Leinster on a best-ever run
PRO14 REPORT: Leinster’s winning streak this season showed no signs of stopping, as they produced a sensational display with a 54-7 demolition of Connacht.
Max Deegan and Garry Ringrose both scored twice as Leo Cullen’s men ran in eight tries and inflicted Connacht’s fifth defeat of the season.
With ten victories in their opening ten matches of this campaign, Leinster have equalled their best-ever start which they had in 2001/02 when they took home the trophy.
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Key Moments
Leinster got off to a flying start when with less than two minutes on the clock Deegan had dotted down after some neat work by Peter Dooley with Ciaran Frawley adding the extras.
The onslaught had begun, and Connacht couldn’t do much to hold off the defending champions as in-form Dave Kearney was next to put on his try-scoring boots.
Frawley scored one of his own less than three minutes later, assisted by Deegan, and Joe Tomane secured the bonus-point at the end of the first quarter.
Luke McGrath added a fifth before Deegan scored his second of the match just before the break.
Early in the second half, Deegan was involved once more gliding his way around Connacht’s stricken defenders and offloading to Ringrose who scored under the posts.
Connacht finally got themselves some points when Tom McCartney dotted down for his fourth try of the season, after the visitors worked their maul effectively.
But in the closing stages Ringrose had the last word adding to his tally and rounding off a thumping win.
Man of the Match – Rhys Ruddock
It was a captain’s performance from the flanker as he led from the front and carried out his leadership superbly.
A day when he did all his fundamentals well, having 11 carries to his name, which allowed his team to perform at their scintillating best.
Play of the Day
With nine tries to choose from, there was plenty of attacking flair on show as Leinster ran riot.
The pick of the bunch was Garry Ringrose’s first with Max Deegan gliding past defenders and offloading to the Irish international, who still had work to do, but finished off the move to score under the posts.
The scorers
For Leinster:
Tries: Deegan 2, Frawley, Kearney, Tomane, McGrath, Ringrose 2
Cons: Frawley 6, Byrne
For Connacht:
Try: McCartney
Con: Fitzgerald
Teams:
Leinster: 15 Jordan Larmour, 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Joe Tomane, 11 Dave Kearney, 10 Ciarán Frawley, 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Max Deegan, 7 Will Connors, 6 Rhys Ruddock (captain), 5 James Ryan, 4 Ross Molony, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Seán Cronin, 1 Peter Dooley.
Replacements: 16 Bryan Byrne, 17 Ed Byrne, 18 Roman Salanoa, 19 Ryan Baird, 20 Caelan Doris, 21 Jamison Gibson-Park, 22 Harry Byrne, 23 Cian Kelleher.
Connacht: 15 Stephen Fitzgerald, 14 Niyi Adeolokun, 13 Kyle Godwin, 12 Tom Daly, 11 John Porch, 10 Conor Fitzgerald, 9 Caolin Blade (captain), 8 Robin Copeland, 7 Paul Boyle, 6 Eoghan Masterson, 5 Gavin Thornbury, 4 Niall Murray, 3 Dominic Robertson-McCoy, 2 Shane Delahunt, 1 Denis Buckley.
Replacements: 16 Tom McCartney, 17 Paddy McAllister, 18 Conor Kenny, 19 Joe Maksymiw, 20 Sean Masterson, 21 Stephen Kerins, 22 David Horwitz, 23 Tiernan O’Halloran.
Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: George Clancy (Ireland), Keith Allen (Scotland)
TMO: Neil Paterson (Scotland)
Report by @PRO14Official
