Glasgow Warriors 15

Leinster 31

LEINSTER MOVED TOP of the URC as they kept up their winning start to the season with what turned out to be a surprisingly comfortable win at Glasgow Warriors, a ground where they have had more than a few ding-dong battles in the past

This was certainly not one of them as the pace and vision Leinster brought to the game were always a league ahead of their rivals. Apart from a wobble just before the break, they were mostly running on cruise control.

It was helped by the perfect start, when they won a penalty from their first attack, kicked by Ross Byrne, before hooker Ronan Kelleher showed winger’s pace to scorch down the touchline for the opening try after Dan Leavy’s offload had created the space from their second possession.

Glasgow did make inroads into their lead with a penalty from Ross Thompson, the full back, but the reality was that the Leinster defence was coping reasonably easily with whatever Glasgow threw at them while they were finding space out wide when they had the ball.

That meant it was no real surprise when James Lowe, the wing, popped up in midfield after a long, patient build up and his offload to Hugo Keenan produced the second try. It was enough of a cushion that it seemed the scoring bonus point was already starting to enter the players’ mindset.

If so, it was a mistake. They got a reminder that there was a game to be won first when Glasgow created space down the right and Thompson came close to a try. It was enough to earn the Scots a penalty – a second shortly afterwards saw Jack Conan dispatched to the sin bin and Jack Dempsey, the Glasgow No8, forced his way over to cut the Leinster advantage to seven points at the break.

It was still Leinster who were asking the more difficult questions in attack, however, as they sought to move the ball while Glasgow relied more on a simpler, more direct approach. It was the Irish style which worked when a quick hands put Adam Byrne in for the third try and the try bonus eventually arrived on the hour mark with Dan Sheehan continuing his scoring streak when he was driven over in a pile of bodies.

Job done for the visitors as they played out the final quarter without having to do anything special. They even survived a silly yellow card for Jamison Gibson-Park in the final minutes for a frustrated off-the-ball shove and a last-second try for Lewis Bean, the replacement lock that barely dented Leinster’s superiority.

Glasgow Warriors
Tries: Jack Dempsey, Lewis Bean.
Conversions: [1 from 2]
Penalty: Ross Thomson [1 from 1]

Leinster
Tries: Rónan Kelleher, Hugo Keenan, Adam Byrne, Dan Sheehan
Conversions: Ross Byrne [4 from 4]
Penalty: Ross Byrne [1 from 1]

Glasgow Warriors: Ross Thompson; Kyle Steyn, Sione Tuipulotu (Nick Grigg, 70), Sam Johnson, Rufus McLean; Duncan Weir (Cole Forbes, 56), Ali Price (George Horne, 53); Jamie Bhatti (Oli Kebble, 45), Johnny Matthews (George Turner, 41), Zander Fagerson (Enrique Pieretto, 53), Rob Harley (Lewis Bean, 75), Richie Gray, Ryan Wilson (C), Rory Darge (Matt Fagerson, 61) Jack Dempsey.

Leinster Rugby: Hugo Keenan; Adam Byrne, Garry Ringrose (Jamie Osborne, 69), Ciarán Frawley, James Lowe; Ross Byrne, Luke McGrath (C) (Jamison Gibson-Park, 62); Cian Healy (Ed Byrne, 53), Rónan Kelleher (Dan Sheehan, 53), Tadhg Furlong (Michael Ala’alatoa, 53), Ross Molony, Ryan Baird (Devin Toner, 50), Caelan Doris (Rhys Ruddock, 67), Dan Leavy (Josh van der Flier, 50), Jack Conan (sin bin: 48-58).

Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)