Champions Cup
Leinster Hit 50 Past Northampton
Leinster have made it four wins from four in the Champions Cup with another outstanding win over Northampton Saints
Leinster have continued their perfect start to the season with a brilliant 50-21 victory over Northampton Saints in the Champions Cup at the Aviva Stadium this evening.
A hat-trick of tries from Garry Ringrose along with five-pointers from Tadhg Furlong, Dave Kearney, James Lowe and Caelan Doris sealed another win for the Irish province.
Leinster got off to the perfect start with centre Ringrose going over for a try after just 90 seconds, with the No 13 blocking down a kick as Northampton went to exit from their own 22. He collected the bouncing ball and raced down the left-hand touchline to touch-down.
Ross Byrne smashed the conversion over to make it 7-0 with only two minutes on the clock.
Four minutes later and it was Ringrose who scored his and his team’s second try. The boys in blue attacked from a line-out with winger James Lowe coming in from his flank to break through the middle of the defence, before offloading brilliantly in the tackle to Ringrose who raced over. Byrne made it 14-0 with the kick from the tee.
With just over 10 minutes gone Byrne slotted over a penalty to give Leinster a 17-0 lead in the opening minutes.
With 19 minutes gone Northampton struck back as Leinster conceded penalty after penalty which led to Dan Biggar having the ball in front of the posts, taking a quick tap and go before going over for the try. He converted his own score to make it 17-7.
However, the Saints joy was short-lived with full-back Ashee Tuala being shown a yellow-card two minutes after the try as he prevented Lowe from receiving a pass off the ball.
From that penalty Bryne sent the ball to the touchline and from the resulting line-out they drove over the try-line through Furlong. Bryne was perfect from the tee once again to push the hosts ahead once again.
Things got worse for the visitors on the half-hour mark as captain Tom Wood was sent to the sin-bin too as his side gave up penalty after penalty leading to his eventual yellow-card.
Five-minutes on and the bonus-point was in the bag as Leinster ripped the ball in the middle of the pitch before pouncing forward with the ball finding its way to Ringrose, who fake passed the ball inside, but sent Kearney away on the right-wing and he did the rest. Bryne sent the conversion over to stretch the lead to 31-7.
Despite being down to 14-men the away side scored the final points of the half with winger Ollie Sleightholme charging over from close-range. Biggar knocked-over the extras to leave it at 31-14 come the half-time whistle.
![](https://www.hugerugby.news/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/hire-class-advert-Smyth369c-small-.jpg")
Leinster didn’t have to wait long for their fifth try of the evening, with Jordan Larmour bolting out of his own 22 before being tackled over the half-way line. Byrne eventually got the ball off the back of a ruck and sent a kick through the Saints 22, which Lowe gathered and went over. Byrne couldn’t add the extra two but it was 36-14 with only three-minutes gone in the second-half.
Another five minutes and Ringrose was in for his hat-trick as Kearney took the ball up from a line-out, while it was ripped, Ringrose was the quickest to react, picking the ball up and waltzing over. Ciaran Frawley had just replaced Byrne and he kicked the extras to make it 43-14.
With the time ticking towards the hour-mark Northampton notched up a third try through Tuala and Biggar took the quick conversion to edge into the host’s lead.
As they headed into the final quarter of an hour, Doris scored his first European try as he picked in front of the opposition defence and walked over for his team’s seventh five-pointer of the game. Frawley converted to make it 50-21.
Both sides went in search of further scores but it was to no avail as Leinster ran out 50-21 winners in what was another outstanding performance and it means they become the first team to qualify for the knock-out stages after only four games of the pool stages.
Leinster will now turn their attention to the domestic stage as they prepare to host high-flying Ulster on Friday as they look to make it 12 wins from 12 at the start of the season, while the Saints head to Sale Sharks next Saturday in the Premiership.
