James Lowe’s hat-trick takes the Irish to the final for the seventh time
Champions Cup: Leinster-Northampton Saints highlights ph. Paul ELLIS / AFP
Leinster wins their seventh Champions Cup final, beats Northampton Saints 20-17 and for the third consecutive year the success of the most important continental tournament will be played in London on 25 May.
Nothing to be done for Sam Vesty’s English who failed to overcome the Irish battleship in a packed stadium, over 82,000 spectators at Croke Park in Dublin who pushed Leinster to victory.
Three goals were achieved by the team Dubliners, all from James Lowe who already put his team ahead in the 10th minute: Jamison Gibson-Park quickly takes a free kick 5m from the goal, serves the New Zealand winger with a long pass and the first easy score for Leinster. Four minutes later the second try, daring to say the least: Caelan Doris’s match point, the ball shoots out and ends up in the hands of James Lowe who undisturbed doubles the score.
The first half ends with a score of 15-3, the guests score only in the 39th minute with a free kick from Finn Smith. In the second half the English scare Croke Park. In the 58th minute George Hendy scores the first try for Northampton, a kick goes over the defense, the ball bounces on the ground, and the English winger is the quickest to collect it and crush it for the partial 20-10.
In the 74th minute, the second try for the English: a long pass from Alex Mitchell who skips three Northampton men for Tom Seabrook who dives to bring the Saints within 3 from Leinster. Leo Cullen’s men resisted until Mathieu Raynal’s final whistle and were able to celebrate winning the seventh Champions Cup final in their history.
Read here: The Sharks are the first Challenge Cup finalist: Clermont defeated after an incredible semi-final
Champions Cup: Leinster-Northampton Saints highlights
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