Bath Rugby's Champions Cup campaign came to an abrupt and disappointingly early end after losing to Pool 2-topping Leinster 47-21 at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.

Coming into today's clash, the Blue, Black and White knew that a point was vital to try and quality, while also knowing that they had to match or better Benetton's points tally against La Rochelle. Unfortunately, the Italian side ran out winners, meaning Bath could not qualify as a result.

READ MORE: Johann van Graan addresses Beno Obano's controversial red card in Bath's defeat to Leinster

READ MORE: Johann van Graan addresses Beno Obano's controversial red card in Bath's defeat to Leinster

READ MORE: Leinster Rugby 47-21 Bath Rugby LIVE: Reaction and full highlights after Obano red card

Bath started the game in stunning style, catching the home side cold with two brilliantly-worked tries from Alfie Barbeary and Tom de Glanville, giving the Blue, Black and White a 14-0 lead after just seven minutes. However, the away side let Leinster back into the game with sloppy penalties, silly mistakes, and some slack defending, with two Robbie Henshaw tries bringing the home side right back into the game. Bath tightened up with a couple of important stops, but after 36 minutes, captain Jack Conan crashed over to give his side a 19-14 lead. However, a simply sublime break from halfway to the 2-metre line, and then an out-the-back offload from Ollie Lawrence set De Glanville through to score as the clock went into the red, with Finn Russell kicking three from three conversions to make it 21-19 at half time for the Blue, Black and White. Leinster fly-half Sam Prendergast kicked two out of three conversions after the first 40 minutes.

However, Leinster turned on the style in the second half and showed why they are favourites for Europe's premier cup competition. Two second-half tries for the brilliant RG Snyman, plus tries from Garry Ringrose and Jamison Gibson-Park meant the Irish side crossed the whitewash seven times, with Sam Predergast kicking two from two conversions in the second half, while substitute fly-half Ross Bryne did the same after coming on. Bath could not get anything going in attack against a relentless Leinster, and they were hugely hurt by a controversial second yellow card for Beno Obano which saw him leave the field, shifting the match into Leinster's favour.

Rugby writer Olly D'Arcy takes a closer look at the individual performances of the Bath players...

15 Tom de Glanville - 8

His fine season continued very early into this crunch match, as he did very well to send Ted Hill free down the left-hand touchline to help give Bath their early lead. Just five minutes later, he finished off a tidy move off the back of the scrum down the blindside to give Bath a 14-0 lead before ten minutes. The Blue, Black and White struggled to keep Leinster at bay in the second phase of the first half, but a couple of key tackles from the full-back minimised danger. He then sat on the shoulder of Lawrence with some great support play, profiting off the sensational skill from the centre to get his second try and give Bath the lead at halftime. He was tidy under the high ball all game, and his kick-chasing did not stop throughout the 80 minutes. Unfortunately, the relentless nature of Leinster meant that De Glanville saw very little of the ball in hand come the second, which was a shame after a brilliant first half. Stepped up to the occasion.

14 Joe Cokanasiga - 5

The big winger was making his 100th appearance in the Blue. Black and White, with a fantastic atmosphere greeting him from the Aviva Stadium tunnel as he came out first. However, as has been the case this season, there have been problems with his hands, and Leinster were keen to test that with a couple of high balls early on that Cokanasiga could not gather. In defence, there was some fine work from the 27-year-old, putting in some huge hits to knock the wind out of the Leinster attack sails. There was some more fantastic defensive work out on the wing, reading the Leinster attack superbly to shoot out and cause them to throw the ball away. He then chased down the loose ball, jackeled superbly and turned the ball over with a penalty. But, once again, his problems with his hands reared its ugly head once again. He couldn't come down with the high ball, and the loose ball ended up in the hands of Gibson-Park, who scored Leinster's sixth try. A seventh try meant the Irish side scored 28 unanswered points as they ended Bath's Champions Cup hopes.

