An avalanche of points of the Aviva, and a couple of records sent tumbling in the process. Neither of them are very palatable for Northampton supporters: the most points conceded in a European game and the biggest margin of victory. Should we bother mentioning that after 22 minutes, they led 13-5?
We should, if only as proof that there was an attempt to reclaim pride after last week’s capitulation. That attempt was all too flimsy and short-lived, however. Leinster submerged them by nine tries to one.
The winners played some stupendous rugby in the process. One passage that lingers in the memory has Garry Ringrose offloading deftly to Sean Cronin on their 22 and the hooker slaloming up the pitch to find Luke McGrath, the zippy young scrum-half on his shoulder. But the highlights package would go on and on.
It would feature Adam Byrne, the strapping wing, scoring a couple of tries, and it would feature McGrath darting here and there. It would also lack just a little meaning, however, as Northampton were so shambolic.
The chances of a rout were always high once Jim Mallinder selected a team which showed that his priorities had shifted towards the Premiership. Early on, we searched for reminders of the corresponding fixture three years ago, when the Saints shocked everyone by rebounding from a 40-7 defeat at Franklin’s Gardens to beat Leinster 18-9 in Dublin. Such an outcome looked highly unlikely when Adam Byrne powered over in the right corner in the fifth minute.
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Leinster gained territory when Devin Toner used his height to block Nic Groom’s attempted clearance and once they sent runners at the Saints off the lineout, cracks began to appear. The biggest of those was forced by the rampaging Tadhg Furlong, although Zane Kirchner did a bit of damage also with his change of pace and back-handed flick to Byrne, whose strength was too much for Tom Collins.
But it wasn’t one-way traffic. In fact, the Saints would put together some decent rugby during that first half, carrying with bite and verve to force three penalty opportunities for Stephen Myler, two of which he converted. Leinster looked disjointed in possession, discombobulated by the Saints’ line-speed.
The visitors’ ability to ‘get off the line’ became a big talking point midway through the half, with Romain Poite disagreeing with his TMO, who believed that Ken Pisi had bolted too early before intercepting what looked like being a scoring pass by Luke McGrath.
Poite had the courage of his convictions and awarded the try. Pisi looked relieved, not just with the decision but with the fact that he hadn’t been hauled in on his 90-metre run by Sean O’Brien, who came close to doing so.
Myler’s conversion put the Saints 13-5 in front and Leinster had issues. Instead of chasing a four-try bonus, they now had to chase the game. They did so in a measured fashion at first, with Isa Nacewa narrowing the gap after Josh van der Flier had been man-handled by Jamie Gibson mid-jump at the lineout. And then they overwhelmed the Saints with three tries in 11 minutes.
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The first was the property of Luke McGrath, who rescued an attack which appeared to be losing shape when Ross Byrne passed wildly towards the right corner. Off the ruck, Leinster’s scrum-half dipped under a loose attempted tackle by James Craig and darted 10 metres to the line for a classic scrum-half try. Nacewa’s conversion put Leinster back in front.
Adam Byrne’s second try had as much to do with sloppy Northampton basics as his own speed and opportunism. Attacking near Leinster’s 10-metre line, George Pisi glanced fatally at an oncoming defender just as he was about to accept a Myler pass. Byrne scooped up the ball, brushed off a Collins challenged and galloped home. Now trailing 22-13, Northampton needed the half-time whistle.
Only some desperately scrabbling by Groom prevented a try after of his kicks was blocked again, this time by his opposite number. But Leinster stayed upfield and landed a heavy blow in the final seconds of the half, as O’Brien spun off a lineout maul, lost his feet but had the presence of mind and dynamism to drive over. Bonus point bagged.
The second half was a sorry tale for the Saints. Mallinder made a couple of changes at the break but this had the effect of taking a pen-knife to a buffalo on the charge. First came Furlong, barrelling over with only two minutes of the new half gone, then Cronin, picked out by Ross Byrne, this time with rather more precision.
Saints could have done without Gibson booting the ball rather brainlessly out of a now rampant Leinster scrum. In his absence, Nacewa and Rory O’Loughlin scored tries seven and eight.
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Nacewa made it nine when Ken Pisi spilled the ball behind his own try-line. Saints battled back to spend a few minutes in Leinster’s 22 but it was a futile gesture at the end of a grotesquely one-sided affair.
Star man: Sean Cronin (Leinster)
Scorers: Leinster: Tries: A Byrne 5, 32, McGrath 29, O’Brien 40, Furlong 42, Cronin 46, Nacewa 55, 71, O’Loughlin 61 Cons: Nacewa (4) R Byrne (2) Pen: Nacewa Northampton:Try: K Pisi 22 Con: Myler Pens: Myler (2)
Leinster: Kirchner; A Byrne (O’Loughlin 51min), Ringrose (Reid 64min), Henshaw, Nacewa (capt); R Byrne, L McGrath (Gibson-Park 57min); J McGrath (Healy 48min), Cronin (Tracy 48min), Furlong (Bent 48min), Toner (Ruddock 53min), Triggs, O’Brien (Conan 56min), Van der Flier, Heaslip
Northampton: Tuala; K Pisi, G Pisi (capt) (Hutchinson 50min), Hanrahan, Collins (Kessell 72); Myler, Groom; E Waller (A Waller 67min), Clare (Fish 62min), Brookes (Hill 50min), Ratuniyarawa, Craig (Paterson 50min), Gibson, Clark (Nutley h-t), Harrison