Oct 20,2024
Leinster's dominant start to the BKT United Rugby Championship season has continued as the league leaders made it a perfect five bonus-point wins in a row with a 33-12 dismissal of Connacht at the Dexcom Stadium.
Just as they did to Munster at Croke Park a week ago, Leinster built their win on a fast start, scoring two tries in the opening quarter of an hour, and holding their hosts at arm’s length to comfortably see out victory.
The only blemish on for Leo Cullen’s side will be an ankle injury to Ciarán Frawley.
The out-half (below) trapped his ankle in a tackle in the build-up to his side’s second try, replaced by Ross Byrne, and with less than three weeks to go until Ireland host New Zealand at the Aviva Stadium, it will be also be a worry for Andy Farrell.
Connacht struggled to deal with the physicality and ball-handling skills of RG Snyman, with the South African lock scoring his side’s third try on the stroke of half time, while constantly releasing the ball in contact to keep his side on the front foot.
Jamie Osborne and Liam Turner’s tries were a just reward for Leinster’s dominant start, and while Connacht did reply with a score for Sean O’Brien, Snyman’s effort on the stroke of half time left them with too much to do after the break.
Much had been made of Leinster’s struggles to score in their second halves against Munster and Benetton, but the province needed just five minutes to extend their lead after the break when Max Deegan secured the bonus-point.
And while Connacht did reply with a Cathal Forde try on 64 minutes, Leinster killed off the game instantly as Andrew Osborne, younger brother of Jamie, raced in to cap off a big Interpro win.
Just as they did a week ago, Leinster came out hot, and when Snyman’s pass in his own half put Jamie Osborne into space, and the centre split through the Connacht defence before handing it off to Gibson-Park who was stopped close to the line.
Connacht’s defence recovered, but after conceding a penalty in the 22 shortly after, Leinster set up a lineout which resulted in the opening try of the game.
From that lineout, Leinster launched into a series of hard carries from James Ryan, James Culhane and Snyman, before they moved wide to Jamie Osborne, who stepped inside Shayne Bolton to dive in and score, as Frawley’s conversion made it 7-0.
Leinster had set up camp in Connacht territory during the opening quarter, not helped by Ben Murphy’s struggles to exit the 22, as the scrum-half saw two box-kick attempts sliced towards the touchline. A Bundee Aki turnover rescued the first of those situations, but when it happened a second time on 13 minutes, Leinster made sure to punish it.
It was an identical score to their first, this time originating on the left wing. A lineout launch was followed with three hard carries up the middle from Culhane, Snyman and then from Frawley, before quick hands to Hugo Keenan and Turner saw the latter dive in and score.
The try came at a cost as Frawley rolled his ankle in his carry before the score, with Ross Byrne (below) coming in to land the conversion and make it 14-0, with a quarter of an hour played.
Six minutes later it looked like Leinster were in for their third of the night as a blocked down clearance from Ioane landed kindly for Ryan to charge through and score under the posts, but it was quickly chalked off by the TMO, with Ryan having been in an offside position when he gathered the ball.
Connacht’s struggles to get out of their own half were well illustrated by the statistics. With 25 minutes played, the home side had just over 50% possession, but just 5% of the game had been played in the Leinster half.
When they finally got a chance to enter the Leinster 22 from a midfield penalty, it was over in a flash as they coughed up possession at the lineout, while they blew another opportunity moments later when Ioane’s missed touch.
Along with the very impressive Bolton, Ioane was at least troubling Leinster in the broken field with his running game, and when he found a gap in the defensive line just after the half-hour, Connacht quickly recycled to O’Brien who was stopped just short of the 22, before Leinster gave up a penalty.
From the resulting lineout, the hosts finally took their chance, as a maul and a charge from Paul Boyle brought them close to the line, before Denis Buckley popped up to O’Brien, who burrowed in to score.
Ioane’s conversion struck the posts, caught up in a growing wind, as his side trailed 14-5, but they couldn’t maintain that pressure to the half time break.
