LEINSTER maintained their 100 per cent record in the Investec Champions Cup with a crushing victory over Stade Francais on Saturday night – a win that formally booked their place in the last-16 of the competition.
The home side were highly impressive as they ran in seven tries in an emphatic 43-7 win at Lansdowne Road. James Lowe began the rout after 17 minutes and Josh van der Flier and Dan Sheehan added further scores before the break.
Jordan Larmour and Caelan Doris then claimed two apiece after the break with Stade Francais limited to a late consolation from Joris Segonds.
The one black spot for Leinster was the injury sustained by Ciarán Frawley, who was replaced by Sam Prendergast early in the second-half after coming out on the wrong side of a heavy tackle.
However, with Andy Farrell set to announce his Ireland squad for next month’s Six Nations on Wednesday, Leinster coach Leo Cullen was upbeat about Frawley’s condition.
“He got a bang on the back there, but he’s okay,” Cullen said.
“He’s in the dressing room there, he’s fine. I don’t think it’s bad, but that’s my amateur eye. He looked alright.”
Stade Francais sent a second string to Dublin on Saturday, and RTÉ pundit Bernard Jackman said fans were being short-changed, with Sale and Northampton having previously done likewise.
“42,000 people here tonight. Realistically, walking into the Aviva, you pretty much knew the result,” the former Ireland international said.
“Stade Francais, if they brought their best team... okay, it’s highly unlikely they’re going to win. But there’s a bit of jeopardy there, a bit of doubt.”
Leinster’s Pool Four rivals Sale still have work to do to join them in the last-16 after going down to a bonus-point defeat to the Stormers in South Africa.
Sale were edged out by four tries to three as they suffered a 31-24 loss in Cape Town. Tries from Hacjivah Dayimani and Suleiman Hartzenberg gave Stormers an early advantage and, with Leolin Zas later scoring two, the hosts were able to stay ahead despite replies from Jonny Hill, Agustin Creevy and Sam Bedlow.
Bedlow was sin-binned in a dramatic ending but the Sharks clung on for their bonus point as Manie Libbok, who had earlier kicked 11 points, missed the resulting penalty.
Munster boosted their own hopes of reaching the next phase with a 29-18 triumph at Toulon. The southerners trailed 10-0 early on, but recovered to lead 17-13 at the break and then powered on to their first victory in this season’s competition with tries from Tom Ahern and Calvin Nash.
Alex Nankivell and Simon Zebo had crossed in the first-half in response to Duncan Paia’aua’s early score, while Jack Crowley landed three conversions and a penalty.
Connacht slipped to their third successive defeat as they were beaten 34-20 in their Pool One encounter in Lyon.
Sean Jansen stunned the hosts with an early try, but the French side hit back through Thaakir Abrahams and Alexandre Tchaptchet. Cian Prendergast and Tadgh McElroy touched down to keep Connacht in contention but, with 12 points from the boot of Paddy Jackson and further tries from Mickael Guillard and Abrahams, Lyon had enough.