Leinster stride into semi-final as Garry Ringrose sparks demolition of Leicester

Let’s just say Dublin is not the happiest of English hunting grounds right now. Leicester did at least avoid any red cards but, as with England in the Six Nations last month, there was never any danger of an eye-catching away win. Leinster are into the last four of the Champions Cup and now await either Toulouse or Sharks in the semi-finals.

If the stadium atmosphere was several notches down from the grand slam decider on St Patrick’s weekend, this remains a mighty tough place for opposing sides to come and two first-half tries and a quality all-round display from the excellent Garry Ringrose duly kept the Irish province on track for a dream home final on this same stretch of turf next month.

By the end it was merely a question of how many points Leinster would rack up, with tries from Scott Penny, Jimmy O’Brien and John McKee and 20 points from Ross Byrne’s boot ensuring a lopsided final scoreline massaged only slightly by consolation scores from Olly Cracknell and Harry Potter. Better opposition still awaits but Leinster, with home advantage all the way, are going to take some stopping.

Even in the absence of the injured Johnny Sexton, Josh van der Flier and Ronan Kelleher, there was no escape for a Leicester side who were comprehensively blown away in the last half hour. “We fought hard but if you give them a sniff they just kill you,” admitted the Leicester fly-half Handré Pollard. The South African has a World Cup winners’ medal and knows a top side when he sees one.

The portents were not good from the start, with Hugo Keenan rising highest to steal the opening kick-off from the experienced Mike Brown to allow Leinster to move slickly through the phases and put Ringrose over for the opening try after a mere 73