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It’s not easy to stress having a man-eating heavyweight pack, when the first scrum is reversed at knot speed and opens the door to a try.
Five minutes have passed. This was the fate of Montpellier. There are no crowds to feel sorry for being played outside the park, so there is no pressure other than what they can muster from within to look like a team capable of winning. That wasn’t close enough.
So the plan to crush Leinster was shattered before the home team could read it in half. The gulf between these two teams is huge. Leinster was able to play with a pace that not only suited them, but didn’t really appeal to Montpellier.
They rested a lot of their international contingent, well, as much as the current compressed schedule allows, putting them on the bench. The job of earning bonus points was well under control when the extras were released.
That team did not include Johnny Sexton, who was belatedly retired, allowing the Byrne brothers, Ross and Harry, to run the show.
Sexton was complaining after the captain’s dead-leg tightening streak he chose against Scotland, so that was the end of his weekend away. That would have done Andy Farrell very well too.
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Dave Kearney of Leinster is tackled by Alex Lozowski of Montpellier during the Heineken Champions Cup Group A Round 1 match
SPORTS ARCHIVE
Thus valuable time in Europe for the younger brother and a successful return to this stage for Dan Leavy, whose attempt from close range secured the bonus point in the third quarter. The reaction of his teammates reflected the journey he has taken to get back to a high performance start.
“Overall I thought the pace was pretty good,” Leo Cullen said afterward. “He had a bit of a start in the second half with the guys coming off the bench. Montpellier was always going to have a hot streak at some point.”
A sequence in the second quarter perfectly illustrated the difference between the sides. Leinster was busily working his way to the Montpellier line, forcing the locals to work harder than they wanted.
Perhaps frustrated with the way things were going, or perhaps this is his party piece, second-row Bastien Chalureau makes his way through a breakdown and hits Luke McGrath.
It could also be taken into account that McGrath was causing them a lot of pain at that stage, so it became too much for Chalureau.
So, penalty advantage for Leinster, which they use to get back to what they were doing before being rudely interrupted.
This time they do even better, finishing down the five-meter channel with Rhys Ruddock and Ciarán Frawley combining for the center to score. Fittingly it was Chalureau trying to stop Ruddock, and failing.
Ruddock had another great game, confirming the good form he has led to the Pro 14 this season. He wonders if he could change some men if the match awards a few more matches with Ireland.
At halftime, Leinster had ordered three of the four attempts they needed. Van der Flier completed a beautiful play that exposed Montpellier in their left corner, and a Ross Byrne penalty shortly after made it 8-0. The only chance for Montpellier to gain a foothold in the game would have been Leinster’s bondage to sin or acts of self-destruction.
Neither was close. So Benoit Paillaugue’s penalties were the only impression on the scoreboard, save for a late try by Gabriel Ngandebe.
Leinster filled his boots with five in total, the group’s selection coming shortly before halftime when the locals were swept all over the place before Ross Byrne connected with a pass to Dave Kearney to pass into the corner.
By the time Jimmy O’Brien recovered, at the end of the day, Leinster’s only concerns were getting everyone off the field safely. They accomplished that. They have Saints next. It will be interesting to see what kind of squad they bring in for that.
Montpellier: V Rattez; G Ngandebe, Y Reilhac, A Vincent (capt), V Martin (P Valée 71); A Lozowski (L Foursans 64), B Paillaugue; G Fichten (E Forletta 66), G Guirado (B du Plessis 49), M Haouas (T Lamositele 49), B Chalureau (L Picamoles 58), P Willemse, N Janse van Rensburg, J du Plessis, Y Camara (C Timu 74).
Leinster: J O’Brien; H Keenan, R Henshaw, C Frawley, D Kearney; R Byrne (H Byrne 62), L McGrath (J Gibson-Park 70); P Dooley (C Healy 46), J Tracy (R Kelleher 46), M Bent (A Porter 46); D Toner (RBaird 69), S Fardy (J Ryan 52), R Ruddock (capt), C Doris (D Leavy 60), J der Flier.
Referee: K Dickson (England).
Scorers: Montpellier 14 (GN’gandebe try, P Paillaugue 3 pens) Leinster 35 (J van der Flier, C Frawley, D Kearney, D Leavy, J O’Brien try each; R Byrne pen, with; H Byrne pen, with)
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