Leinster win in Galway but Connacht fightback keeps tie alive

The last 16 of the Heineken Champions Cup promised drama, and it delivered in spades.

Connacht and Leinster served up a classic at the Sportsground, and they will do it all over again next week.

Leo Cullen's side will still be overwhelming favourites to reach the quarter finals, their 26-21 victory in tonight's first leg giving them a deserved lead to bring back to next week's return tie at the Aviva Stadium.

But Connacht won't need to come back from the dead on Good Friday, with Andy Friend's side very much alive after a brave and hugely physical display.

When Leinster won 45-8 at this ground two weeks ago it was a game played out by two shadow squads, one of whom had 14 men for the vast majority.

But tonight the Six Nations stars were back on both sides, and were the beating heart of an absorbing game.

For Connacht, Bundee Aki was immense, his mere presence on the pitch seemingly getting an extra few percent out of his teammates. It was his pass that created space for John Porch's early try to settle the home team's nerves.

Mack Hansen was also electric, his international experiences somehow giving him even more confidence than he had just a few months ago.

For Leinster, James Lowe and Hugo Keenan combined for two tries, before Keenan crossed for the third.

And it was the depth of Leinster's experience that saw them through, turning the screw on the Connacht scrum in the second half, while the relentless engine of both Josh van der Flier and Player of the Match Caelan Doris proved a difference maker in open play.

Before the game even started, the Sportsground was croaking under the weight and sound of 8,129 screaming supporters, and the Clan Terrace was shaking inside two minutes as Connacht started hot.

Bundee Aki got them into