Leinster v Bath: Five takeaways as Beno Obano ‘harsh’ red changes everything while Finn Russell’s brilliance ‘unpicks’ Jacques Nienaber’s defence
Bath fly-half Finn Russell and an insert of Beno Obano.
Following a 47-21 victory for Leinster against Bath in the Investec Champions Cup, here are our five takeaways from the fixture at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.
Top line
Leinster ultimately overwhelmed Bath to win Pool Two with a seven-try display in front of a 40,000 crowd – but only after the visitors were reduced to 14 men with the hugely controversial dismissal of Beno Obano.
The England prop was shown two yellow cards, both of which appeared harsh. The second, on the hour, with the match in the balance, tilted the pendulum decisively Leinster’s way.
“Two questionable yellow cards,” was the verdict of pundit and former Wales star Tom Shanklin. “You have to feel very sorry for him.”
It was cruel on Bath who led 21-19 at half-time a team which had reached the last three Champions Cup finals and came into the game on a 12-game winning streak.
But tries for Alfie Barbeary and a Tom de Glanville double counted for nothing as Leinster powered back to eliminate them from the competition with scores by Robbie Henshaw (2), captain Jack Conan, replacement RG Snyman (2), Garry Ringrose and Jamison Gibson-Park.
What it means for both sides
As Pool Two winners Leinster guarantee themselves a home tie in the Round of 16 as they attempt to reach a fourth consecutive final. They will have to wait for tomorrow’s results to find out who their opposition will be at the Aviva Stadium.
Bath exit the competition after their third loss in four pool matches but will be sick to have done so after competing so hard and so successfully up until Obano’s red card. A combination of their loss and Benetton beating La Rochelle 32-15 in Italy means the Challenge Cup for Johann van Graan’s men.
Obano sees red again
Who can forget last season’s Gallagher Premiership final? Certainly not Obano, sent-off in the 22nd minute at Twickenham. The 14 remaining Bath players still led Northampton for most of the game but it ultimately proved too great a mountain to climb.
The England prop maintains to this day that he did not merit a yellow card that afternoon in south west London in what was the biggest club match of his life. And, with justification, he can make the same claim here.
Thirty-five minutes were on the clock when Obano stepped into the defensive line to confront the marauding Jamison Gibson-Park. He hinged and prepared for the contact, only for the Ireland star to change direction at the last moment.
Their heads clashed, the scrum-half’s right cheek ripped open and, after consulting with the TMO, ref Luc Ramos saw enough danger in the collision to brandish the yellow card. It was unclear what else Obano could have done.
Just as at Twickenham in June the response was first-rate from Bath, scoring a wonderful try against the 15 of Leinster to lead at the break. It was the next card which proved too great a burden.
A scrum on the hour mark went down and Obano was adjudged to be at fault. A penalty was fair call but a second yellow harsh in the extreme, especially as it added up to a red. With the departing prop went all hope for the West Countrymen.
Henshaw the centre of attention
Henshaw against Ollie Lawrence was a blockbuster head-to-head at outside-centre, particularly with England and Ireland meeting on this same patch of grass a fortnight today.
Lawrence, Bath’s 31-cap midfielder, enjoyed the opening skirmishes, as tries from Barbeary and De Glanville put the visitors 14 points clear inside eight minutes.
Having lost on both his England appearances at the Aviva, it was a welcome development for the wrecking ball centre at the end of a week his star status was boosted by signing for the Roc Nation International sports agency.
It did not last, however, as Henshaw quickly brought Leinster back into the contest, running a neat inside line to take the scoring pass from Hugo Keenan after a clever miss-pass by Jamison Gibson-Park.
Within six minutes the 76-cap centre had his second, this time Jordie Barrett the provider with quick hands opening a gap for the two-tour Lion to dot down.
Lawrence’s rollercoaster evening continued with Obano’s first yellow leaving Bath shorthanded at scrum-time. Instructed to pack down on the left flank, he was slow to shut down the space available to the fast-breaking Conan, who put Leinster ahead.
The England man responded quite beautifully, drifting right onto a pass from Finn Russell, beating Jamie Osborne on the outside, Hugo Keenan on the inside and flicking the scoring pass out the back to De Glanville.
Henshaw, though, had the final say, picking up the player of the match award. “We got there in the end after a slow start,” he said. “We thought it would come to us easily. We had to work harder.”
Nienaber’s all-conquering defence not infallible
When Leinster won at La Rochelle a week ago we rightly saluted the aggressive defence built by Jacques Nienaber. For all the Blues’ set-piece woes their rearguard was so good they were able to limit Ronan O’Gara’s two-time champions to a single try.
Not so here, with Bath helping themselves to three tries before half-time. Much of that was due to Russell’s brilliance at unpicking defences with his choice of play. Both De Glanville’s tries were made possible by beautiful passes from the Scotsman.
But it was as much a collective attitude as any individual involvement. Bath had refused to give up on this tournament despite losing their first two games. Here, in a stadium where Leinster rarely lose, they took the game to the kings off the URC.
From the moment they won back the opening kick-off Bath were on it. Leinster had hardly trailed all competition but they did at half-time, despite Bath making more than twice as many tackles.
Obano’s dismissal changed everything. One moment Bath trailed 26-21 and were pushing to get back on level terms, the next the prop had gone, Leinster brought on RG Snyman and Caelan Doris and, well, you can guess the rest.
