Leinster makes big statement

PRO14 REPORT: Leinster were in seventh heaven as they ran in a septet of tries, bringing up the 50-point mark in the process, as they sent out a message with a 52-7 win against the Ospreys.

Three tries in the first period set the pace for a dominant victory, as Leinster proved ruthless at every opportunity while Ospreys struggled to make the most of their chances.

And four more scores in the second drove up the scoreboard in irrepressible fashion, making it a night to remember for the Leinster faithful at the RDS Arena.

But it was Ospreys who started the game on the front foot, enjoying lengthy territory up at Leinster’s try-line, but the Irish side soon made the breakthrough against the run of play.

Leinster made ground and found themselves up on the Ospreys’ 22, before Conor O’Brien’s piercing run was fed by Scott Fardy, and the 22-year-old charged in under the posts.

Ciaran Frawley converted the extras and not long after extended Leinster’s lead to double digits, kicking a penalty after it looked as though Leo Cullen’s men could have had more.

The home side took control of proceedings, dominating possession and posing a scoring threat every time they got on the ball.

And they made it count when a line-out deep into Ospreys territory became a powerful driving maul for the hosts, with debutant Scott Penny doing the honours as Leinster broke the paint.

Just as Ospreys thought they had grabbed a foothold in the match, Sam Davies cutting through the Leinster line before handing off beautifully to James Hook to dot down, TMO intervened to rule out the score for a previous infringement by Johnny Kotze.

And Leinster rubbed salt into the visitors’ wounds when they once again charged down to the Ospreys line, where relentless rucking eventually resulted in Nick McCarthy diving over, giving the Irish side a 24-0 advantage at the break.

The Guinness PRO14 reigning champions started the second-half in much the same way that they ended the first, Ciaran Frawley kicking into the corner before Leinster found themselves once more camped on the Ospreys line.

The defence looked to be resolute, but Scott Fardy managed to sneak the ball in at the base of the post to seal the bonus point for the hosts.

Leinster made it five when a flowing interchange of rapid-fire passes took them from half-way to the Ospreys line in the blink of an eye.

Once more held up on the line, it was replacement Ed Byrne’s turn to dive over, further extending the hosts’ impressive lead.

Max Deegan, fresh from the bench, quickly turned scorer of Leinster’s sixth, this time a smart grubber from Noel Reid was gathered by Adam Byrne, who fed the 22-year-old to cross the whitewash.

They brought the 50 up when the Byrne brothers combined for a well-worked score, Ed drawing two Ospreys defenders before feeding Bryan to slide in under the posts.

Ospreys did get themselves on the board in the game’s dying seconds, Hanno Dirksen crossing for a consolation score, but the night belonged to Leinster.

The scorers:

For Leinster:
Tries: O’Brien, Penny, McCarthy, Fardy, E Byrne, Deegan, B Byrne
Cons: Frawley 7
Pen: Frawley

For Ospreys:
Try: Dirksen
Cons: Davies

The teams:

Leinster: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Adam Byrne, 13 Conor O’Brien, 12 Noel Reid, 11 James Lowe, 10 Ciarán Frawley, 9 Nick McCarthy, 8 Caelan Doris, 7 Scott Penny, 6 Josh Murphy, 5 Scott Fardy (captain), 4 Ross Molony, 3 Michael Bent, 2 James Tracy, 1 Peter Dooley.
Replacements: 16 Bryan Byrne, 17 Ed Byrne, 18 Vakh Abdaladze, 19 Mick Kearney, 20 Max Deegan, 21 Hugh O’Sullivan, 22 Jimmy O’Brien, 23 Jack Kelly.

Ospreys: 15 James Hook, 14 Hanno Dirksen, 13 Cory Allen, 12 Johnny Kotze, 11 Keelan Giles, 10 Sam Davies, 9 Tom Habberfield, 8 James King, 7 Sam Cross, 6 Olly Cracknell (captain), 5 Lloyd Ashley, 4 Giorgi Nemsadze, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Scott Otten, 1 Rhodri Jones.
Replacements: 16 Sam Parry, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 Alex Jeffries, 19 Rob McCusker, 20 Will Jones, 21 Matthew Aubrey, 22 Luke Morgan, 23 Tom Williams.

Referee: Marius Mitrea (Italy)
Assistant referees: Eddie Hogan O’Connell, Rob O’Sullivan (both Ireland)
TMO: Colin Stanley (Ireland)

Source: @PRO14Official

Half-time at the RDS Arena and @leinsterrugby are on fire 🔥🔥🔥@ospreys were quick out of the blocks, but the hosts have been ruthless so far 🙌#GUINNESSPRO14 #LEIvOSP pic.twitter.com/TERqNPYICC

— PRO14 RUGBY (@PRO14Official) November 23, 2018