Leinster came close to pulling off a last gasp win in dramatic fashion at the Aviva stadium this evening but instead watched as Northampton’s Jamie Elliott ran with the freedom of Dublin to touch down in added time to wrap up a
Hope of a repeat of last week’s dominant win was dashed within 5 minutes as George North crossed for a try and Leinster found themselves 7-0 down before many in the crowd had found their seats.

That early imbalance between the sides would prove to be a continuing theme throughout the first 40 as Northampton looked driven by a desire to right the wrong of last week, while Leinster had lost the sharpness that characterised their 40-7 win last Saturday evening.

An Ian Madigan penalty on 11 minutes kept Leinster in touch but there would have been frustration in the Northampton dressing room that their dominance had not earned a bigger lead.

Leinster came within inches of the Northampton try line soon after the restart and but for dogged defence would have earned more from the attack than the 3 points they eventually settled for from an Ian Madigan penalty.
Stephen Myler and Madigan exchanged penalties before a drop goal from Kahn Fotuali’i put Northamton 13-9 ahead with just one minute left on the clock.

Leinster drove at the Northampton lines and a breakaway from Jamie Heaslip carried them into the opposition 22. They came within inches several times but a spilled ball from Heaslip gifted the ball to Elliott and the Northampton man ran the length of the pitch before touching down in the corner for an 18-9 win.

Image: Leinster's Jamie Heaslip with Lee Dickson and Christian Day of Northampton
©INPHO/Ryan Byrne