Leinster make it two from two after comeback win over Sale Sharks at the RDS

Leinster had that bit nailed on three minutes into the final quarter with Ryan Baird’s try, which took them well clear and safe. But in a tetchy game the visitors felt like that had made up for a bad sag in the middle, which let down their start and finish.

The main concern for the home team was not their progress in the pool, which was almost a gimme, but the sight of replacement Charlie Ngatai being helped off at the end. With Hugo Keenan in the bin Leinster opted to leave it at that with the flow of traffic off the bench. Having 13 men on the field was a useful tool in Sale’s late charge.

So Leinster move on, again with a fair bit to review in their defensive journey under Jacques Nienaber and some comfort not just with the result but with the effectiveness of their response when it was put up to them.

Sale climbed into Leinster from the off, coming off second best only at the scrum which was a blight on the game. Coaches like to talk about presenting refs with clear pictures at this phase. Well, Pierre Brousset seemed to be shown pretty much the same shot a few times yet managed to come up with different assessments.

By the break we had five penalties handed down here: four to the home team. The last one cost Sale tight head James Harper a spin in the bin, which carried over into the second half which his team started with their noses in front.

On the balance of play that should have been more for they had Leinster’s number. As with La Rochelle last weekend the space behind Leinster’s first line of defence was a focal point. Unlike then however the conditions were manageable, so when Sale ran a launch play off a lineout that involved scrumhalf Raffi Quirke grubber kicking off the next phase there was a green light showing.

The control from Rob du Preez to gather and feed Connor Doherty was top class. Seven points, including Du Preez’ conversion, put the away team into a 13-3 lead on 25 minutes, which was a long way from the bookies’ forecast.

That put manners on the full house of 18,600 whose assessment of the evening had taken a dip. There was no sign of Sale letting up and it wasn’t until the 40th minute that Leinster his back with a mauled try from a lineout close in. They had a lot to review at the break.

In rugby the third quarter is often golf’s equivalent of moving day: in this case Sale got ran out of gas and got shoved aside. Two tries in that period changed the face of the game and Sale’s part in it. Instead of being contenders they became objects of punishment. It was as if every tackle and carry made in the first halt came a price, payment for which was made before the hour mark.

Joe McCarthy coming on for Jason Jenkins helped, as did Michael Ala’atoa for Thomas Clarkson in that third quarter. Both made big inroads on the carry, which Sale had difficulty soaking up.

The tries confirmed on the scoreboard what was unfolding on the field. The first was down to the sharpness and skill of Jamison Gibson-Park, whose vision prompted him to make lovely wide pass off a ruck to man of the match Josh van der Flier, and then the wheels to get into the right spot to take a return pass and score in the corner.

That put Leinster three points ahead, followed on 57 minutes by Robbie Henshaw crashing over by the sticks after another perfect pass from Gibson-Park.

That took the heat out of the debate, at which point Leinster rubbed it in with more heavy hitters rolling off the bench. Baird’s try came courtesy of some clattering rugby in the Sale 22, with Ngatai featuring at the start and finish for the flanker to score.

By the time Healy scored from close in we were wondering if Leinster would squeeze another few drops from the contest, but credit to Sale for getting a refill and putting a whole new look on the finish to a game that suffered in the first half with stoppage fatigue, to be replaced by a whirlwind ending. Not a happy ending though, for this pair of teams didn’t get on at any point in the contest.

You wouldn’t mind seeing them having another go in different circumstances, but for now Sale will refocus on their first love, the Premiership, and Leinster will take another step towards getting to the top of the European heap.

Leinster: H Keenan (vc 76); J Larmour (C Ngatai 56), G Ringrose, R Henshaw (yc 5-15), J O’Brien; C Frawley (S Prendergat 67), J Gibson-Park (B Murphy 70); A Porter (C Healy 65), D Sheehan (R Kelleher 61), T Clarkson (M Ala’alatoa 44) J Jenkins (J McCarthy ht), J Ryan, R Baird, C Doris (J Conan 67), J van der Flier

Sale: T Veainu (J Carpenter 58); T Roebuck, C Doherty (T Curtis 61), S Bedlow, A Reed; R du Preez, R Quirke (N Thomas 67); R Harrison (T Onasanya 58), T Taylor, J Harper (yc 38, A Opoku-Fordjour 44), B Bamber, J Beaumont (J Hill 52) E van Rhyn (J Beaumont 59; E Caine 69), S Dugdale, R Birch (JL du Preez 47).

Referee: P Brousset (France)