Leinster keep heat on Toulouse, Castres edge Munster
Leinster kept up the pressure on first-placed Toulouse with a 42-15 victory over Bath in their Champions Cup clash at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.
In fact such was the dominance of their display that the defending champions had already scored their bonus-point try before half-time. With the maximum collection, they move within two points of Pool 1 leaders Toulouse, who defeated Wasps 42-27 earlier in the day.
Tries from Jack Conan, Rory O’Loughlin, James Lowe, Adam Byrne, Dan Leavy and Jamison Gibson-Park proved too much for the visitors, who scored through Sam Underhill and Francois Louw. Bath remain in third place on five points, two ahead of Premiership rivals and basement dwellers Wasps.
It was a more polished and clinical performance from the home side compared to their showing in the 17-10 defeat at the Rec last weekend. Their scrum was overwhelmingly dominant while they superbly nullified the twin threat of Underhill and Louw at the breakdown.
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Meanwhile, Bath were guilty of some poor lapses in concentration, most notably when they turned their backs to allow Lowe to dot down from a close-range tap-and-go.
However, at times, Leinster simply had too much firepower for their opponents with Johnny Sexton, Jordan Larmour and Lowe particularly influential. Sexton was a creative force for his side – the highlight his cross-field kick to set up Byrne’s try.
In the other late game played on Saturday, Castres gave their qualification hopes a new lease of life as they beat Pool 2 leaders Munster 13-12.
This shock result throws the pool wide open to any of the four sides involved, with Gloucester and Exeter Chiefs set to be pleased with Castres.
Paea Fa’anunu scored the only try of the match while Benjamin Urdapilleta kicked eight points, with Joey Carbery sending over nine points.
Munster remain top of that pile on 12 points while Castres are now second on nine, with Gloucester and Exeter one behind the French outfit.
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