Byrne late penalty fires Leinster into Champions Cup last 16 after 'ding-dong' battle / Photo: Paul Faith - AFP
Byrne late penalty fires Leinster into Champions Cup last 16 after 'ding-dong' battle
Replacement fly-half Harry Byrne kicked a last-gasp penalty as Leinster edged La Rochelle 25-24 on Saturday to secure their place in the Champions Cup last 16.
Byrne slotted his dramatic 82nd minute kick to send the four-time winners to the top of pool 3 before they head to Bayonne in the final round of group games next weekend.
"It was special. I was delighted it went over," Byrne told Premier Sports.
"I felt like I wasn't going to miss that one despite hitting the post with the one before.
"It was a chaotic game. It turned into a ding-dong battle," the four-time Ireland international added.
La Rochelle, who had beaten the Irish province when they met in the 2022 and 2023 finals, had re-taken the lead with three minutes to go thanks to Nolann Le Garrec's touchline conversion following Ihaia West's second try, before Byrne stepped up to grab the win.
Ronan O'Gara's side welcome Harlequins next Sunday hoping to claim a spot in the next round.
Elsewhere, Sale also advanced to the knockout stages with a 26-10 win over the Sharks in pool 1 thanks to a stand-out performance from winger Tom O'Flaherty.
In-form English fly-half Billy Searle scored 25 points as Leicester Tigers hammered a second-string Bayonne 57-14 to keep their hopes of last 16 spot alive.
Earlier, Bristol beat the Bulls 61-49 in Pretoria and Glasgow held off Clermont 33-21 to reach the knockouts.
Wing Noah Heward scored a first-half hat-trick for Bristol and there were two tries for Fijian flyer Kalaveti Ravouvou to secure the bonus point win.
The victory takes the English club to the top of Pool 4, leapfrogging champions Bordeaux-Begles and Northampton who meet in France on Sunday in a re-run of last season's final.
Bulls are bottom of the table after young Australian winger Toshi Butlin crossed twice to help Pau overcome the Scarlets 47-38.
- Glasgow on form -
Glasgow, who staged a remarkable comeback to beat Antoine Dupont's six-time champions Toulouse in the last round, were too strong for Clermont, who crash out of the tournament after three straight defeats.
Flanker Euan Ferrie got the opener after 10 minutes before Scotland centre Huw Jones, playing his first game of the season, sliced through the midfield to dot down.
Scotland winger Kyle Steyn made it 19-0 and in spite of George Moala's response, Glasgow took the bonus point when No. 8 Jack Dempsey scored the Warriors' fourth try six minutes before half-time despite being down to 13 men for 10 minutes due to two yellow cards.
Steyn's second try six minutes from time sealed the victory.
"We've just got a really good group that's been together for a number of years now and we are just really keen to play for each other," Steyn told Premier Sports.
"We were obviously very nervous and you don't want that, but we had a clear plan of what we had to do if something like that (the two yellow cards) happened," he added.
Sunday's highlight is Toulouse's trip to three-time winners Saracens as superstar Dupont captains his side in north London.
L.Navarro--ECdLR
