Brian O’Driscoll celebrated his 32nd birthday in style by grabbing a try in Leinster’s 36-11 European Cup win over Racing-Metro on Friday, which secured a home -quarter-final tie in Dublin.
Leinster, the 2006 winners, will have home advantage in the last eight for the second year in succession after cruising past the French side, who had no chance of making the knockout round.
O’Driscoll scored the fifth and final try which gave Leinster a fifth win in six Pool 2 games.
Photo: AFP
“We are very happy,” Leinster coach Joe Schmidt said. “The players have worked hard to get five wins and 24 points, that’s very impressive. Now we have to start again. We can’t just be satisfied with the quarter-finals, we have to play to our best level to reach the semi-finals.”
The Irish side set the platform for victory with three first-half tries in the freezing Paris weather.
O’Driscoll was involved in the opener when he linked with winger Shane Horgan to send full back Isa Nacewa in for the score just moments after Juan Martin Hernandez had kicked an early penalty for Racing.
Photo: AFP
Jonathan Sexton converted for a 7-3 Leinster lead.
Racing then went briefly ahead after center Virimi Vakatawa muscled through three half-hearted tackles.
No. 8 Sean O’Brien restored Leinster’s lead with his side’s second try, breaking through at speed after being teed up by scrum half Isaac Boss’ quick release.
Sexton again converted before the fly half himself grabbed Leinster’s third try of the opening period after a neat link-up of passes between Nacewa and Gordon D’Arcy.
He converted his own try for as 21-8 lead, before Hernandez cut the gap to 21-11 at the break with a simple penalty.
Sexton scored his second try of the night just after the hour mark with New Zealand-born full-back Nacewa supplying the crucial pass.
The Leinster fly half went wide with the conversion attempt, but his try had secured the winning bonus point.
O’Driscoll then grabbed his team’s fifth try in the 68th -minute, breaking through a gap in the French defense after his forwards had again created the platform.
It was the Irish team’s 21st try in the tournament this season.
Sexton again converted for a 36-11 lead to cap an efficient night’s work.
In the night’s other Pool 2 game, Clermont grabbed a bonus-point 24-14 win at Saracens to take second place and keep alive their slim hopes of making the quarter-finals as a best runner-up.
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