Key events
77 min: Massive shove against the maul by Northampton! Then they turn it over! Huge …
75 min: Leinster turn it over! O’Brien kicks ahead! He’s taken a touch late by Augustus. Referee doesn’t seem to mind. Oh no, he does. It’s a penalty. “Clearly late,” says the referee. It’ll be a penalty where the ball landed. Massive. And it was a poor kick by O’Brien too. Leinster kick for the corner! They want the try to finish it!
73 min: Northampton put up another high kick. Lowe knocks on! Oooooh this is nervy. Attacking scrum for Northampton. The referee tells Porter: “Control, control the body,” when it’s reset.
72 min: Fin Smith puts a high kick up. Lowe calls for the mark. Northampton still hold a slender lead but this is going to be a seriously testing final eight.
Try! Leinster 34-37 Northampton (Lowe)
Northampton are hopelessly stretched by a smart set play from the penalty. Lowe swan dives in and Prendergast nails a very difficult conversion. It’s a three-point game as we move into the final 10.
70 min: Penalty for Leinster under the posts. Pollock penalised for not releasing in the tackle. Potentially harsh? Anyway …
69 min: Scott-Young comes on Northampton, an immediate response to the yellow card. Henry Pollock’s conditioning and work-rate is absolutely another level.
68 min: Yellow card for Northampton: Kemeny
This mission just got more impossibler for Northampton. The Australian Josh Kemeny goes to the bin. Then again, Pollock scored that screamer when they were down to 14 before.
68 min: Potential yellow card for a high and late hit by Northampton’s Kemeny on Slimani. The crowd roar at the replays but it looks like he might have hit his chest first …
67 min: Leinster’s Porter is penalised at a scrum. Huge. But then Northampton cock up the lineout, dummying the throw. Also huge? Northampton need to be more clinical than that if they are going to close this out.
65 min: Tom James for Mitchell at scrum-half. Tom Lockett, the lock, also on.
Try! 63 min: Leinster 27-37 Northampton (Ramm)
Devastating hands, devastating running, sensational try by the full-back Ramm. Smith converts. Immense! The Northampton coaches are enjoying this up in the box.
Try! 59 min: Leinster 27-30 Northampton (Van der Flier)
A simple yet devastating driving maul from Leinster. That feels big. But Prendergast misses the conversion. Can Northampton rediscover their scoring touch from the first half?
59 min: Now Leinster win what looks a key penalty for a high shot at a ruck. They kick for the corner.
57 min: Prendergast pick a nice inside pass, popped inside for a rampaging McCarthy. Leinster knock on! Pollock, the openside, is still everywhere.
I fancy Northampton to engineer a classy counterattack score before too long …
Penalty! 56 min: Leinster 22-30 Northampton (Smith)
A long-range penalty sneaks over from the England man! That could be huge in the final reckoning. We’re not far from the final quarter and this promises to be a scintillating finish.
55 min: Mitchell kicks again. Prendergast belts it into space on the Leinster left. Northampton kick it back. Barrett duly kicks it back for Leinster … Porter is penalised for a hand on the floor. Much more kicking compared to before the break: and now Fin Smith can kick off the tee …
53 min: Wave after wave of Leinster attacking. Northampton are standing firm. This is a massive, massive test of their credentials. They still lead by five. Mitchell fields a kick and cracks it downfield. The Leinster fans want a lineout. The referee is happy. Slimani comes on for Leinster, Furlong off.
50 min: Ramm tries to counter for Northampton but is hammered back in the tackle powerfully by Barrett and a few others. It’s turned over. Momentum with Leinster? They win a penalty now and the crowd goes wild. Leinster’s physicality has brought three turnovers in the tackle in the second half already. Northampton just need ball in hand a bit of space but they are not getting it right now …
49 min: Millar Mills is on for Northampton. Doris steals the ball brilliantly for Leinster and kicks for the corner and it’s a 50-22 again! Jordie Barrett comes on for Henshaw, for Leinster. Pressure, relentless pressure for Northampton. But no! The referee pings Leinster for illegality in their lineout routine. The Saints can have a little breather and they desperately need it.
