Leinster blow away Sale to set up Champions Cup semi-final with Toulon
Semi-final number 17 beckons for Leinster.The one-time serial champions of this competition will take another, against Toulon, back at the Aviva in a couple of weeks’ time.Sounds epic.Probably will be.But Leinster are still not quite convincing.
This was a Sale team missing a host of their best players.No one gave them a chance, but they made a real nuisance of themselves for a good 50 minutes before yielding to the inevitable.Four Leinster tries in the last half-hour put them away, but after the home team’s struggle to do the same here against Edinburgh last week Toulon, who are hardly a study in eloquence themselves at the moment, will fancy their chances.We are spoilt for breathtaking games of rugby these days, but this was not one of them – for the first half certainly.The contrast with the extraordinary skills on display in Bath the night before was getting on for painful.
A stubborn drizzle set in just before kick-off, and it would not let the ball stick in the hands very many times before precipitating some spill or other by an international rugby player, usually in the blue of Leinster.Usually in the blue, because Leinster hogged the majority of possession throughout.For 40 minutes, they could not achieve more than a Dan Sheehan try in the 10th, the prolific hooker sliding along the soggy turf to the posts after a series of solid Leinster carries off a lineout.The home side, nearly 10 points shy of their customary place at the top of the United Rugby Championship, have been attracting some scrutiny of late, their slick attacking game looking less assured than usual.So it was again here, but matters were not helped in that department by their travails at the set piece in that first half.
Sale had a clear edge at the scrum and found joy at the lineout too in the first half, before the latter set piece fairly fell apart in the second,George Ford landed a penalty from around 40 metres out five minutes from the break,The fact he went for the posts with the penalty, rather than the ever-fashionable corner, almost felt like something worth celebrating,Sale’s reserves were only four points behind at the break – and appeared to mean business,That all changed courtesy of two yellow cards, one either side of half-time.
Dan du Preez’s just before was for a deliberate knock-on – more of a faintest-of-brush-forwards, but they all count,Fairly faint contact was responsible for the next too, when Si McIntyre’s head knocked into that of James Ryan during a nothing tackle,On such minute contacts do contests swing,The McIntyre incident occurred in the build-up to Leinster’s second try, three minutes into the second half,The excellent Harry Byrne, now seemingly first-choice 10 for Leinster, sparked it with a beautiful pass, and soon Ryan Baird was galloping down the right.
He turned the ball inside to Hugo Keenan for the score,A TMO seance straight after did for McIntyre for 10 minutes,Leinster Keenan (Frawley 71); T O’Brien, Ringrose (Henshaw 60), J Osborne, Ioane; H Byrne, Gibson-Park (McGrath 64); Usanov (Cahir 4), Sheehan (capt), Furlong (Clarkson 55), J McCarthy, Ryan (Kelleher 67), Baird (Deegan 62), Van der Flier (Penny 50), ConanTries Sheehan, Keenan, Baird, Ioane, O’Brien, Osborne Cons Byrne 5 Pen ByrneSale Carpenter (Wills ht); Roebuck, R du Preez (Louw 60), Ma’asi-White, O’Flaherty; Ford, Warr (Hanson 68); McIntyre (McEachran 64), Caine (Longstaff 64), Opoku-Fordjour (Harper 64), Van Rhyn (capt), Vermeulen (Logan 71), Dugdale (Gilmore 71), D du PreezSin bin D du Preez 37, McIntyre 44Try Wills Con Ford Pen FordReferee Pierre Bousset (France)While Sale were thus down to 13, Leinster scored again,Ford pulled back another three points with a penalty, this one from an angled 45 metres, before Rieko Ioane’s finesse put Garry Ringrose away on the right,Sweet hands swept the ball to Baird, who galloped again, this time down the left, this time to the line.
Two more Leinster tries in the next 10 minutes, either side of the hour, killed the game off against a Sale side who had barely strung any attacking moves together by that point.Ioane finished the first, then Tommy O’Brien dotted down after Byrne’s chip had caused chaos in the Sale defence.Inevitably, the game now long gone, Sale put together their first piece of artistry to send Alex Wills over in the corner, but a Byrne penalty in the last 10 minutes put the hosts 23 points clear.Jamie Osborne rounded off the match with Leinster’s sixth at the death to add a touch of gloss.But Toulon won’t be fooled in three weeks’ time.
