4. 2017/18 European Rugby Champions Cup: Six Year Wait Ended As Double Champions
Leinster’s most recent European title triumph took place in the re-branded ‘Champions Cup’ era of the competition. Leinster would return to the final a further three times following their fourth successful trip, but would only bring back silver medals from the showcase fixture voyages. In a foreshadowing sign of things to come, Leinster beat all comers with a clean sweep of six pool stage wins.
The Irish side recorded back-to-back wins over Exeter Chiefs, Glasgow Warriors and Montpellier, in a decimating display of dominance early on in the competition. The new look Champions Cup format saw the pool stage victors ranked in a league table, and Leinster once again took top spot for a favourable draw in the knock-out stages. Leinster were drawn against Saracens, and the two sides from their respective capital cities clashed in a star-studded fixture.
The Aviva Stadium came unglued at the sight of Leinster’s 30-19 victory, as Saracens were despatched in convincing fashion. Sexton went tee-to-tee with Farrell, yet did not have to rely on his place-kicking to be the difference, thanks to his teammates orchestrating a trio of tries. Garry Ringrose, Dan Leavy and James Lowe helped Sexton spearhead a healthy lead, before the Ireland captain sealed the fixture with well struck conversions and penalties.
The Aviva would then host the tournament’s semi-final, and a sea of Leinster fans were delighted at their 38-16 win over the Scarlets. In what was an impressive European run for the Llanelli side, Leinster made short work of their Welsh opponents through tries from James Ryan, Cian Healy, Fergus McFadden, Scott Fardy and of course Johnny Sexton to bring the win home. Unstoppable and unavoidable, Leinster were in relentless form in the 2017/18 season, in which they also brought the PRO14 league title home to Dublin.
Leinster fans will long remember where they were in the month of May 2018, as they achieved an unprecedented league and Champions Cup double. The undisputed champions of their realm, Leinster took one step towards immortality in their Champions Cup Final win over Racing 92. This tense affair was decided by the most minute of margins, as Leinster’s five penalties out-kicked Racing’s four, for an overall 15-12 score. Leinster would follow up upon this success with the league title, in a far more entertaining 40-32 win over the Scarlets.
