Cullen praises pack after Healy drives Leinster to victory
SEVENTEEN points from Johnny Sexton and a brace of Cian Healy tries subjected Glasgow to another harsh lesson in European rugby as Leinster triumphed in Scotstoun.
The Warriors’ hopes of qualifying from Pool 3 of the European Champions Cup suffered a fresh blow after losing 24-15 to Exeter last week.
The hosts enjoyed the majority of possession but in reality were not clinical enough with the ball compared to their Irish opponents, whose powerful forward display proved enough to get the win in an entertaining encounter.
Leinster head coach Leo Cullen, whose side have now notched two bonus-point wins to go top of Pool 3, was relieved to get over the line.
He said: ‘It certainly wasn’t easy. We prepped for difficult conditions and the two big moments were when Johnny backed the forwards to go for drives, one of them on the far side and one just before half-time.
‘We started the second half well but Glasgow are a constant threat, particularly Stuart Hogg at 15 and Tommy Seymour on the right wing, while Finn Russell is a box of tricks as well. We needed to be on our toes all the time.
‘Our forwards laid the platform for us and then we are more in control of the game and can play the game in the right areas of the field as a result of those tries.’
Sexton opened the scoring with simple penalty before a scrappy interlude in which both sides fell victim to the inclement weather, with handling errors aplenty in the driving Glasgow rain.
After a slow start, Hogg, on his return from a long-term injury, grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck with a searing break down the right wing which saw him beat several defenders with ease, eventually earning a penalty for his side that dragged the hosts back level.
The full-back then finished off a flowing move as Glasgow turned on the style in the 16th minute, Finn Russell looping round the back of Sam Johnson before kicking through for Tommy Seymour who poked the ball on for Hogg to dot down and open up a 10-3 lead.
A poor clearance from Warriors enabled Leinster to fight back with territorial pressure, and after working their way over to the left wing eventually were rewarded eight minutes later as Healy burrowed over against the run of play to bring it back level.
Glasgow continued the pressure in their opponents’ 22, but were made to pay for wastefulness as a powerful rolling maul powered over, with Healy again touching down for a 17-10 half-time lead.
The hosts came out with a point to prove after the break, but left a gaping hole in their defence for Luke McGrath to gallop through before Sexton was dragged down 10 metres out. The ball made its way back to the fly-half and after exchanging passes with Scott Fardy he touched down in another clinical Leinster attack. Seymour gave Glasgow a sniff after scoring in the corner but Noel Reid exposed a weak defence to secure the bonus point.
It effectively ended Glasgow’s hopes of escaping the pool and their head coach Dave Rennie said: ‘We’re clearly not where we want to be and it’s a tough pool as it is, so we will reassess things based on that and where our injuries are at and whether we end up prioritising Pro14 ahead of this comp, we’ll decide that in December.’
‘It’s a pretty solemn changing room as you’d imagine,’ he added. ‘We got outmuscled today and beaten by the better side, so we have to take it.’ GlasGow warriors: S Hogg; T Seymour, S Johnson (N Grigg 69), P Horne (S Johnson 75), L Sarto (L Jones 61); F Russell, A Price; J Bhatti (A Allan 61), G Turner (P MacArthur 65), Z Fagerson (D Rae 78), T Swinson, J Gray, R Wilson (R Harley 6-23 blood;28), C Gibbins (G Turner 75), A Ashe (S Cummings 62).
scorers – Tries: Hogg, Seymour. con: Russell. Pens: Russell 2 leinsTer: J Carbery, F McFadden, R Henshaw, N Reid, B Daly (D Kearney 42), J Sexton (R Byrne 69), L McGrath (J Gibson-Park 62), C Healy (J McGrath 50), S Cronin (J Tracy 50), T Furlong, D Toner, S Fardy (J Ryan 55), R Ruddock, J van der Flier (D Leavy 50), J Conan. scorers – Tries: Healy 2, Sexton, Reid. cons: Sexton 3, Byrne. Pens: Sexton 2. referee: J Garces (France).