Federal workers struggle to find roles a year after Trump cuts: ‘I’ve applied to over 250 jobs’
Maggie was faced with a tough choice in February 2025: quit her job at the US office of personnel management or be unceremoniously fired.Though she was a few months pregnant at the time, Maggie was offered one of the buyouts that were offered to tens of thousands of federal government employees by the office of personnel management.“I couldn’t be without health insurance through the delivering of my baby,” said Maggie, who requested to omit her last name for fear of professional repercussions. “I was going to have six to seven months of paid parental leave, because I’d been on my job for five years and I accrued time.”She took a buyout offer in May 2025 and, like many federal employees who took buyouts, and was placed on administrative leave until September 2025
McDonald’s CEO blames mother’s etiquette training for awkward burger bite in video
The chief executive officer of McDonald’s recently blamed etiquette guidance from his mother for a February on-camera taste test that made him a target for ridicule – and summarily recorded another video of him eating one of the fast-food giant’s offerings in a manner potential consumers found awkward.Chris Kempczinski suggested to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) earlier in April that he was simply heeding maternal advice to never talk with his mouth full when he took the humorously small bite at the center of a viral video which depicted him discussing and sampling the new Big Arch burger from McDonald’s.“I blame it all on my mom because she told me, ‘Don’t talk with your mouth full,’” Kempczinski remarked to Tim Higgin, a WSJ columnist, in an interview captured on video. “And I think, probably in that case, I should have just said, ‘You know what? To hell with it. I’m gonna go talk with my mouth full
Amazon to finally launch Leo satellite internet in ‘mid-2026’, says CEO
Amazon has said its long-awaited satellite internet rival to Elon Musk’s Starlink will finally go live in “mid-2026”.The chief executive, Andy Jassy, said in a letter to shareholders that the technology company was “on the verge of launching Amazon Leo” and had secured “revenue commitments from enterprises and governments” for the scheme.Originally conceived in 2019 as Project Kuiper before being renamed last year, Leo now has 200 low-orbit satellites in space, with Jassy promising “a few thousand more” in the years to come.While on track to make Leo the second commercial satellite presence in space, the plans would still leave it far behind SpaceX’s Starlink, which has nearly 10,000 satellites in space and aims to have as many as 42,000 operational in the future.Jassy promised Leo would incorporate the successful Amazon Web Services cloud computing software into its function, writing: “Leo will seamlessly integrate with AWS to enable enterprises and governments to move data back and forth for storage, analytics, and AI
US summons bank bosses over cyber risks from Anthropic’s latest AI model
The US Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, summoned major American bank chiefs to a meeting in Washington this week amid concerns over the cyber risks posed by Anthropic’s latest AI model, according to reports.Jerome Powell, chair of the Rederal Reserve, was said to have been among those gathered at the Treasury headquarters for the meeting after the release of the Claude Mythos AI model that Anthropic says poses unprecedented cybersecurity risks.A recent leak of Claude’s code prompted the startup to publish a blogpost at the beginning of the month saying that AI models had surpassed “all but the most skilled humans at finding and exploiting software vulnerabilities”, adding: “The fallout – for economies, public safety, and national security – could be severe.”This week’s meeting was reportedly called while bank bosses were already in Washington for a lobby group gathering, with a guest list focused on heads of so-called systemically important banks – meaning regulators believe that a major disruption to their operations, or their potential collapse, would put financial stability at risk.Those in attendance included the Goldman Sachs chief executive, David Solomon, Bank of America’s Brian Moynihan, Citigroup’s Jane Fraser, Morgan Stanley’s Ted Pick and the Wells Fargo boss Charlie Scharf, according to Bloomberg, which first reported details of the meeting
Leinster blow away Sale to set up Champions Cup semi-final with Toulon
Semi-final number 17 beckons for Leinster. The one-time serial champions of this competition will take another, against Toulon, back at the Aviva in a couple of weeks’ time. Sounds epic. Probably will be. But Leinster are still not quite convincing
Mullins makes fiendish Grand National puzzle look simple with third win in a row | Sean Ingle
Remember what Gary Lineker said about football being a simple game – you play for 120 minutes and the Germans win on penalties? The Grand National now has its equivalent. Tipping the winner of the most fiendish handicap in racing really is a simple game. Forget spending weeks assessing the form, weights, trends and attributes of the 34 runners. Just trust in Willie and let history do the rest.For a moment or two, when Jordans established a seven-length lead on the turn for home, the prospect of a 28-1 upset loomed large
Rachel Roddy’s recipe for hazelnut and chocolate cake | A kitchen in Rome
How to make cauliflower cheese using the whole plant – recipe | Waste not
How to save limp herbs | Kitchen aide
‘Before I can stop her, my daughter is licking crumbs from the table’: my search for the perfect kids’ menu
Can’t face another mouthful of chicken? You’re probably coming down with the ick
Georgina Hayden’s quick and easy recipe for gochujang butter salmon | Quick and easy