Leinster Player Ratings:
Starting XV:
Jordan Larmour (9), Dave Kearney (8), Garry Ringrose (9), Robbie Henshaw (7), James Lowe (8), Ross Byrne (8), Jamison Gibson-Park (7); Cian Healy (7), James Tracy (7), Tadhg Furlong (8), Scott Fardy (7), James Ryan (8), Rhys Ruddock (8), Josh van der Flier (8), Caelan Doris (9)
Replacements (8)
The holders, Stade Toulousain, will be up against Wasps and Cardiff Rugby in the pool stage of next season’s Heineken Champions Cup following the pool draw for the 2021/22 tournament which was held today (Wednesday 21 July) in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Stade Toulousain, who completed the Heineken Champions Cup and TOP 14 double last month for the second time in the club’s history, were drawn into Pool B and will meet Wasps and Cardiff over four pool stage rounds on a home and away basis.
With the qualified clubs drawn into two pools of 12, reigning Gallagher Premiership champions Harlequins will have Castres Olympique and Cardiff as their opponents in Pool B when the tournament kicks off again in December, while last season’s PRO14 winners, Leinster Rugby, are in Pool A where they will be up against Montpellier Hérault Rugby and Bath Rugby.
Stade Rochelais, runners-up in the Heineken Champions Cup final, will meet Bath and Glasgow Warriors in Pool A, while Exeter Chiefs, who lost out to Harlequins in the Premiership decider, will take on Montpellier and Glasgow in Pool A.
Munster Rugby, who were in Tier 1 as the second-ranked qualifier from the PRO14, were drawn against Castres Olympique and Wasps in Pool B.
Elsewhere, Ulster Rugby will take on ASM Clermont Auvergne and Northampton Saints in Pool A whilst Stade Français Paris were drawn into Pool B and will take on Pat Lam’s former club, Connacht Rugby, and his current charges, Bristol Bears.
For the purposes of the draw, the 24 clubs which qualified from the TOP 14, Premiership, and the PRO14 were classified into four tiers based either on their respective league rankings or on other qualification criteria.
Each tier contained six clubs with Tier 1 made up of the number one and number two ranked clubs from each league, and Tier 2, the number three and number four ranked clubs from each league, and so on.
Starting with Tier 1, the clubs were either drawn or allocated into either Pool A or Pool B so that each pool contained 12 clubs with no clubs in the same tier from the same league in the same pool.
The key principles regarding the pool stage fixtures are that clubs will only play against opponents in the same pool, and clubs from the same league cannot play against one another.
The Tier 1 and Tier 4 clubs which were drawn in the same pool, but which are from the same league, will play one another home and away over four rounds. The same principle applies to the Tier 2 and Tier 3 clubs which were drawn in the same pool, but which are not from the same league.
The exact dates of the Heineken Champions Cup pool stage fixtures, as well as venues, kick-off times and TV coverage, will be announced as soon as possible following consultation with clubs and EPCR’s partner broadcasters.
The 2021/22 tournament will be played over nine weekends with four rounds of matches in the pool stage. The eight highest-ranked clubs from each pool will qualify for the knockout stage which will consist of a Round of 16 on a home and away basis, quarter-finals and semi-finals, with the final in Marseille on 28 May 2022.
Today’s draw, which was live-streamed on HeinekenChampionsCup.com, was conducted by EPCR’s Head of Events and Operations, Ben Harries, and by EPCR’s Partnerships Activation Executive, Laia Gonzalez. The event scrutineer was Lausanne-based solicitor, Jean-Guillaume Amiguet.
