Ospreys 19

Leinster 24

HUGO KEENAN and Jimmy O’Brien scored twice in the space of four minutes in the second half to haul Leinster back from the brink of their first URC defeat at the Swansea.com Stadium.

In the end, the relentlessness of Leinster carried them through to victory No 12 on the trot in the final quarter. They were 10 points down in the opening quarter and then trailed 16-10 after an hour. They were under threat, yet never panicked.

The visitors got off to a good start, regaining the kick-off and launching wave after wave of attacks. It took some great defence to keep them at bay and then a mistake to give the Ospreys the chance to clear their lines.

The game really started for the home side when they had the chance to attack the first Leinster scrum just inside the visitors’ half. Fielding what could even be the first-choice Welsh front row, the combined efforts of Nicky Smith, Dewi Lake and Tomos Francis sent the Leinster trio back and then up, Michael Ala’alatoa almost going into orbit.

Cai Evans kicked a simple penalty from in front of the posts in the 11th minute to open the scoring and then another solid home scrum earned them a penalty on the Leinster 10-metre line.

Leinster were penalised for running round this time and No 8 Morgan Morris spotted an opportunity. He took a quick tap penalty, put his scrum half, Reuben Morgan-Willias in space and he then released Keelan Giles to speed down the left wing and score in the corner.

Evans landed the touchline conversion and it was 10-0 to the Ospreys within the opening quarter of an hour. Harry Byrne then hit the mark with another simple penalty midway through the first half to get Leinster on the board.

Leinster fought their way back into the game to level the scores just before the break, although the home fans weren’t happy with the Italian official for penalising what they felt was the dominant scrum force. Leinster kicked to the corner, used Charlie Ngatai to truck the ball up in midfield, and then used the blindside of the ruck 10 metres out to send the predatory Dan Sheehan over in the right corner.

Byrne added the extras with a superb touchline conversion and it was all-square for the start of the second half. It didn’t stay that way for long, however, as Evans kicked a long-range penalty three minutes after the re-start as the contest stepped up another level.

Leinster kept coming straight and hard and the Ospreys began to copy their style. Neither defensive line wanted to give an inch. Another Evans penalty made it 16-10 before those tries from Keenan, darting through a hole created by two pull back passes on the home 22, and O’Brien pulled them out of the fire.

Evans kicked a fourth penalty seven minutes from time to salvage a losing bonus point.

Scorers: Ospreys: Try: K Giles (15); Con: C Evans (16); Pens: C Evans 3 (11, 43, 56, 73). Leinster: Tries: D Sheehan (37), H Keenan (64), J O’Brien (69); Cons: H Byrne (38), R Byrne (55, 70); Pen: H Byrne (21).

Ospreys: C Evans; M Protheroe (J Hawkins 6), M Collins, K Williams, K Giles; J Walsh, R Morgan-Williams; N Smith (G Thomas 51), D Lake (S Baldwin , T Francis (T Botha 51), R Davies, A W Jones, E Roots (H Sutton 49), J Tipuric (captain), M Morris (H Deaves 5, 60)

Reps Unused: M Aubrey, L Scully

Leinster: H Keenan; J Larmour, J Osborne, C Ngatai (R Russell 41) J O’Brien; H Byrne (R Byrne 52), C Foley (N McCarthy 52); C Healy (J McKee 52), D Sheehan (M Milne 52-55), M Ala’alatoa (V Abdaladze 52), R Molony (J Ryan 55), B Deeny, R Ruddock (captain), S Penny (J Van der Flier 5, 68), J Conan

Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)