A scrum penalty in midfield gave Leinster the opportunity for a final attack of the half, and Boyle and Ryan carried up the middle, Keenan ran a hard line which was just about stopped by the defence. Unfortunately for Connacht, the ball squirted out the back of the ruck, and Snyman had the easiest of finishes to bring up his side’s third try, converted by Byrne to make it 21-5 at the break.
The second half was only five minutes old when Leinster brought up their bonus point.
It started in midfield when a bobbling ball was pounced on by Gibson-Park who broke clear, and while David Hawkshaw did so well to chase him down, Connacht couldn’t successfully exit the 22. After a lengthy series of phases, Byrne’s low pass along the ground was scooped up by Deegan, who held off a tackle to get in and score, making it 26-5.
By now, Leinster were fully loosened up, and a trademark Snyman offload sent McCarthy breaking clear. The hooker exchanged passes with Gibson Park to bring Leinster within a few metres of the try-line, but after they moved the ball wide to Andrew Osborne in the corner, the winger met the weight of Aki, who levelled him into touch.
Connacht went to the bench early, with five changes before the 55th minute, and it did inject some energy into the province’s attack.
Twice in the space of two minutes, Boyle came close to a second Connacht try. First, the number 8 was found down the touchline with a great skip-pass from Caolin Blade. After being bundled into touch by Keenan, Connacht stole the lineout back, and while a series of tight phases got them close again, Boyle eventually found himself held up over the line.
With 16 minutes to play, Connacht gave themselves a sliver of hope. A shoulder injury to Hawkshaw saw Forde brought in, and the centre was only on the pitch a minute before he stepped inside Jamie Osborne from an innocuous position, sprinting cler under the posts as Ioane’s conversion made it 26-12.
The hope of a comeback lasted mere seconds. With the wind blowing straight at Leinster, Byrne’s restart hung up beautifully in the air, before Andrew Osborne snatched the ball just before it landed in the hands of Forde, racing towards the line for his team’s fifth try, and his first for the province. Byrne judged his conversion perfectly, to make it 33-12 on 67 minutes.
Needing two tries to even secure a bonus-point, Connacht tried desperately in the final ten minutes, but it was ultimately in vain, the closest they came being in 75 minutes when Darragh Murray’s charge into space was met with an excellent Andrew Porter tackle, forcing a knock-on, and summed up Connacht’s night.
Connacht scorers: Tries: Sean O’Brien, Cathal Forde
Cons: Josh Ioane (1)
Leinster scorers: Tries: Jamie Osborne, Liam Turner, RG Snyman, Max Deegan, Andrew Osborne
Cons: Ciarán Frawley (1), Ross Byrne (3)
Connacht: Piers O'Conor; Shayne Bolton, David Hawkshaw, Bundee Aki, Santiago Cordero; Josh Ioane, Ben Murphy; Denis Buckley, Dave Heffernan, Finlay Bealham; Joe Joyce, Darragh Murray; Cian Prendergast (capt), Sean O'Brien, Paul Boyle.
Replacements: Dylan Tierney-Martin (for Heffernan, 55), Peter Dooley (for Buckley, 51), Jack Aungier (for Bealham, 51), Niall Murray (for Joyce, 51), Sean Jansen (for O'Brien, 55), Caolin Blade (for Murphy, 55), Cathal Forde (for Hawkshaw, 61), Hugh Gavin (for Cordero, 58).
Leinster: Hugo Keenan; Liam Turner, Garry Ringrose, Jamie Osborne, Andrew Osborne; Ciarán Frawley, Jamison Gibson-Park; Jack Boyle, Gus McCarthy, Rabah Slimani; RG Snyman, James Ryan (capt); Max Deegan, Will Connors, James Culhane.
Replacements: Stephen Smyth (for McCarthy, 70), Andrew Porter (for Boyle, 43), Thomas Clarkson (for Slimani, 43), Brian Deeny (for Snyman, 66), Scott Penny (for Connors, 58), Fintan Gunne (for Gibson-Park, 70), Ross Byrne (for Frawley, 16), Hugh Cooney (for Turner, 73).
Referee: Eoghan Cross (IRFU)
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