Leinster narrowly beat Leicester in Champions Cup

Investec Champions Cup Pool Three

Leicester Tigers (15) 15

Tries: Radwan, Hassell-Collins Con: Searle Pen: Searle

Leinster (6) 23

Tries: Gibson-Park, Sheehan Cons: Byrne, Prendergast Pens: Byrne 3

Leinster fought back from nine points behind at half-time to beat a determined Leicester Tigers side 23-15 in the Champions Cup pool stage.

An outstanding defensive effort and two wonderful finishes by wing duo Adam Radwan and Ollie Hassell-Collins put Tigers into a 15-6 lead.

The visitors, forced into a pre-match change because prop Tadhg Furlong was ruled out with illness, also lost flanker Jack Conan and full-back Jimmy O'Brien to injuries in the first 15 minutes.

But a star-studded Leinster team, which contained several Ireland internationals and had New Zealand centre Rieko Ioane making his first start, eventually overcame those setbacks and their first-half deficit.

They scored 17 points without reply in the second half as tries from Lions pair Jamison Gibson-Park and Dan Sheehan meant Leinster have two wins from two outings in the pool stage.

Leicester, meanwhile, have lost their first two matches in Pool Three and face a battle to qualify for the last 16.

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Four-time winners Leinster are perennial Champions Cup contenders, reaching at least the semi-final stage in eight of the past nine seasons.

Expected to be challengers again in 2025-26, they were made to work hard for their second victory over English opposition in the space of a week but were deserved winners.

Their two injuries came during an eventful opening 20 minutes at Mattioli Woods Welford Road.

Conan was hurt in a collision with Leicester's Freddie Steward as he attempted to gather a crossfield kick and later failed a head injury assessment, while O'Brien limped off with a knock.

That frenetic passage of play also included a disallowed try for Leinster's Tommy O'Brien, and a sizeable melee emanating from James Lowe taking exception to being tackled in the air by Radwan, whose sensational length-of-the-field try followed soon afterwards.

Leicester captain Tommy Reffell dislodged the ball in a tackle as Leinster attacked and it bounced loose inside the Tigers 22 to Radwan, who kicked ahead on several occasions and outpaced the chasing defenders before gleefully touching down in the corner.

Just before half-time, Lowe was unable to gather cleanly when Hassell-Collins controlled Billy Searle's crossfield kick with his foot and the Leicester man took advantage to score.

Leinster, frustrated in attack in the opening 40 minutes, got the key breakthrough shortly after the interval.

The ball squeezed free from a scrum near Leicester's 22 and Gibson-Park was first to react, evading a couple of tackles before diving over.

Harry Byrne's conversion, plus a subsequent penalty, put Leinster in front and replacement hooker Sheehan rumbled over from a line-out catch-and-drive to deny Leicester a losing bonus point.

What's next?

Both sides will play their final two pool matches in January. Leicester face Bayonne at home and Stormers away, while Leinster host La Rochelle before visiting Bayonne.

The Tigers' next game is a home Prem fixture against Gloucester on Friday, 19 December - the same day on which Leinster return to URC action at home to Ulster.

Line-ups

Leicester: Steward; Radwan, Wand, Kata, Hassell-Collins; Searle, Whiteley; Smith, Blamire, Heyes, Henderson, Wells, Thompson, Reffell (capt), Moro.

Replacements: Theobald-Thomas, Van der Flier, Hurd, Manz, Williams, Allan, Bailey, Woodward.

Leinster: J O'Brien; T O'Brien, Ioane, Henshaw, Lowe; Byrne, Gibson-Park; McCarthy, Kelleher, Clarkson, McCarthy, Ryan, Conan, Van der Flier, Doris.

Replacements: Sheehan, Boyle, Slimani, Mangan, Deegan, McGrath, Prendergast, Frawley.

Match officials

Referee: Pierre Brousset (France)

Assistant referees: Vincent Blasco Baque (France) and Julien Caulier (France)

TMO: Tual Trainini (France)