Leinster survive Saints fightback to reach final

The drive for five is still alive, but Leinster's place in the Investec Champions Cup final went right down to the last breath.

Northampton’s only points by that stage came from the boot of Fin Smith, whose penalty in the dying stages of the first half had the scores at 20-3 with less than half an hour to play. In the end, Phil Dowson’s side just fell short, as Leinster held out for a nervy final few minutes to reach a third final in a row, where they will face either Toulouse or Harlequins.

Sheehan found Ryan Baird right at the tail of the lineout, as the maul moved towards the line. Doris was stopped just short of the whitewash, and as he popped the ball up after the tackle, Gibson-Park instinctively slapped it to his left, and right into the hands of Lowe who had the simplest of touchdowns. Byrne’s conversion struck the post, but the hosts were looking comfortable, 12-0 in front with a quarter of an hour played.

It started with a gorgeous out-the-back-door offload from Furlong, before a weaving run from Baird brought him from the wing, back infield and through a gap to the 22. Leinster moved to the right wing where the Northampton defence got back to cover, before coming back infield. An offload from Osborne kept the play alive, before Sheehan found Frawley with an equally deft flick, and he played in Lowe to finish off an incredible try.

Northampton’s kicking game was forcing errors, and when they harried Leinster into giving away a five-metre scrum on 42 minutes, they drew a penalty out of the hosts, which led to Seabrook running in unopposed in the corner.

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