Advertisement League of Ireland Horse Racing TV Listings GAA Fixtures The Video Review Sport meets news, current affairs, society & pop culture Rugby Weekly Extra Dive into all the news and analysis 3 times a week The Football Family Weekly insights from the week’s big talking points Advertisement More Stories Andrew Porter after the game.Laszlo Geczo/INPHO AnalysisComment A team of spirited Saints make Leinster look human again This latest Champions Cup scar will be the most painful yet for the province. 8.43pm, 3 May 2025 Share options Ciarán Kennedy Reports from the Aviva Stadium IT TOOK A team of Saints to remind us all that Leinster are indeed human. Across their previous five halves of Champions Cup rugby Leinster hadn’t conceded a single point, but in this engrossing semi-final meeting with Northampton Saints the province were stretched and stressed beyond breaking point, slipping to a seismic defeat that had an almost surreal quality to it. A Champions Cup epic played out with 10,000 seats left empty at the Aviva Stadium. Northampton came with a plan and executed it brilliantly, a side who sit seventh in the Premiership table tearing up a Leinster team that fielded a starting 15 with only one non-international (winger Tommy O’Brien, arguably their best performer on the day). A Leinster team that came so agonisingly close to ending their Champions Cup drought against Toulouse in last year’s final. A Leinster team that reloaded for this year’s charge by adding Jordie Barrett, RG Snyman and Rabah Slimani to their roster. A Leinster team that have such depth they could afford to start with two of those star imports on the bench. A Leinster team that won their previous two knock-out games 114-0. They’ll talk about picking themselves up and going again next year. Rieko Ioane will arrive to add the latest splash of star quality. They might even end this season with a URC medal to their name, but to not even be involved in this year’s Champions Cup final will make this feel the most gutting of any of their European defeats during Leo Cullen’s time in charge. Leinster head coach Leo Cullen.Billy Stickland / INPHO Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO Post-game, Cullen found himself repeating the word ‘horrific’ when summing up his feelings across his various media duties. He described his team as ‘jittery’, rued a lack of composure and allowed his answers wind towards talk of now focusing on the URC. Advertisement A prize worth chasing but not the one that drives this squad throughout the season. There’s a reason so many of them have only been rolled out for a handful of URC games across the campaign. On what looked the more inviting side of this year’s Champions Cup draw, a path to success had appeared to be opening up. Toulouse or Bordeaux would be waiting at the last hurdle but both of those teams have issues – Toulouse missing a clutch of their best players through injury, Bordeaux blitzing their way through the competition despite towing a remarkably generous defence. One of them will take on Saints in Cardiff later this month, Leinster left to watch on and think might have been. The most striking aspect of this game was just how ordinary a team packed with such quality and experience looked. At half-time the province were trailing by 12 points having watched the Saints smash through for four brilliant tries. It could have been worse – the otherwise superb Fin Smith off target with three of his four conversion attempts. Leinster’s players will have to watch Tommy Freeman’s blistering first-half hat-trick back on replay because they didn’t catch a glimpse of him in real time. For his first he latched onto a clipped Fin Smith grubber to bag the opening points eight minutes in. For his second he provided the wheels as Northampton took full advantage of an overlap out wide, the gate opened by Henry Pollock’s slick delayed pass. Leinster were still trying to catch their breath when his third arrived just one minute later, the winger profiting from Juarno Augustus’ wonderful offload. Freeman has now scored in 10 straight games for club and country. Northampton Saints' James Ramm celebrates a try with Tommy Freeman.Laszlo Geczo / INPHO Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO Leinster were chasing shadows, Northampton’s ability to rip them open best showcased when Pollock ran in their second. The hottest rising talent in English rugby steamed onto Alex Mitchell’s short pass and punched through before Andrew Porter and RG Snyman even knew the gap was there. Pollock plays the game without a hint of doubt clouding his thoughts. Revelling in the spotlight, he powered past Sam Prendergast and stared down the crowd after grounding the ball. Leinster would win the second half 19-10 but had shipped too much damage across the opening 40. They can have gripes with some of the decisions that went against them across that second period. Flanker Josh Kemeny should probably have seen red for his high hit on Slimani. The late TMO review of Ross Byrne’s disallowed try left the Leinster support howling their disapproval and scratching their heads. Yet the cold reality is that Leinster were second best to an outstanding Northampton team. There were good moments – O’Brien’s wonderful interventions, Caelan Doris’ rousing steal and 50:22, Sam Prendergast’s looping pass in the lead-up to Josh van der Flier’s try. But too much fell apart. Jacques Nienaber’s defence, so lauded after those wins against Harlequins and Glasgow, has never been so comfortably carved up. Their handling was poor far too often. As the heat rose they made bad decisions. With time running out, they opted against kicking for points to level the game. Hindsight, but even at the time it felt a curious call. So too leaving Barrett on the bench. When asked if he regretted that one, Cullen met the question with an expectant laugh. It’s one of many decisions Leinster will ruminate on as they sit with this latest Champions Cup scar. It’s a horrible, empty feeling they know all too well. Ciarán Kennedy View 24 comments Send Tip or Correction Embed this post To embed this post, copy the code below on your site Email “A team of spirited Saints make Leinster look human again”. Recipient's Email Feedback on “A team of spirited Saints make Leinster look human again”. Your Feedback Your Email (optional) Report a Comment Please select the reason for reporting this comment. Please give full details of the problem with the comment... This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic. Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy before taking part. 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