Leinster 34
Dragons 6
TWO BONUS-POINT wins from two games is exactly how Leinster would have wanted to start their URC season and though there will be many things that Leo Cullen and co. will be frustrated with tonight, they finished strongly to break down the determined resistance of the Dragons.
With a good crowd of 18,397 nearly filling the Aviva Stadium’s lower tier on a cold autumnal night in Dublin, the first half was a tough watch. Leinster led 10-6 at the break and, mercifully, matters improved from there.
Dragons deserve credit for their ability to win collisions and deny Leinster momentum at times but they couldn’t come up with much on the other side of the ball. Jacques Nienaber’s defence had to scramble hard a couple of times in the first half but he’ll be pleased to have kept the Welsh visitors tryless.
Leinster played some good stuff in spells as they scored six tries on the night Cian Healy received ovations before kick-off and in the 52nd minute as he was replaced after his record-setting 281st appearance for the province, but their error count was too high overall.
It’s still early days in this season but it wasn’t the kind of performance Leinster aim for. Cullen wanted a more consistent 80-minute display than in Edinburgh last weekend but didn’t get it.
Max Deegan impressed again as he was named player of the match, captain Jack Conan was also good in the back row, and academy hooker Gus McCarthy showed up well again. Fullback Jamie Osborne had some excellent touches in the kicking game, while wing Jimmy O’Brien was lively.
Academy scrum-half Fintan Gunne brought energy off the bench, as did Ireland internationals Joe McCarthy and Josh van der Flier.
Ultimately, this isn’t a game that will live too long in the memory and while the five points matter, Leinster fans will be hoping for better days at the Aviva Stadium this season.
The first half was littered with mistakes from both sides as the Dragons caused strife to the Leinster defence early on, centre Harry Wilson breaking through the midfield off one first-phase strike before Leinster wing O’Brien had to make a try-saving tackle wide on Leinster’s left soon after.
The Welsh side should have taken the lead after a sloppy offside penalty from Leinster on lineout defence but out-half Lloyd Evans mishit his shot at goal.
A yellow card for Dragons tighthead Chris Coleman for a head-on-head tackle on opposite number Thomas Clarkson gave Leinster the chance to finally get motoring as they scored on the next attack.
The play appeared to have broken down as fullback Jamie Osborne spilt the ball backwards in Dragons’ 22 but Ross Byrne scooped it up and passed wide for O’Brien and centre Charlie Tector to offload before captain Jack Conan finished powerfully.
But Leinster failed to kick on with their numerical advantage as the errors continued and Dragons even grabbed three points before the sin-bin period was over, hooker Brodie Coghlan earning a breakdown turnover penalty that Evans slotted.
Leinster did grab their second soon before the break as out-half Byrne finished sharply, stretching out to finish on the left following a big maul effort from his pack but they then conceded immediately off the restart. Healy was penalised for a croc roll and Evans made it 10-6 with the last act of the half.
A big defensive set early in the second half energised Leinster and they were soon surging down the other end where back row Max Deegan smashed over from close range for their third try in the 47th minute.
But the Dragons continued to provide nuggety breakdown resistance to Leinster finding attacking rhythm and won a big scrum penalty in the 56th minute after the home side had sent on their replacement front row.
They couldn’t convert that into a score after going to touch but their powerful tackling was posing problems for Leinster, who were increasingly powerful in defence themselves.
Cullen looked to his bench for impact and van der Flier provided it with his very first carry, an explosive effort that lifted the atmosphere while simultaneously drawing a high tackle from Dragons centre Wilson, who escaped sanction.
Another Ireland international replacement, McCarthy, soon powered his way to Leinster’s bonus-point try as he swung into the shortside from a five-metre lineout to accept a pop off the top from Conan. There was no stopping him from there.
Right wing Jordan Larmour was next over, although his burrowing finish was nearly overlooked until the TMO intervened before play could move on, in what was his final involvement before making way for academy wing Aitzol King.
And it was King who concluded the scoring as replacement inside centre Harry Byrne swung a pass wide to the right. Ross Byrne’s difficult night off the tee ended with another effort going wide but Leinster were clear winners.
Leinster scorers:
Tries: Jack Conan, Ross Byrne, Max Deegan, Joe McCarthy, Jordan Larmour, Aitzol King
Conversions: Ross Byrne [2 from 6]
Dragons scorers:
Penalties: Lloyd Evans [2 from 3]
LEINSTER: Jamie Osborne; Jordan Larmour (Aitzol King ’70), Liam Turner, Charlie Tector (Harry Byrne ’63), Jimmy O’Brien; Ross Byrne, Luke McGrath (Fintan Gunne ’63); Cian Healy (Michael Milne ’52), Gus McCarthy (Lee Barron ’52), Thomas Clarkson (Rabah Slimani ’52); Brian Deeny (Joe McCarthy ’52), James Ryan; Max Deegan, Will Connors (Josh van der Flier ’63), Jack Conan (captain).
DRAGONS: Ewan Rosser; Rio Dyer (Aneurin Owen ’68), Harry Wilson, Steff Hughes (Joe Westwood ’59), Jared Rosser; Lloyd Evans, Dane Blacker (Rhodri Williams ’51); Rodrigo Martinez (Rhodri Jones ’51), Brodie Coghlan (Oli Burrows ’59), Chris Coleman (yellow card ’17) (HIA – Luke Yendle ’27 to ’37, permanent ’59); Ben Carter (captain), George Nott (Matthew Screech ’6); Ryan Woodman, Harri Keddie (George Young ’65), Shane Lewis-Hughes.
Referee: Mike Adamson [SRU].
