Man-of-the-match: Cian Healy
Leinster handed themselves a chance of progressing to the Heineken Cup knockout stages after beating Exeter 29-20 with a bonus-point on Saturday.
The five-point win means Munster must take the maximum against Racing at Thomond Park on Sunday if they are to dump out the champions.
Leinster are currently on 20 points with 12 tries to their name while Munster sit on 15 points (9 tries) and will thus know what needs to be done when they run out to face the Parisians in Limerick.
The champions crossed the whitewash before the break through Ireland duo Gordon D'Arcy and Rob Kearney before Brian O'Driscoll went over for their third while the fourth came in the 53rd minute through imposing number eight Jamie Heaslip.
Leinster made three changes to their pack which saw Richardt Strauss join Sean O'Brien and Kevin McLaughlin as the three newcomers from last week's win over the Scarlets. O'Driscoll returned to the back line, with Johnny Sexton joined by Eoin Reddan in an international half-back partnership.
Exeter meanwhile, had sold out Sandy Park for the final home game of their first venture into Heineken Cup competition, making three changes to their side which had lost in France last week. Injuries in the back line saw Sireli Naqelevuki and Ian Whitten return to the back line, with Dean Mumm introduced to the second row.
The Irish side scored first, with inside centre D'Arcy going over on five minutes, after great tactical kicking by Sexton had earned a line-out five metres from the Exeter line.
Both sides had chosen to forgo the opportunity of points from the boot, a tactic that paid off for the home side, with Neil Clark driving over the line from a line-out maul on 17 minutes.
The Leinster forwards piled on the pressure half an hour in, for Kearney to find the line after a good back line move.
Exeter's line-out driving caused further problems for Leinster just minutes later, as referee Romain Poite awarded a penalty try for the collapse of a maul. With Gareth Steenson converting, and then scoring a penalty goal on the stroke of half-time, the Chiefs were in command at the break by a margin of 17-12.
But with two converted tries in the opening stages of the second half, Leinster got their bonus point, and although they held a nine point lead, were never fully in charge.
Steenson reduced the deficit with a penalty on 69 minutes, and as Exeter sought the try which could have earned a home win, replacement flanker Tom White was yellow carded, and Sexton scored from the penalty to restore the nine point advantage for the visitors.
Although both sides were down to 14 men with the yellow carding of Isaac Boss three minutes from the end of the game, Leinster held on for the win, but now await for Sunday's result at Thomond Park to find out if they qualify for the Heineken Cup quarter-finals.
The scorers:
For Exeter:
Tries: Clark, Penalty
Con: Steenson 2
Pen: Steenson 2
For Leinster:
Tries: D'Arcy, Kearney, O'Driscoll, Heaslip
Con: Sexton 3
Pen: Sexton
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Luke Arscott, 14 Ian Whitten, 13 Sireli Naqelevuki, 12 Jason Shoemark, 11 Matt Jess, 10 Gareth Steenson, 9 Kevin Barrett, 8 Richard Baxter, 7 James Scaysbrook, 6 Tom Johnson, 5 Dean Mumm, 4 Tom Hayes (c), 3 Hoani Tui, 2 Neil Clark, 1 Ben Moon.
Replacements: 16 Jack Yeandle, 17 Carl Rimmer, 18 Craig Mitchell, 19 James Hanks, 20 Ben White, 21 Will Chudley, 22 Ignacio Mieres, 23 Nic Sestaret.
Leinster: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Isa Nacewa, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Luke Fitzgerald, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 Kevin McLaughlin, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Leo Cullen, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Richardt Strauss, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Heinke Van der Merwe, 18 Michael Bent, 19 Rhys Ruddock, 20 Shane Jennings, 21 Issac Boss, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Fergus McFadden
Referee: Romain Poite (France)
Assistant referees: Christophe Berdos (France), Eric Soulan (France)
Television match official: Bernard Dal Maso (France)
Comments
craigsman says...
Well done Exeter, stayed competitive against a Leinster side on a mission. 3 years since the Championship seems a long time now!
Posted 21:15 19th January 2013
ArmchairGeneral says...
Looks like Quins get Leinster or Munster. Clarmont get Monpellier. Toulouse or Leicester play Sarries which leaves Ulster Toulon I think. Seriously great set of quarters!! One of my favorite weekends in the year is the HC quarters.
Posted 21:05 19th January 2013
JamieTheProp says...
Now I have to hope that Munster don't qualify - I think Munster are probably my least favourite rugby team in world rugby!
Posted 20:57 19th January 2013
leinster_goy says...
ah romain, mon vieux...i know you hate Leinster with a passion and will do everything in your power to make them lose (see: vs london irish 2009, vs northampton 2011 (didn't work that time though), vs ospreys 2012, just to name the most egregious examples) but taking 73 mins to bin one of the Exeter Cheats was really extracting the urine. what are you doing on a rugby field? you should be refereeing games of tiddlywinks
that being said, we did well to get the 4 tries but you could sense the desperation sometimes. many times, we tried to force it too much. lineout execution is a real concern at the moment. we got off to a great start but Robbo's moment of idiocy cost us in the long-run, as it gave exeter the belief and momentum they needed to stay in the game and keep plugging away
and now, a special message for my good friends in the province of munster:
any chance you could throw the match tomorrow? even the thickest munster fan would have to agree that ulster and Leinster are the only teams capable of keeping the european cup in ireland. no offence or anything, but yous have been kind of rubbish for past few years and you haven't a hope in hell of winning the Heino this season. no offence, like (ok, some). if you do render this favour though, it won't go unnoticed by Yours Truly. a complimentary basket of neeps would be making its way doan soath faster than you can say "hoe's she cuttin' der"
Posted 20:22 19th January 2013
papachinzo says...
Referee was shocking... Exeter got away with murder !!
Posted 20:00 19th January 2013