13 Ollie Lawrence - 8

After the news broke in the week that he was selected for England's Six Nations campaign, the centre showed his intensity by laying a thumping hit defensively to turn the ball over brilliantly. Some more defensive work was key to keeping Bath in the game, and then there was his usual moment of magic to change the complexion of the game. It was sublime attacking rugby from the centre, first running a stunning curved line to evade the Leinster defenders and break from halfway to inside the 22-metre line. Then, an unreal out-the-back offload set a patient De Glanville through to give Bath a crucial 21-19 lead at half-time, showing why he should have the 13 jersey for England in the Six Nations. Like many in the second half, he did not see any of the ball, and although his strong defensive work continued, there was little he could do to stop the home side as Bath tried to deal with playing a man down.

12 Max Ojomoh - 6

The Englishman put in a great performance against Clermont last weekend at the Rec, and he got the ball in hand to get past the gain line a couple of times as Bath made their red-hot start. He also stayed strong in defence when needed. However, as the game went on, Leinster phased him out of the game very well, as he did not see as much of the ball as he did against the French side last week. After 65 minutes, he was forced to come off with an injury too, which was not what anyone wanted to see after his injury troubles to start of the season.

11 Ruaridh McConnochie - 4

The former England international was handed another start with Will Muir still out of the Bath matchday 23 through injury. However, like the Clermont game at the Rec last week, McConnochie could not get himself involved in the game at all. Along with that, he was caught stepping in a couple of times in defence to give Garry Ringrose far too much space on the right-hand touchline. As the second half came around, it was the same story for the winger, unable to see any of the ball and cause any threat, while Leinster turned the screw and showed a gulf in class come the end of the game.

10 Finn Russell - 7

It was the grandest of stages for the Scottish international inside the Aviva Stadium, with a sublime atmosphere. He was instrumental in the moving of the ball for Bath's two tries, with brilliant poise and control, like always. However, after 15 minutes, he was forced to come off for a HIA, but thankfully for all Bath fans, he returned just before the 27th minute. He came back and brought more control to the Blue, Black and White side, but there were a couple of questionable moments from the fly-half, with a miscued kick not making touch as Bath shot themselves in the foot on multiple occasions. In the second half, Bath and Russell saw very little of the ball in attack, unable to stop the juggernaut of the Irish side's attack. Russell had a nice 50-22 when the kick-tennis battles came out, but apart from that, his kicks didn't put much pressure on Leinster at all. There were some nice moments from Russell as there always are, but he was neutralised extremely well by a formidable home side.

9 Ben Spencer - 5

Bath jumping out to a 14-0 lead was not what many expected before the game kicked off, but thanks to some brilliant ruck speed and classy passing from their captain, the Blue, Black and White raced out to an early lead, with Spencer conducting the Bath attack brilliantly. It didn't all go perfectly for the scrum-half, however, as a brain fade from him saw him go for touch from halfway, but he completely miscued it out of the dead-ball area in the first 40. Again, there were some mistakes from Spencer that Bath fans are not used to seeing, forgetting to tap the ball and therefore giving away a silly scrum with Bath down at Leinster's five-metre line, with those mistakes punished as Obano was sent off just a few minutes later. It was not the classic calm and composed Spencer that we are used to seeing, and that was a key factor in Bath's second-half capitulation.

1 Beno Obano - 5

Some brilliant covering tackles came in from the loosehead prop in defence, saving a couple of possible line breaks from the Irish side. However, he was sent to the sin bin on 34 minutes for making head-on-head contact with Gibbson-Park, a fair decision with Obano diving down with good tacking technique, and a step from the Irish scrum-half. Before he went off, he had a couple of issues in the scrum against Rabah Slimani, giving away a penalty for collapsing the scrum. It then went from bad to worse for the 30-year-old, as he was then given a very contentious second yellow card for multiple penalties at the scrum, resulting in a red card just before the 60th minute to put Bath right up against it. It may have been an extremely harsh decision from referee Luc Ramos, but that card came when the Blue, Black and White needed vital points to keep their Champions Cup hopes alive.

