Leinster 47 Bath 21
Prop Beno Obano was sent off as Bath were knocked out of the Champions Cup in a heavy loss away to Leinster.
The Gallagher Premiership leaders will be playing Challenge Cup rugby come the spring after a seven-try defeat in Dublin, combined with Benetton’s surprise 32-25 win over La Rochelle, saw them slip to fifth place in Pool 2.
Leinster, who have finished runners-up in the Champions Cup in each of the past three seasons, progress to the last 16 as group winners with a 100 per cent record.
Bath raced into a 14-0 lead inside eight minutes at the Aviva Stadium thanks to Finn Russell converting tries from No 8 Alfie Barbeary and full-back Tom De Glanville.
Robbie Henshaw’s quickfire double and a score from captain Jack Conan then turned the match in the home side’s favour.
Yet Johann van Graan’s visitors hit back and were 21-19 ahead at the break following De Glanville’s second touchdown of the evening and a further two points from Scotland fly-half Russell.
Leinster took control in the second period after replacement RG Snyman and Garry Ringrose crossed, either side of Obano being dismissed for a second yellow card.
Scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park broke clear to increase the advantage, before World Cup-winning Springbok Snyman powered over following a line-out to register the Irish province’s seventh try.
Replacement Ross Byrne slotted the extras on the final two scores to add to four successful conversions from starting fly-half Sam Prendergast.
Bath’s scoreless second half was compounded by news from Treviso, where Benetton overturned a six-point deficit in the final 20 minutes to upset Ronan O’Gara’s two-time winners and seize fourth spot.
08:00 PM GMT
Thanks for joining us
That brings to an end our coverage of this Champions Cup tie as Bath were eliminated with defeat against Leinster. Thanks for joining us!
07:49 PM GMT
Leinster ‘didn’t panic’ after early deficit, says Conan
Leinster’s captain for the afternoon Jack Conan said to RTE: “Credit to Bath they came so quick out the gate and we were just slow to start.
“We didn’t panic, we were nice and calm we said we’ll stick to the process and we’ll get there. Really proud of the lads.
“All the lads off the bench were class and made a real impact and gave us that bit of a lift we needed, so we finished nice and strong.
“Probably a little bit loose in the first half chasing things, just need to be a bit more calm.
“A quality team Bath, they’re top of the (Premiership) for a reason - very difficult to break down.”
07:43 PM GMT
Henshaw ‘thrilled’ with win
Speaking at full time, player of the match Robbie Henshaw said on RTE: “We got there in the end after a slow start. Credit to Bath who came out of the blocks pretty quick and put us under pressure from the get-go!
“But thrilled to be here and get another win in a crowd over 40,000 I heard so brilliant.
On his own tries, he said: “Yeah it’s been a while but nice to get a couple of scores.
“I felt we did leave a few out there as well in that first half but we needed to be a bit more patient in breaking them down. We thought it would just come to us easily in that first half whereas we had to work harder.
On Leinster’s attack, he said: “We’re getting there, we’re always working on it. (There were) a few errors here and ...
