In the semi-finals of the European Champions Cup at Croke Park, the focus was majorly on James Lowe’s remarkable hat-trick and the unexpected comeback by Northampton, which gave Leinster fans quite a fright. The latter half of the game saw Northampton regain their footing, challenging Leinster, as per the Guardian. The publication’s Michael Alywin remarked that Northampton wasn’t originally anticipated to stand much of a chance and for the majority of the game that seemed to ring true. However, in front of a massive audience of 82,000, their final quarter saw them find their momentum, leaving Leinster rather unnerved.
BBC’s Jonathan Bradley highlighted the shaky 20-17 Leinster victory against Saints to secure a spot in the Euro final, thanks again to Lowe’s performance, who also scored two tries in the quarterfinal against La Rochelle. Planet Rugby magazine used Lowe’s own words for their headline, as the player openly admitted that they nearly faced an upset. Lowe, the Leinster winger shared that they just about avoided an upset in the semi-final match against Northampton Saints of the Investec Champions Cup.
The Telegraph echoed the shared sentiment: Northampton nearly made one of the greatest comebacks in Champions Cup history. Gavin Mairs described how, despite being dominated by Leinster for most of the match, Dowson’s team launched an impressive comeback that could have been historic.
Chris Foy of the Daily Mail concentrated on Lowe’s rare hat-trick during the European semi-finals. The Mail’s headline highlighted Lowe’s hat-trick as the clincher for Leinster’s spot in the Champions Cup final, commending Northampton’s spirited fight back at Croke Park.
Foy remarked that an impressive performance in the second half almost led the Saints to a historic victory. Despite entering the game in Dublin as underdogs against the regular competitors for the highest accolade in European rugby, they made a remarkable comeback after falling behind 20-3 soon after the break. The circumstances looked bleak for the Saints when the game seemed in danger of devolving into a massacre.
The narrative unfolded with Lowe emerging as the hero for Leinster, even as the team teetered on the edge of surrendering the game. As observed by AFP’s Julian Guyer in a report carried by Yahoo, “Hat-trick hero Lowe stars as Leinster edge Northampton in Champions Cup semi-final”. He highlighted Leinster’s recent history well known to their fans, a story that needs no repetition.
Now, Leinster is hoping to improve their performance, after they were runners up in the last two Champions Cup finals. Their adversaries are La Rochelle, coached by the famed Irishman Ronan O’Gara.
A notable figure in the game was the statistic 111. This could’ve denoted Lowe’s three tries or the record-setting crowd of 82,300 at Croke Park. However, this number was attributed to Cian Healy who set a personal record for the most appearances in Champions Cup. Healy bypassed O’Gara’s record when he joined the game in the second half against Northampton. He also holds the unique bragging rights of competing in both of Croke Park’s club rugby matches with a 15-year interval.
Concurrently, in Singapore, the Irish Sevens team put up an honourable performance at the Sevens final day. The team reached the finale but lost out to New Zealand. Along their journey to the final, they managed a commendable 21-5 win over Argentina, who later emerged victorious in the SVNS league.
Ireland didn’t stand much chance of claiming the overall victory as they were required to defeat New Zealand in the final and depend on Argentina finishing lower than sixth. Despite Argentina’s impressive performance this season with victories in Cape Town, Perth, and Vancouver, Ireland have been in top form gearing towards the Olympic Games in that will kick off in Paris in July.
In a thrilling match, Ireland were pipped 17-14 by New Zealand, a consequence of Billy Dardis’ decisive penalty kick during the semi-finals against Great Britain that allowed them to advance. This match marked only the third instance in which Ireland appeared in a tournament final, adding a significant historic value to the encounter if they had defeated New Zealand.
Leroy Carter managed a touchdown during the first minute following a critical breakthrough, and Fehi Fineanganofo bypassed the Irish defence, putting forth a strong performance in the initial half of the match. Return salvos from Gavin Mullin and Dylan Collier notwithstanding, Ireland ended up just a hair short of victory.
Leinster’s winger, Jordan Larmour, described the electrifying ambience of playing in Croke Park. With virtually the entire crowd comprising Leinster supporters, he said the ground reverberated a few times amidst the passionate cheering. The presence of their supporters was continuously felt throughout the day, adding to the unique and intense atmosphere.