An emphatic victory for Leinster but not one they will be celebrating wildly. They scored seven tries to two, and during the first half especially played some relentlessly impressive rugby. Yet, ultimately, they didn’t run up the sort of numbers that looked inevitable and, with aggregate points differential likely to play an important role later in the Champions Cup, the final scoreline should irk them.
For the first 30 minutes, during which Bath conceded five tries, the visitors looked bewildered, breathless and bothered. It was what you expect when the guts of the Ireland international team, playing at the national stadium, is up against a team rooted to the foot of the Premiership table. Yet Bath somehow managed to score tries at the end of both halves, which is a positive reflection on their resilience. This is proving a difficult season for them, and yesterday 11 of their 23 were making their European debuts. Yet they never chucked in the towel.
The script dictated that Leinster would enjoy some festive fun before a crowd of just over 25,000. And that, after Orlando Bailey had the temerity to kick an early penalty, was exactly what transpired, as Leinster scored at a rate of a point a minute in the opening half-hour.
Jamison Gibson-Park delivered the first wound, spotting an overlap to the short side of a midfield ruck and then running a killer support line to get on the end of James Lowe’s inside pass. Too easy. Seven minutes later, Leinster returned to the same left corner and this time they bludgeoned their way over. Rhys Ruddock made initial inroads off Ryan Baird’s lineout tap before Tadhg Furlong thundered on to Gibson-Park’s tap to score.
Bath needed some defensive organisation and some luck but neither was forthcoming. Hugo Keenan’s speculative offload to Lowe looked a couple of feet forward but the referee, Pierre Brousset, was level with the play and the try was given.
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When Brousset showed Richard de Carpentier yellow for collapsing the maul, Bath were in deep trouble. Sure enough, they conceded 12 points during the flanker’s absence. First, Keenan ran a beautifully tight line off Lowe and then Gibson-Park scored his second after Bath switched off.
At 31-6, reporters were consulting the record books to check Leinster’s biggest win in Europe. We looked up just in time to see Jacques du Toit finish off a well-worked lineout play.
The second half was forgettable, with stoppages and replacements. And that suited Bath fine. Leinster did add a couple of tries in the third quarter. Ronan Kelleher muscled his way over from 20 metres out, while Josh van der Flier was rewarded for his industry. But Leinster’s bench didn’t enjoy the kind of impact that had been expected and their error count increased. Then Bath sucker-punched them to send Gabriel Hamer-Webb under the posts.
A small sweetener for the losers, and an annoyance for Leinster.
Star man Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster)
Leinster: Tries Gibson-Park (5min, 30), Furlong (12), Lowe (19), Keenan (25), Kelleher (47), Van der Flier (57). Cons R Byrne 5.
Bath: Tries Du Toit (38), Hamer-Webb (79). Cons Bailey 2. Pens Bailey 2.
Leinster: Keenan; Larmour, Ringrose (T O’Brien 60), Frawley, Lowe; R Byrne (J O’Brien 60), Gibson-Park (McGrath 53); Porter (Healy 49), Kelleher (Sheehan 49), Furlong (Ala’alatoa 49), Molony (Toner 60), Baird, Ruddock (capt), Van der Flier, Doris (Deegan 22-33, 70).
Bath: De Glanville (Prydie 68); Rokoduguni, Butt, Ojomoh, Muir (Hamer-Webb 71); Bailey, B Spencer (Simpson 68); Boyce, Du Toit (Dunn 40), Stuart (Rae 60), McNally (W Spencer 52), Ewels (capt), Ellis, De Carpentier (sin-bin 24-34), Bayliss (Richards 60).
Referee: P Brousset (France) Attendance: 25,403