2 Niall Annett - 7

The hooker was handing a pretty rare start in the Irish capital, and he kept up with the pace of the game well. The lineout functioned well to start, something that has been a bit of an issue for the Blue, Black and White at times. With his rare start, he did his job well and didn't put a foot wrong, handling the ball well when needed and working tirelessly in defence. The lineout continued to work well before he was taken off, and it was a solid job all around from the hooker at the Aviva.

3 Will Stuart - 6

Very nice start to the game in the scrum, but he was drawn the short straw in defence, having to defend the inside line that Robbie Henshaw was running, which he could not do, allowing Leinster to score their first try. He showed off his tackling skills at the breakdown, combining with Molony to poach the ball on halfway very nicely. He held his own well in the scrum against the fantastic Andrew Porter, but that was not enough, and he had his own issues as Bath were totally bossed in the scrum.

4 Quinn Roux - 7

Some big hits came in from the Irish international in the engine room to keep the Blue, Black and White midfield steady for the first 40, although there were a few shaky moments in the middle of the first half, allowing Henshaw to score to tries from the outside centre channel. The lineout was functioning well throughout the game, and he continued to hold the Bath defence together until he came off for Charlie Ewels on 50 minutes.

5 Ross Molony - 6

In a return to Leinster, the team he left to come to the Blue, Black and White, there were a couple of nice moments with the ball in hand, but he gave away a silly penalty at the breakdown while Bath were looking promising in attack. There was a nice moment in the breakdown where he combined well with Stuart to earn a penalty at the breakdown, and he did well with the lineout calls in the first half to keep Bath's set piece ticking over, while causing a bit of agro on Leinster's. However, more sloppy penalties came in from the Irishman, pegging Bath back a couple of times and then allowing Leinster to take the game by the scruff of the neck. Nice for the lock to run out against his former team, but he would have been hoping for a bit more from his game today.

6 Ted Hill - 7

The flanker was finally selected by England to represent his country for the Six Nations, a well-deserved call-up after a fantastic 2024/25 season so far. His game started superbly too, as he held out on the left wing to create a two-on-one, allowing De Glanville to set him free and canter down the field to within five metres, with Barbeary scoring just a phase later. He crashed over the gain line multiple times, and he was a nuisance in both the lineout and the breakdown. He tried to make things happen in the second half, but that was to no avail against the quality outfit of Leinster.

7 Miles Reid - 7

It's almost been a coming-of-age season for the flanker, really portraying how great of a player he is to people of the Premiership and European stage. A simply superb jackel helped Bath turn the ball over as the Irish side looked to play through the phases and cause some problems. He did the same in the second half, one of the few players able to get in and try to slow the ball down while Leinster kept pounding away in attack, and although he could not stop their free-willing try-scoring, Reid put everything into his performance with another solid outing.

8 Alfie Barbeary - 7

It's not been the greatest season for the number 8, especially with his starting 2023/24 season. However, he started this game in the best way possible, crashing over the whitewash with just a minute-and-a-half on the clock to shock Leinster to cap off a sensational move from the right wing to the left. He had a bit more buzz about him than we have seen so far this year, making metres a bit more easily. But as it seems to be for the number 8 this season, he just can't put a complete game together. There were costly knock-ons while Bath were in the Leinster 22, squandering a golden opportunity to get that vital bonus point try. He kept coming on and off due to the Obano red card, and although he had a fantastic first 40, he tailed off in the second half.

Replacements

16 Tom Dunn - 5

17 Francois van Wyk - 6

18 Thomas du Toit - 6

19 Charlie Ewels - 6

20 Josh Bayliss - 6

21 Louis Schreuder - 6

22 Orlando Bailey - 6

23 Jaco Coetzee - 6