Leinster v Sale: Winners and losers as hosts exploit stubborn Sharks’ flaws in ‘methodical’ victory while try overshadows Ioane’s ‘shortcomings’
Leinster's Hugo Keenan and Rieko Ioane (INPHO/Henry Simpson/Dan Clohessy/EPCR)
Following Leinster’s 43-13 victory over the Sale Sharks at the Aviva Stadium, here are our winners and losers from the Investec Champions Cup quarter-final.
Winners
Leinster
It looked touch and go for Leinster after 40 minutes as a stubborn Sale Sharks defence allowed just one try in the first half and scored three points of their own. However, the wrinkles in the seam appeared in the second half, and Leo Cullen’s men exploited them in a manner that you’d expect from a team gunning for the title.
It was less comprehensive and more methodical as they terrorised Sale’s lineout, stretched their defensive line, and when the gaps opened, exploited them.
The victory sets up a semi-final date with RC Toulon with home ground advantage, a favourable draw on paper with the Top 14 club qualifying for the knockouts as the seventh seed team, and who are 11th on their domestic league standings, but their victory over Glasgow Warriors is a warning that they simply cannot be taken lightly.
Hugo Keenan
After about seven months on the sidelines, Hugo Keenan has hardly missed a beat on his return to the rugby pitch, scoring on his return in March, backing that up with a five-pointer in the win over Edinburgh, and another today.
The try-scoring form is one thing, the other is his general play, and he has been on song in that regard, too. The 29-year-old is renowned for being a safe pair of hands, a consistent performer, and he ticked those boxes again. Jamie Osborne did a fantastic job in his absence, meaning that Keenan’s absence wasn’t felt as harshly as usual, but he is showing his class.
Ryan Baird
Ryan Baird and Keenan have almost been mid-season signings for Leinster after their long-term injuries, as the duo have really hit their strides and quickly.
Both got on the scoreboard, and much like Keenan, Baird’s impact extended beyond his try-scoring antics. He contested brilliantly, along with Joe McCarthy and James Ryan, to rob Sale of attacking ball from their lineout.
He lent his weight on the few occasions that Leinster had to defend, but his athleticism in the wider channels on the carry was where he really made his presence felt.
Dan Sheenan
Despite the efforts and brilliance of Baird and Keenan, it was Dan Sheehan who walked away with the Player of the Match award, seemingly finishing the game in a free-roaming position once Ronan Kellehar came on.
Still, the Ireland star showed his class in everything he did, emphatically stamping his final mark on a statement performance with an electric run through the Sale defence and assisting Jamie Osborne.
That came after he scored Leinster’s only try of the first half, regularly made great inroads behind the Sale defence and was brilliant all around.
Rekeiti Ma’asi-White
The standouts after the 40 minutes were few and far between for the Sharks, but Rekeiti Ma’asi-White was the exception to the rule as he put in a strong 80-minute shift.
There was not much going right for Sale on attack, but when the ball got into his hands, he made his mark. He racked up eight defenders beaten, a match-high, and carried bravely throughout.
Asher Opoku-Fordjour
Amid England’s tighthead prop crisis, Asher Opoku-Fordjour is hitting good form at the perfect time. Sale’s rising star played against Fiji and Argentina last November, with all due respect, neither have the best scrummaging pack, but he equipped himself well.
The 21-year-old can only play what is in front of him, and today, he dominated Leinster’s scrum and was equally effective around the park.
A trip to South Africa is very much on the cards for him in July, and that will be a true litmus test of his quality.
Losers
Leinster scrum issues
Certainly not aided by Alex Usanov’s early exit, but Leinster’s scrum was once again put under the cosh by the Sale Sharks pack. It’s an issue that has plagued Leinster and Ireland for some time now, with Tadhg Furlong notably going aerial during the Six Nations and not to forget the nightmare at this ground in November last year.
“The confidence is gone,” Springboks legend Victor Matfield remarked during SuperSport’s coverage of the fixture, and he is not wrong, but continued underwhelming performances need serious attention as it continues to put Leinster and subsequently Ireland under pressure that can be avoided.
IRFU Performance Director David Humphreys should be investigating this trend. Is enough time and effort being invested into improving the scrums? Is it a top-down issue, or does it need to be addressed at the grassroots level? Do the provinces need to make a mind shift? Or is it as simple as making coaching staff changes?
As much as the laws change, the set-pieces remain fundamentally important, and while Leinster got it this time around, they won’t always, and the same is true for Ireland, Munster, Ulster, and Connacht.
Aviva Stadium
To see the top tier of the Aviva Stadium vacant again was a real eye sore and perhaps just reinforces the notion that EPCR Rugby should rethink the home ground structuring of the Investec Champions Cup knockout matches.
The official Champions Cup website states that last week’s attendance was 21,491, which is, in reality, not much more than a sold-out RDS Arena and today’s count was 18, 833, a tally that the RDS could comfortably host.
There are certainly a few factors at play that would have contributed to the less-than-ideal turnout: fan arrogance that Leinster would simply get the job done, the rising costs of everything with the fuel price surge, supporter fatigue, or the short turnaround for ticketing sales.
Still, the plethora of empty green seats is an eyesore for a Champions Cup quarter-final.
Ethan Caine
Sale lost both of their frontline hookers last weekend, Luke Cowan-Dickie through injury and Nathan Jibulu for his dog-like antics, which resulted in a ban.
That meant that Alex Sanderson had to hand Ethan Cain the starting hooker role, his first of the season in a PREM Rugby or Champions Cup fixture. Was the fronting Leinster at the Aviva Stadium in a knockout match too much of ask for the 24-year-old too much of an ask? On today’s evidence, yes.
He was strong in the scrums but struggled to find his jumpers at the lineout, with Leinster’s Ireland stars picking off and disrupting Sale’s possession with regular ease.
Rieko Ioane
His stunning run to score will overshadow the All Blacks veteran’s shortcomings today, which will be exploited by stronger teams.
Shifted to the wing to accommodate Garry Ringrose’s return, Rieko Ioane shone when given space on attack as he always does, but much of Sale’s success in the first half came through George Ford’s bombs aimed at the New Zealander.
He struggled to secure possession from the high balls and, in doing so, put his side under pressure when really there shouldn’t have been.
Ioane is a fantastic athlete and a lethal finisher, but he simply has to improve some of his position-specific skills at centre and on the wing if he wants to become a regular in the All Blacks’ jersey again.
Sale Sharks
It was hardly the bloodbath that many predicted as Sanderson’s men toiled well against a proper contender for the title. Injury issues hampered Sale’s bid, and there was a lot of pride in their performance.
However, today’s results have effectively ended their season. The Sharks played with pride, particularly on defence, but their attack was nigh-on non-existent and leaves them playing the remainder of the PREM Rugby season for nothing more but pride.
Sale made a good fist of this fixture but were also the architects of their own demise with Dan du Preez’s yellow card before the break and Simon McIntyre’s early in the second half ultimately being their undoing.