Leinster Power Past Sale Sharks to Book Home Champions Cup Semi-Final Against Toulon

Leinster made heavy weather of the first forty minutes at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, but once they found their rhythm in the second half, Sale Sharks had no answer. A 43-13 victory sends the Irish province through to the Champions Cup semi-finals, where Toulon await after edging out Glasgow Warriors.

The hosts looked far from the four-time European champions they are during the opening exchanges. With prop Alex Usanov limping off inside the first five minutes, Leinster were forced to reshuffle their front row before they had properly settled. Sale, to their credit, sensed an opportunity. George Ford slotted a penalty to give the English side a 3-0 advantage, and the visitors' pack was winning the physical battle despite being without injured England forwards Bevan Rodd and Luke Cowan-Dickie.

Leinster's response came via Dan Sheehan, the hooker touching down under the posts after a patient build-up to give his side a 7-3 lead at the break. It was a thin margin, and Sale had more than held their own in greasy conditions that made handling tricky for both sides.

Whatever was said in the Leinster dressing room at half-time clearly worked. Within three minutes of the restart, Hugo Keenan finished in the corner after Sale lost Dan du Preez to a yellow card. Ford kept Sale within touching distance with his boot, but two quickfire tries from Ryan Baird and Rieko Ioane pushed the gap out to 24-6 and effectively ended the contest. Tommy O'Brien collected Ciaran Byrne's cleverly weighted chip kick to add a fifth try, and Sale's Alex Wills managed a consolation in the corner ten minutes from the end.

But Leinster had the final word. Sheehan, named man of the match after a towering performance both in the loose and at the lineout, rampaged deep into Sale territory before feeding Jamie Osborne for the sixth try with the last play of the game.

Sale coach Alex Sanderson had promised his side had not travelled to Dublin merely to make up the numbers. For large stretches of the first half, they lived up to that billing. But yellow cards either side of half-time gifted Leinster the territorial ascendancy they needed, and they made Sale pay ruthlessly.

Leinster will now prepare for a semi-final against Toulon at the Aviva Stadium over the weekend of 2 and 3 May. Having secured home advantage, they will be heavy favorites — but after a first-half performance that showed exactly how quickly European knockout rugby can turn, they will know better than anyone that nothing can be taken for granted.