Leinster Rugby

All the action from Le Havre as Leinster start their European campaign with a tough assignment on the road.

A few offloads from Racing threaten to break the line but Doris gets in over the ball to win the turnover. Leinster turn down the easy 3 and go to the corner. All of a sudden Leinster have a platform deep inside the Racing half. Clever really, they wait and wait for Racing to start pushing at the scrum, Gibson-Park doesn’t put the ball in and Pearce has to penalise them for repeated early shoves. Russell points to the posts and will try to get his side on the board. They stop the maul and haul Sheehan down close to the line and after a series of brutal collisions around the fringes, Jenkins spills in contact. Wade tries to throw the offload but it hits the deck and then Russell knocks on when he tries to regather. They did a job on Leinster’s breakdown and dislodged the ball a number of times in contact. Byrne and Ngatai combine to rip the ball out but Porter then plays it off his feet, gifting Racing a penalty. First of all Russell nearly pulls off the 50:22, a superb kick but then Lowe comes across to keep the ball in play cleverly. After a break from deep, Woki looked to have a canter to the line but the Leinster wing tracks back and hauls him down from behind. 61 mins: The handling from Byrne and then Doris is excellent as Leinster patiently pick holes in the Racing defence.

Leinster return to European rugby action later today when they take on French side Racing 92 (1pm...

They’re a passionate bunch and playing really well so it’s going to be a tough match no matter where you’re playing them.” Hugo Keenan: “I think going on to an Astro pitch indoors would have been nearly more of a challenge. Chouzenoux, A. Bresler, B. Palu, A. Nyakane, B. Leo Cullen's have won all of their 9 fixtures in the United Rugby Championship this year. The Top 14 side lie in second place in their domestic table Teams for the game The team is in Odds for the game Here are more details for the game later today.

Garry Ringrose captains Leinster today. Image: Billy Stickland/INPHO. IT WAS SUPPOSED to be a handy skip across to France yesterday. It turned into a travel ...

Their attacking kicking game creates try-scoring chances but they sometimes leave space in the backfield. They’re lethal in transition but Racing do have a looseness around them at times too. Juan Imhoff is as hard-working a winger as you’ll find but finishes with finesse too, while former Munster man Francis Saili can be impactful with his strike-running in midfield and 21-year-old fullback Max Spring is classy. 20-year-old scrum-half Nolann Le Garrec and Scotland’s Finn Russell are an instinctive, creative halfback pairing who will hope to get the array of stars outside them firing. Whatever about the absences, Leinster have many weapons to call on. It’s interesting to see Leinster name Healy as their back-up tighthead again. Being without captain Johnny Sexton and tighthead prop Tadhg Furlong today isn’t ideal but Leinster can back their depth with some confidence. Many teams think this is going to be their season in Europe but there’s a hint of desperation about Leinster’s desire to claim the title for the first time since 2018. They were the lucky ones who actually made it to France. Spare a thought for the travelling supporters who were left stranded in Beauvais and Charles de Gaulle airports yesterday evening. Leinster’s flight was delayed by five hours and after they finally got into the air, they had to circle Le Havre before being diverted to Aéroport Paris-Beauvais. It turned into a travel nightmare for Leinster and their fans.

Leinster launched their Heineken Champions Cup campaign in fabulous fashion with a half-dozen tries against highly-rated hosts Racing 92 at Le Havre on ...

Leinster’s one-out runners were coming from deep to break the gain line. The game was in safe keeping, but the points-difference took a knock when the skills of Russell and Gael Fickou enabled Christian Wade to punch in a try, converted by Russell. A clever move from a tap penalty opened up a sliver of space for Josh van der Flier to blast over for the bonus point try, converted by Byrne for 28-3 in the 63rd minute. The long ball tactic by Lowe and Hugo Keenan was followed up by a tremendous chase and block by Ringrose to keep Racing pinned back. Then, Leinster stitched together a wonder try built off fine lines of running, an elegant break by Lowe and an exquisite unorthodox give to Garry Ringrose for the third, Byrne converting in the 38th minute. A smooth lineout from Sheehan to Jason Jenkins ended with Porter driving to the line for Byrne to convert in the fifth minute.

Sign up to 'The Collision' for a free weekly update from Rugby Correspondent Ruaidhri O'Connor and the best writing from our expert team.