2021/22 HEINEKEN CHAMPIONS CUP
POOL A (with opponents in brackets)
Stade Rochelais (Bath Rugby, Glasgow Warriors)
Exeter Chiefs (Montpellier Hérault Rugby, Glasgow Warriors)
Leinster Rugby (Montpellier Hérault Rugby, Bath Rugby)
Racing 92 (Northampton Saints, Ospreys)
Sale Sharks (ASM Clermont Auvergne, Ospreys)
Ulster Rugby (ASM Clermont Auvergne, Northampton Saints)
ASM Clermont Auvergne (Sale Sharks, Ulster Rugby)
Northampton Saints (Racing 92, Ulster Rugby)
Ospreys (Racing 92, Sale Sharks)
Montpellier Hérault Rugby (Exeter Chiefs, Leinster Rugby)
Bath Rugby (Stade Rochelais, Leinster Rugby)
Glasgow Warriors (Stade Rochelais, Exeter Chiefs)
POOL B (with opponents in brackets)
Stade Toulousain (Wasps, Cardiff Rugby)
Harlequins (Castres Olympique, Cardiff Rugby)
Munster Rugby (Castres Olympique, Wasps)
Union Bordeaux-Bègles (Leicester Tigers, Scarlets)
Bristol Bears (Stade Français Paris, Scarlets)
Connacht Rugby (Stade Français Paris, Leicester Tigers)
Stade Français Paris (Bristol Bears, Connacht Rugby)
Leicester Tigers (Union Bordeaux-Bègles, Connacht Rugby)
Scarlets (Union Bordeaux-Bègles, Bristol Bears)
Castres Olympique (Harlequins, Munster Rugby)
Wasps (Stade Toulousain, Munster Rugby)
Cardiff Rugby (Stade Toulousain, Harlequins)
2021/22 weekends
Round 1 – 10/11/12 December
Round 2 – 17/18/19 December
Round 3 – 14/15/16 January 2022
Round 4 – 21/22/23 January 2022
Round of 16 (1st leg) – 8/9/10 April 2022
Round of 16 (2nd leg) – 15/16/17 April 2022
Quarter-finals – 6/7/8 May 2022
Semi-finals – 13/14/15 May 2022
Challenge Cup final – Friday 27 May 2022; Stade Vélodrome, Marseille
Heineken Champions Cup final – Saturday 28 May 2022; Stade Vélodrome, Marseille
Following the conclusion of the domestic seasons in England and France, EPCR is pleased to confirm the format and qualifiers for the 2021/22 Heineken Champions Cup as Europe’s elite club tournament is set to return with a highly competitive schedule of 71 matches.
The Heineken Champions Cup will once again be competed for by 24 clubs with eight representatives from the Gallagher Premiership, the Guinness PRO14 and the TOP 14 having secured their places. (See qualifiers and rankings below)
The clubs will be divided into two pools of 12 – Pool A and Pool B – by means of a draw and the tournament will be played over nine weekends with four rounds of matches in the pool stage starting in December when Stade Toulousain begin the defence of their title.
The eight highest-ranked clubs from each pool will qualify for the knockout stage which will consist of a Round of 16 on a home and away basis, quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final in Marseille on 28 May 2022. (See key dates below)
The draw for the pools will be carried out on the same lines as last season with the clubs separated into four tiers, and clubs from the same league in the same tier will not be drawn into the same pool.
The number 1 and number 2 ranked clubs from each league will be in Tier 1, the number 3 and number 4 ranked clubs will be in Tier 2, the number 5 and 6 ranked clubs will be in Tier 3, and the number 7 and number 8 ranked clubs will be Tier 4.
The Tier 1 and the Tier 4 clubs which have been drawn in the same pool, but which are not in the same league, will play one another home and away during the pool stage, as will the Tier 2 and Tier 3 clubs which have been drawn in the same pool, but which are not in the same league.
The pool draw will be live streamed on HeinekenChampionsCup.com and the date of the event as well as further details will be communicated shortly.
As previously announced, EPCR is currently putting the finishing touches to a new shareholder agreement, and discussions to finalise the Challenge Cup format for the 2021/22 season, as well as the formats for the Heineken Champions Cup and Challenge Cup for future seasons, are ongoing.
These discussions include the future participation of South African clubs in EPCR’s tournaments as referenced recently by the United Rugby Championship and no further comment will be made until the appropriate time.
