On the hour mark, a Tadhg Beirne breakdown penalty on the Leinster 10-metre line did afford Hanrahan the chance to narrow the Leinster lead, but the Munsterman's kick slipped wide.
Hanrahan should have reduced the score to 10-6 moments later, when Sexton was trapped on the wrong side of the ruck, but he missed a central effort poorly. It was an extremely costly mis-cue.
Indeed, Leinster scored almost immediately as Sexton would not miss off the tee as Hanrahan did twice before him, rewarding flanker Doris for a superb breakdown penalty, and earning an unassailable 13-3 lead.
Further territory gains fell Munster's way, as they had a case for a penalty try when Doris stopped a rolling maul, while Leinster replacement Josh van der Flier was sin-binned late-on for a sequence of team penalties, but the visitors could not force anymore points.
It left Leinster to toast another victory within the eery silence of an empty stadium, while Munster must nurse yet another semi-final defeat - their fifth in a row in all competitions, and 13th of their last 16.
