Leinster miss their chance as the Lions dish out a mauling
Leinster missed the chance to extend their lead at the top of the United Rugby Championship after suffering a thumping defeat at Emirates Airline Park.
The Irish province, who last week booked their place in the Investec Champions Cup semi-finals after eliminating holders La Rochelle, had won 11 of their last 12 matches in the competition.
But, having made 13 changes, Leo Cullen’s side were blown away inside the opening 15 minutes as three Lions tries put them on the way to a victory that boosts their play-off hopes.
Leinster are now just one point clear of Glasgow with four rounds remaining, while the Lions climbed into the top eight.
The Lions made a stunning start and grabbed the opening try inside 40 seconds as Richard Kriel and JC Pretorius combined to send Morne van den Berg in under the posts, with Sanele Nohamba converting before kicking a penalty seven minutes later.
A fantastic team try saw the Lions score again in the 10th minute, Francke Horn, Van den Berg and Marius Louw all involved before the latter cruised over but Nohamba was unable to add the extras.
It went from bad to worse for Leinster three minutes later as Nohamba pounced on a loose ball before putting Quan Horn through, which the former converted for a 22-0 lead.
Leinster pair Liam Turner and Cormac Foley had tries disallowed for a knock on and forward pass respectively either side of the break before Nohamba’s penalty extended the Lions’ lead.
The Irish side finally got on the board in the 53rd minute when Ciaran Frawley pounced on a grubber kick from Harry Byrne, who added the extras.
But, moments later, the Lions secured the bonus point when Emmanuel Tshituka went over after loose play from Leinster but Nohamba could not convert.
Frawley claimed his second try following some slick passing from Leinster but Byrne missed his kick to leave the score 30-12.
Tshituka and Francke Horn added further tries in the final five minutes, both converted by Jordan Hendrikse, to cap an excellent day for the Lions.
Meanwhile, Benetton kept themselves firmly on course for the play-offs by claiming a 36-19 bonus-point victory over the Dragons in Treviso.
The Italian team’s ninth league win of the season should have been even more convincing given how many clear-cut chances they created.
But it proved a case of job done in the end as Rhyno Smith, Gianmarco Lucchesi, Andy Uren, Onisi Ratave, Edoardo Iachizzi and Michele Lamaro scored tries while Tomas Albornoz kicked two conversions and Jacob Umaga one.
The Dragons responded through second-half interception scores from wing Jared Rosser and scrum-half Dane Blacker, with Che Hope also touching down.
Cai Evans and Will Reed added conversions, yet it proved another frustrating away-day for Dai Flanagan (inset left) and his team as Dragons fell to an 11th defeat of their URC campaign.