2021/22 Heineken Champions Cup qualifiers
Gallagher Premiership: 1 Harlequins, 2 Exeter Chiefs, 3 Bristol Bears, 4 Sale Sharks, 5 Northampton Saints, 6 Leicester Tigers, 7 Bath Rugby, 8 Wasps
Guinness PRO14: 1 Leinster Rugby, 2 Munster Rugby, 3 Ulster Rugby, 4 Connacht Rugby, 5 Scarlets, 6 Ospreys, 7 Cardiff Rugby, 8 Glasgow Warriors
TOP 14: 1 Stade Toulousain, 2 Stade Rochelais, 3 Racing 92, 4 Union Bordeaux-Bègles, 5 ASM Clermont Auvergne, 6 Stade Français Paris, 7 Castres Olympique, 8 Montpellier Hérault Rugby
2021/22 key dates
Round 1 – 10/11/12 December
Round 2 – 17/18/19 December
Round 3 – 14/15/16 January 2022
Round 4 – 21/22/23 January 2022
Round of 16 (1st leg) – 8/9/10 April 2022
Round of 16 (2nd leg) – 15/16/17 April 2022
Quarter-finals – 6/7/8 May 2022
Semi-finals – 13/14/15 May 2022
Challenge Cup final – Friday 27 May 2022; Stade Vélodrome, Marseille
Heineken Champions Cup final – Saturday 28 May 2022; Stade Vélodrome, Marseille
The Ulster coaching team has named the match-day squad for the trip to face Northampton Saints at Franklin’s Gardens on Saturday (kick-off 8pm).
Michael Lowry is named to start at full-back, and is joined in the back three by Jacob Stockdale and Robert Baloucoune. Stuart McCloskey and James Hume will form the midfield duo, and Billy Burns and John Cooney are the starting half-backs.
In the front row, Eric O’Sullivan, Rob Herring and Marty Moore retain their starting berths. Alan O’Connor will partner Kieran Treadwell in the second row. Last week’s Player of the Match, Sean Reidy, will start at blindside flanker, with Jordi Murphy skippering the team at openside and Nick Timoney at Number Eight.
John Andrew, Andrew Warwick, Tom O’Toole, Matty Rea and Greg Jones will provide the forward reinforcements from the bench, with Alby Mathewson, Ian Madigan and Ethan McIlroy named as the back line options.
Ulster team to play Northampton Saints, Challenge Cup Quarter-Final, Saturday 10 April at Franklin’s Gardens (kick-off 8pm, live on BT Sport):
(15-9) Michael Lowry, Robert Baloucoune, James Hume, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale, Billy Burns, John Cooney;
(1-8) Eric O’Sullivan, Rob Herring, Marty Moore, Alan O’Connor, Kieran Treadwell, Sean Reidy, Jordi Murphy (Capt.), Nick Timoney.
Replacements: John Andrew, Andrew Warwick, Tom O’Toole, Matty Rea, Greg Jones, Alby Mathewson, Ian Madigan, Ethan McIlroy.
Ulster to play Saracens in Pre-Season doubleheader.
Sharks sign former Wallaby & Munster 2nd Row.
Quade Cooper back in Wallabies camp
-
Pro143 days agoEdinburgh Rugby appoint new Head Coach
-
Rugby Championship3 days agoWallabies wing leaves Australia for Japan venture
-
Pro148 hours agoSharks sign former Wallaby & Munster 2nd Row.
-
Premiership3 days agoEngland Coach John Mitchell joins Premiership side
-
Challenge Cup4 days agoHeineken Champions Cup pool draw for 2021/22
-
British & Irish Lions5 days agoLions team to face Springboks for first Test
-
Rugby Championship3 days agoBledisloe Cup and The Rugby Championship Covid-19 update
-
Premiership7 hours agoUlster to play Saracens in Pre-Season doubleheader.