Leinster trounce Northampton Saints 50-21 to book quarter-finals berth

Leinster 50-21 Northampton Saints, Aviva Stadium
Scorecard

Garry Ringrose scored a hat-trick as Leinster ran a seven-try riot to trounce Northampton Saints 50-21 in their Heineken Champions Cup clash at Aviva Stadium.

The win is Leinster's fourth in as many games as they claim the top place in Pool 1 with 19 points and thus become the first team to qualify for the top eight battle while Northampton are at second with nine points.

Ringrose looked in great touch as he scored back to back tries in the second and sixth minutes while Ross Bryne also kicked two conversions and a penalty to take Leinster to a 17 point lead in the opening 10 minutes.

The response from Northampton came in the 19th minute when Andy Symons set up Dan Biggar for a converted try that reduced their deficit by seven points but a minute later they were reduced to 14-men temporarily when Ahsee Tuala was sin-binned and the Irish side immediately responded back with Tadhg Furlong touching down followed by Bryne's conversion.

Northampton had to play the remainder of the first half with one player less as skipper Tom Wood on his 200th appearance was yellow-carded following which Dave Kearney and Ollie Sleightholme traded tries as the first half finished with 31-14 scoreline.

The Irish side started the second half exactly the way they started in first as James Lowe crossed the whitewash in the 42nd minute following which Ringrose completed his hat-trick making it 43-14. The remainder of the second half saw Ahsee Tuala and Caelan Doris trade tries as Leinster completed a 29-point victory.