Leinster vs Saracens LIVE: European Champions Cup reign ends as Sarries are beaten in quarter-finals
Follow the latest from the European Champions Cup quarter-final in Dublin
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Your support makes all the difference.Saracens put their European crown on the line on Sunday when they take on Champions Cup favourites Leinster at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium, but will have to do so without a number of the players who helped them to the title last season.
Owen Farrell has been declared fit to start after recovering from a thigh strain, but Saracens are without influential back-row players in Billy Vunipola and Michael Rhodes, and well as Australian heavyweight lock Will Skelton.
Leinster meanwhile are able to recall all of their Six Nations Grand Slam winners that were given the week off last weekend, with the likes of Johnny Sexton, Tadhg Furlong and Garry Ringrose all returning two weeks after their Twickenham triumph over England.
Follow the live action below...
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What time does it start?
Leinster vs Saracens kicks off at 15:30 on Sunday 1 April.
Where can I watch it?
The match will be shown live on BT Sport 2 from 15:00.
Teams
Leinster: Rob Kearney; Fergus McFadden, Garry Ringrose, Isa Nacewa (c), James Lowe; Johnny Sexton, Luke McGrath; Cian Healy, Sean Cronin, Tadhg Furlong; Devin Toner, James Ryan, Scott Fardy, Dan Leavy, Jordi Murphy.
Replacements: James Tracy, Jack McGrath, Andrew Porter, Rhys Ruddock, Max Deegan, Nick McCarthy, Joey Carbery, Rory O'Loughlin.
Saracens: Alex Goode; Liam Williams, Marcelo Bosch, Brad Barritt (c), Sean Maitland; Owen Farrell, Richard Wigglesworth; Mako Vunipola, Jamie George, Juan Figallo; Maro Itoje, George Kruis, Nick Isiekwe, Schalk Burger, Jackson Wray.
Replacements: Schalk Brits, Richard Barrington, Titi Lamositele, Dominic Day, Blair Cowan, Ben Spencer, Alex Lozowski, Chris Wyles.
37 mins: Confirmation comes through that Sexton kicked the ball away as Farrell went to collect it for the restart. We'll put that down as a rather needless one...
39 mins: Barrett takes up crash ball from the scrum- or so it seems. A lovely pass out the back releases Farrell, who floats a miss pass to Goode and the full-back breaks all of 40 metres to reach the 22. After making the tackle, McFadden plays the ball in the floor and concedes the penalty, and Farrell this time goes to touch 10m out.
40 mins: An immediate penalty advantage from the maul allows Farrell a free play, but his high bomb falls dead and he gets a fairly late charge from Sexton for good measure. The penalty is Saracens' though and they kick to the corner...and it's dropped!
The ball's knocked on and that's half-time.
Leinster 13-12 Saracens
H/T: Say what you want about the Saracens injuries, they are not letting go of their European crown without a fight. Leinster showed early what they are capable of if given a chance as Liam Williams' missed tackle on James Lowe quickly resulted in a try for Garry Ringrose in just the fourth minute, but Saracens have been very impressive since that concession and, while they are struggling for clear-cut chances, they are dominating both territory and possession. It should be a cracking second half.
H/T: both teams are back out and we're ready to get back underway...
42 mins: Leinster break down the left as Kearney cuts a nice line, but as the ball is offloaded inside George gets back and steals the ball. Garces blows up though as there's a penalty advantage for Vunipola hitting Healy high, and Sexton will go for goal from about 46m.
43 mins: Sexton's effort is sweet as they come and its early points on the board for Leinster!
Leinster 16-12 Saracens
45 mins: Leinster start from inside their 22 and ship the ball wide to Ringrose, who boots the ball low downfield. It's teasing to go dead...but just finds touch before the corner flag to the delight of the crowd. They roar on their side to contest the lineout, but George throws a sneaky lineout to the front man without jumping and Wigglesworth can clear.
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