Try! 48 min: Leinster 22-27 Northampton (Doris)
Northampton can’t relieve the pressure this time, it’s taken back for a penalty and Doris eventually smashes over from close range. That was perhaps a bit easy compared to how strongly Northampton have defended. But they’ll still fancy it with the ball in hand … Prendergast converts.
46 min: Lowe, with his siege-gun boot, straight down the wing for Leinster! It’s a massive 50-22 and the crowd are on their feet! Lowe runs down the wing geeing the home fans up! This is top-level entertainment.
44 min: A big shot from O’Brien on Langdon. BIG. Now Jack Conan is on for Leinster. Prendergast knocks on but in fairness to him it was an appalling pass by Gibson-Park. Pressure starting to tell?
42 min: An early mishap for Pollock hands the initiative to Leinster. But then a knock on gives Northampton a scrum on halfway. The Saints are still here to play and ask the question down the Leinster left, then it’s turned over, and Ramm collects a high kick with aplomb.
Second half kick off!
Here we go. Can Northampton pull this off?
A touch of half-time reading:
Half time! Leinster 15-27 Northampton
That was one of the best halves of rugby I’ve seen in a while. Leinster have shown plenty of quality but the sheer verve of Northampton’s attack – with one stupendous finish by Pollock and a hat-trick for Freeman, prompted by another brilliant display by Fin Smith – have rocked Leinster right back on their heels.
The problem Leinster face is that no matter how many they score after half time, it’s difficult to imagine Northampton failing to score a few more playing like this. Bring it on.
40 min: Clock in the red, Leinster pushing for a try after a knock-on by Mitchell …
Try! 38 min: Leinster 15-27 Northampton (Freeman)
OH MY GOSH! What a try! What a display by Saints! Mitchell box-kicks and Freeman does brilliantly to tap it back to Augustus around halfway. Leinster are ripped open again and Freeman runs in his hat-trick, arrowing to the left corner and over the try-line, after a wonderful one-handed offload by Augustus. Lowe and O’Brien are both desperately trying to keep Freeman out but he has too much power and pace. Smith misses the conversion, the second in quick succession.
Try! 37 min: Leinster 15-22 Northampton (Freeman)
That is a fantastic score. Freeman runs it in in the corner after some marvellous hands, including of course from Fin Smith, who is having a wonderful afternoon. Just as I type that he narrowly misses the conversion. But there is real fear here for Leinster now. If they can’t start to get on top of this scintillating Northampton attack, they are going out.
35 min: Northampton, impressively, are forcing Leinster back despite still being down to 14. Pollock’s made 51 metres in attack already. He looks knackered after a big kick-chase. The hooker, Langdon, is back from his sin-bin for Saints. Augustus was on lineout duty in his absence.
34 min: That was worth the entrance fee alone from Pollock. But Leinster overall look stronger. Bear in mind they conceded zero points in their previous two cup matches, scoring 114 themselves. So they know they are in a game.
Try! 28 min: Leinster 15-17 Northampton (Pollock)
WOW! Northampton have it on the left wing. Nothing really looks on but Mitchell feeds Pollock running a super-intelligent line through a gap he’s spotted. He scorches down the outside, around Prendergast, and touches down. Leinster look a bit nonplussed with that. What can you do? That’s just ridiculous. The commentators reckon it was Snyman out of position around the ruck, and it was a bit soft from Prendergast as the last line of defence, but what a finish. The pace of a wing from an openside. Smith converts.
25 min: Yellow card for Northampton: Langdon
Deeper trouble for Saints, they’re down to 14 men for 10 minutes.
Try! 25 min: Leinster 15-10 Northampton (Van der Flier)
Crushing pressure from Leinster and there is no way out for Northampton on this occasion. Deegan is tackled close to the line but waits for support and it’s Josh van der Flier who powers over from close range. Prendergast converts.
Penalty! 22 min: Leinster 8-10 Northampton (Smith)
Saints capitalise on that superb counterattack, and are back in the lead thanks to a kick off the tee from the England fly-half.
