Live

Repeat: Off The Ball

02:00 AM-05:00 AM

Repeat: Off The Ball
Advertisement

Sport

Leinster are back in the Champions Cup Final

Leinster will play Saracens in the final of the Heineken Champions Cup. The reigning champions tu...



Leinster will play Saracens in the final of the Heineken Champions Cup.

The reigning champions turned in one of their best performances of the season to defeat Toulouse by 30 points to 12 at the Aviva Stadium.

James Lowe, Luke McGrath and Scott Fardy all scored tries, with a further 12 points coming from the boot of Johnny Sexton.

It was a man of the match performance by Sexton, who returned to his imperious best.

For Fardy, it was a case of hitting the ground running, as he was a late replacement for Rhys Ruddock.

The only worry for Leinster is that hooker Sean Cronin picked up a calf injury in the win.

Coach Leo Cullen and his assistant Stuart Lancaster are building a dynasty in the East of Ireland.  Leinster have now won 16 out of 17 matches in the premier European competition.

The province will now bid for a fifth European Champions Cup crown.

Their first was in 2009 at Murrayfield, as they edged Leicester by 19 points to 16, coached at the time by the current Australia supremo Michael Cheika.

Ireland coach Joe Schmidt then presided over the next two wins, a come from behind 33-22 victory over Northampton in Cardiff in 2011, when Sexton was magnificent.  That was 8 years ago!  The following year, Ulster were put to the sword in a 42-14 rout at Twickenham.

Last year's title was gained in the rain in Bilbao, a narrow 15-12 defeat of Racing 92.

Saracens were comfortable winners over Munster yesterday and they won the 2016 and 2017 renewals of the competition with victories over Racing 92 and Clermont Auvergne.

Leinster and Saracens met in last season's quarter-final, which Leinster won by 30 points to 19 in Dublin.

The final will be held at St James' Park in Newcastle on May 11th.  It will be the first time the home of the Premier League club will have hosted a Champions' Cup decider.

Everyone’s in the Team Of Us.

Vodafone. The Official Sponsor of the Irish Rugby Team.

Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!

Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.