Leinster 15; Clermont 7
It was pretty - ugly that is - as Leinster huffed and puffed in front of a packed Aviva Stadium on Saturday evening before taking four of the five points on offer against a heavyweight opposition who weren’t a million miles away from pulling off a surprise on the road.
Only two tries from the home side this time around - and they came in the first half from Garry Ringrose and home full debutant Jordie Barrett, which, with one conversion and a penalty from the game’s MVP Sam Prendergast, was enough for Leo Cullen’s men on this occasion.
In essence, Leinster never got into the top gears and from the early French try by Alivereti Raka after five minutes which Baptiste Jauneau converted, they had a threat about them which gave Leinster fans an uncomfortable watch, despite having an 8-point victory margin in the end.
Territorially, the home side managed to dominate most of the quarters but while their discipline improved this time around, their level of accuracy once again was well below par with several promising moves spoilt by misdirected passes or poor handling.
It didn’t help Clermont’s cause that they lost both centres, Pierre Fouyssac and George Moala, to injuries in the first half but despite that, they could have got in for a second try except full-back Alex Newsome dropped the ball on the line.
That was the sign of good fortune Leinster needed and once Barrett initiated the counter move, he found an able accomplice in Josh van der Flier who sprinted over the halfway line. James Ruan continued the break and when that led to a penalty under the post, the alert Jamison Gibson-Park tapped it quickly to Max Deegan who fed Prendergast and the outhalf gave Barrett the chance to power his way to a touchdown.
It didn’t help either team’s cause on the changeover that a steady rain was part of the mischief they faced for the 40 minutes, inevitably it led to a series of disjointed moves across both three-quarters.
Prendergast’s boot put his forwards close to the try line but they found ways to thwart themselves time and again. Indeed all the home fans had to cheer in this moiety was a sole penalty from the outhalf who made way late in the game to give the forgotten man Ross Byrne a chance to show his wares in the pivotal position.
Afterwards Head Coach Cullen said: “The dressing room is frustrated at how we performed today because we want to put on a better show in front of our home fans but at the same time, you’ve got to win against a team that is used to these sort of arm wrestles in the Top 14, where they’re currently sitting third. They’ve a ton of experience. It’s good to get a win.
"The conditions deteriorated in the second half and it became quite difficult to play but at the same time, there’s lots of things that we can be better at, so it’s pretty mixed, I’d have to say,” he emphasized.
Elsewhere Ulster led for much of the game but were caught by a big second-half push by Bordeaux 40-19 while Munster lost on the road to Castres by 16-14.
Connacht showed up well to gain their second maximum points in the Challenge Cup after winning away to Perpignan scoring five tries to the home side’s two.
SCORERS
Leinster: Tries - Ringrose, Barrett Con: Prendergast Pen: Prendergast.
Clermont: Try - Raka Con: Jauneau.
Leinster: J Barrett; L Turner, G Ringrose, R Henshaw, J O'Brien; S Prendergast, J Gibson-Park; A Porter, R Kelleher, T Clarkson; J McCarthy, J Ryan; M Deegan, J van der Flier, C Doris (capt) Replacements: G McCarthy (for Kelleher 48), C Healy (Porter 76), R Slimani (Clarkson 48), RG Snyman (J McCarthy 48), J Conan (Van der Flier 48), F Gunne (Gibson-Park 65), R Byrne (Prendergast 65), A Osborne (Turner 52
