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Leinster showed why he is a pre-tournament favorite after a dominant 35-14 win over Montpellier at GGL Stadium.
Their victory erased the memory of the quarterfinal loss to the Saracens at the end of last season and steered them into an assault on a fifth title.
The Irish province carried their unbeaten record of seven matches in PRO14 into their final European campaign and selected Irish stars Johnny Sexton and James Ryan on the bench. Sexton withdrew from the game at the last minute and was replaced by Harry Bryne, the younger brother of starting number 10 Ross.
The four-time champions had last tasted defeat in the quarter-finals of last season’s tournament against Saracens in Dublin and got off to a perfect start with a try after just five minutes at GGL Stadium.
Click here to see teams and scorers
A strong scrum allowed Luke McGrath to break into the home 22nd and the quickly recycled ball provided room for it to be sent to the right, where wing Josh van der Flier appeared down the wing to cross into the corner.
Ross Byrne couldn’t add the extras, but he did hit it five minutes later, after Van der Flier handed over Jacques du Plessis at 22 Montpellier.
Leinster, the strong ball carrier and aggressive defense, snapped the hosts out of their normally flowing gait, but finally went off the mark in the 21st minute when Benoit Paillaugue kicked a penalty against James Tracy.
Leinster immediately got back on the offense and some heavy runs from close range brought them within 10 yards. They had a penalty advantage but didn’t need it as captain Rhys Ruddock took a pass from the blind face, knocked out the final defender and sent Ciaran Frawley around the left corner.
Once again Byrne failed to convert and that allowed Paillaugue to close the gap to a scoreboard when he knocked down his second penalty with 32 minutes remaining after powerful French international blocking Paul Willemse made the first real dent in the visiting defense.
Leinster finished the first half with a flourish when left wing Dave Kearney ran to an excellent cross shot from Byrne after a push from Van der Flier. The ball bounced off the wing’s arms and his try was improved by Byrne to make it 20-6 at the break.
Leinstertainment ™
Seconds after the pack forced a rotation, Ross Byrne places a beautiful kick behind the defense and Dave Kearney is there to jump 👌#HeinekenChampionsCup pic.twitter.com/lBsHETCW0Y
– Rugby at BT Sport (@btsportrugby) December 12, 2020
Paillaugue’s third penalty of the night off the 10-meter line three minutes into the second half gave the home team something to build on and it was much more even competition in the second half.
Leo Cullen brought in four starters for five Irishmen early in the third quarter and they returned to the game to score two more attempts.
The bonus point came from wing Dan Leavy in his first European outing since the quarterfinals in 2019 and then Jimmy O’Brien ran 25 meters on the last play of the match to round things out.
Harry Byrne, who replaced his older brother, added the final conversion to an earlier penalty.
Montpelier’s only attempt came from the Gabriel N’Gandebe wing.
Wasps ensure victory with bonus points
Wasps fought for a 24-8 bonus point victory over a Covid-hit Dragons team to start their Champions Cup campaign on a positive note.
The hosts were left without a number of players, but struggled throughout, despite going at halftime down 12-3 due to attempts by Tom Cruse and Dan Robson.
Jonah Holmes’ effort brought the Welsh back into the competition, but the higher quality of the visitors was noticed when Jack Willis and Thomas Young completed the victory.
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