Pool One (final) | Played | Won | Points |
---|---|---|---|
Quarter-final ties: Saracens v Glasgow Warriors, Edinburgh v Munster, Leinster v Ulster, Racing 92 v Toulouse | |||
1. Leinster | 6 | 5 | 25 |
2. Toulouse | 6 | 5 | 21 |
3. Bath | 6 | 1 | 10 |
4. Wasps | 6 | 0 | 4 |
Holders Leinster secured a home Champions Cup quarter-final against Ulster with a comfortable win at Wasps in their final pool game.
Garry Ringrose side-stepped over for the visitors' first try on 16 minutes.
Sean Cronin scored either side of half-time and Noel Reid added a fourth as Leinster underlined their credentials for this year's title.
Nathan Hughes, Dan Robson and Marcus Watson scored Wasps' tries but they were always playing catch-up.
Wasps finish winless at the bottom of Pool One, the first time in the club's history that a campaign in top European competition has finished without at least one victory.
There were fresh injury concerns for watching England coach Eddie Jones as second row Joe Launchbury was forced off with an apparent neck injury and Nathan Hughes seemed hindered by a leg knock in the first half.
Pool One (final) | Played | Won | Points |
---|---|---|---|
Quarter-final ties: Saracens v Glasgow Warriors, Edinburgh v Munster, Leinster v Ulster, Racing 92 v Toulouse | |||
1. Leinster | 6 | 5 | 25 |
2. Toulouse | 6 | 5 | 21 |
3. Bath | 6 | 1 | 10 |
4. Wasps | 6 | 0 | 4 |
With Brad Shields ruled out of the game shortly before kick-off with a side strain, England's training camp in Portugal this week will begin with a string of medical updates.
However, Ireland counterpart Joe Schmidt will have been buoyed by first outings for Robbie Henshaw and Sean O'Brien's in Leinster colours since October.
Leinster executed their game plan with trademark accuracy in the first half, building pressure and phases to place a huge workload on the Wasps defence.
The hosts' line was breached for the first time as Ringrose darted inside Hughes' tackle to find a hole and dive over.
England coach Eddie Jones was at the Ricoh Arena
Cronin hitched himself to the back of a rolling maul for another soon after and, with Ross Byrne kicking well, the visitors were 20 points clear by the break.
Hughes powered over from close range to finally get Wasps on the scoreboard with more than 50 minutes gone, but Cronin repeated his first-half trick to dot down at the back of a rolling maul for his sixth try of the this year's tournament. The hooker is joint top of the try-scoring standings with Ulster and Ireland wing Jacob Stockdale.
Robson sold a smart dummy to snipe past Andrew Porter and score a second try before replacement Watson scooted over, but ultimately it was an afternoon to remind Wasps of the gap between them and the continent's genuine elite.
With the announcement of the departures of Willie le Roux and Nathan Hughes earlier in the week, the club's fans will hope that a recent New Zealand-focused recruitment drive can inspire a return to the heights of their 2004 and 2007 triumphs in the competition.
Wasps: R Miller; J Bassett, M Campagnaro, G Lovobalavu, E Daly; L Sopoaga, D Robson; Z Zhvania, T Cruse, J Cooper-Woolley; J Launchbury (c), W Rowlands; B Shields, N Carr, N Hughes.
Replacements: Watson for Miller (63), Searle for Sopoaga (63), Hampson for Robson (69), B. Harris for Zhvania (55), Stuart for Cooper-Woolley (57), Johnson for Hughes (59). Not Used: Matthews, Morris.
Leinster: J Larmour; A Byrne, G Ringrose, R Henshaw, D Kearney; R Byrne, J Gibson-Park; J McGrath, S Cronin, T Furlong; D Toner, J Ryan; R Ruddock, J van der Flier; S O'Brien.
Replacements: O'Loughlin for Henshaw (61), Reid for R. Byrne (65), O'Sullivan for Gibson-Park (73), Healy for J. McGrath (44), Tracy for Cronin (65), Porter for Furlong (52), Fardy for Toner (52).
Referee: Mike Adamson (SRU)