Leinster 29-13 Toulouse: Defending champions top Pool 1 with Dublin win
Last Updated: 12/01/19 11:18pm
Defending champions Leinster registered an impressive 29-13 bonus-point victory over Toulouse on Saturday to take control of Pool 1 in the Heineken Champions Cup.
The unrelenting Leinster machine, guided by former player Leo Cullen and ex-England coach Stuart Lancaster, suffocated the free-flowing, offloading game Toulouse have been employing with such success this season. The loss was their first since September and brought their 12-match undefeated run to an end.
Jack Conan was at the heart of a stifling home defence that allied seamlessly with a staggering ability to keep hold of possession for minutes on end.
Ross Byrne, standing in for the injured Johnny Sexton at fly-half, kicked an early opening penalty, quickly nullified by Toulouse fly-half Thomas Ramos.
A dancing Jordan Larmour break sparked an incredible 38 phases of play for Leinster over more than three minutes in and around the Toulouse 22-metre area, but the visitors, marshalled magnificently by ex-All Black No 8 Jerome Kaino, withstood the pressure.
Cheslin Kolbe was on hand with a fantastic try-saving tackle on sniping Luke McGrath, the diminutive Springbok winger somehow managing to prevent the Ireland scrum-half grounding the ball from a five-metre scrum.
But Leinster continued to camp out deep in Toulouse territory, Conan finally crossing for the game's opening try on the other wing after a long pass had stretched a scrambling defence.
Byrne converted, but Ramos hit a second penalty at the whistle to leave a tense game 10-6 at half-time at a packed RDS Arena in Dublin.
Top 14 leaders Toulouse, fielding seven players called up by France coach Jacques Brunel for the opening two games of the Six Nations, were immediately on the back foot in the second period as Leinster again patiently went through the phases.
And then it came. Winger Dave Kearney soared high to gather a Byrne cross-kick and somehow rode a Romain Ntamack tackle to touch down in the corner.
There should have been a third Leinster try shortly after, a lineout move seeing Conan take a short throw-in and break clear, Antoine Dupont cleverly intercepting what would have been his try-scoring pass to hooker Sean Cronin.
Cronin did get his name on the scoresheet, however, dotting down from the back of a ruck on the Toulouse line, with Byrne converting for a 22-6 lead.
Then came Leinster's time to defend, a crushing tackle on Francois Cros by James Ryan bringing to an end several minutes of pressure.
Adam Byrne put the icing on the cake with a fourth try for the home side, and the bonus point, after replacement scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park threw out a monster pass from a quick penalty.
Noel Reid hit the extras, and there was enough time for Kolbe to skip away for another fine individual try he converted himself with no time left on the clock.
