When the venue for the semi-final was announced there were mutterings of discontent in Wales that Leinster had been given an unfair advantage, playing home and away, but this game could have been staged anywhere in the world and the outcome would have been the same given the pace, precision, purpose and power of the Irish province who had in effect reached their fourth final in 10 years by half-time.
The Scarlets defeated Leinster in the semi-final last season of what was then the Pro12 with a lung-busting exuberance that showcased their ability to extemporise in broken play but they had nothing to work with here. It was they who were hustled into making mistakes and, while they kept trying to play and had the last word when the former Leinster second-row Tadhg Beirne completed the scoring in the final minute, the try was the faintest of consolations.
Leinster had dominated every phase of the game: their first try came from a lineout, the second from a scrum and the third after a multi-phase move that ended with Garry Ringrose’s defence-splitting long pass. Runners attacked shoulders rather than chests, allowing a quick recycle and the Scarlets were subjected to wave after wave of attacks that not even John Barclay and James Davies could thwart with a turnover, desperately though they tried.
The Scarlets started with 10 players who had opened Wales’s Six Nations campaign but Leinster had 12 who were part of Ireland’s grand slam-winning side. Leinster have the same ball-retaining capacity of their national team but, under Stuart Lancaster’s tutelage, play with more elan and daring behind, prompted by Johnny Sexton who scored his side’s fifth and final try after a bewilderingly swift passage of play that sucked in defenders and spat them out.
The centre Robbie Henshaw, in his first appearance since he was injured against Italy in February, invariably got over the gainline and gave Leinster momentum but it was what happened after that which was telling. Leinster’s forwards, led by the Australian Scott Fardy, were ruthless in the clear-out, preventing the Scarlets from slowing down or stealing possession and giving them nothing to work with.
Leinster defeated the holders Saracens here in the last round and they bear a hallmark of the Premiership club: supremely confident, efficient and bound by togetherness. After an hour, when they led 38-9, they were on course to break Saracens’ record European Cup semi-final victory, 46-6 against Clermont Auvergne four years ago, but as the replacements rolled on they eased up with a month of a long season still to be played and finals to be won.
The Scarlets, making their first appearance at this stage since 2007, took the lead with a Leigh Halfpenny penalty but were never in the game. James Ryan scored Leinster’s first try after 10 minutes when Fardy’s lineout take led to the ball moving quickly behind where Isa Nacewa’s run into midfield from his wing created a space-making diversion.
Although the Scarlets scrambled to prevent a try being scored directly, they were undone two phases later and there were times in the match when Leinster appeared to have a numerical advantage so adept were they at negating their opponents’ line speed in defence by running hard and recycling immediately.
Sexton and Halfpenny exchanged penalties before Leinster scored their second try through the prop Cian Healy after putting the Scarlets under pressure at a scrum and again at the breakdown. The Welsh region’s first meaningful attack came after 36 minutes and ended when Aaron Shingler dropped a pass: they were then 17-9 down, a deficit they would have accepted at half-time having had so little possession and territory.
They held out until four seconds from the break. Having shown they could attack from set pieces, Leinster launched a multi-phase move that ended with Garry Ringrose’s long pass giving Fergus McFadden the room to score on the right wing. The wing injured his knee while touching down and 10 minutes after the restart, his replacement, Jordan Larmour, created the fourth try after dispossessing Rhys Patchell. It was scored by Fardy, who was later denied a second for a double movement.
Sexton had by then jinked over in his final act before being taken off as a nod to the battles that lay ahead. The Scarlets kept going, Scott Williams denying Rob Kearney with a defiant tackle in the corner, and like so many before them, found success in Europe tends to come after the pain of disappointment.
“We have no complaints,” said the Scarlets’ captain, Ken Owens. “There is no one better at executing a game plan and it will be a very good side that beats them.” The Welsh side hope to have another chance next month in the final of the Pro14 here but it is not an opportune time to play Irish sides, home or away.
Quick guide
Teams for Dublin
Leinster: R Kearney; McFadden (Larmour ht), Ringrose, Henshaw, Nacewa; Sexton (capt; Carberry 61), Gibson-Park (McCarthy 70); Healy (McGrath 50), Cronin (Tracy 57), Furlong (Porter 61), Toner, Ryan (Molony 70), Fardy, Leavy (Conan 66), Murphy
Tries Ryan, Healy, McFadden, Fardy, Sexton Cons Sexton 5 Pen Sexton.
Scarlets: Patchell; Halfpenny, Williams (Hughes 74), Parkes, E Evans; D Jones, G Davies (A Davies 70); R Evans (D Evans 74), Owens (capt; Elias 50), Lee (Kruger 50), Beirne, Bulbring (Rawlins 55), Shingler (Cummins 66), J Davies, Barclay (Boyde 70)
Try Beirne Con Patchell Pens Halfpenny 3
Referee Romain Poite (France)