Leinster leapfrog Stormers following statement win against Ospreys

WRAP: Defending United Rugby Championship holders Leinster sent out a warning to the rest of the teams with a statement 68-14 win over the Ospreys in Dublin.

Meanwhile, nothing could separate the Scarlets and Dragons in Llanelli after a 35-35 stalemate at Parc Y Scarlets.

The results see Leinster overtaking the Stormers to occupy second place on the URC table.

The Capetonians drop to third place following their defeat to Cardiff on Friday evening, with the Bulls in fourth and Glasgow at the top to cement the host quarterfinalists.

*Also read: The ‘behaviour change’ problem that will be a concern for Stormers

Leinster outscored the Ospreys by 10 tries to two and raced to a 28-0 lead within 23 minutes with tries by Joe McCarthy, Max Deegan, Josh van der Flier and Jimmy O’Brien all converted by Harry Byrne.

Huw Owen-Sutton went over under the sticks for the Ospreys in the 30th minute, converted by Dan Edwards, which signalled the final score in the first half.

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Leinster continued the onslaught in the second half with Garry Ringrose crossing the line in the 43rd minute.

Jordan Larmour scored a brace after dotting down in the 52nd and 57th minutes, whilst McCarthy sealed his hat-trick with two tries in the 54th and 61st minutes following his try in the first half.

James Lowe scored Leinster’s final try of the evening in the 63rd minute before Edwards scored a late try for the Ospreys, which he converted himself in the 77th minute.

In Llanelli, nothing could separate Scarlets and the Dragons in a 35-all stalemate.

Taine Plumtree opened the scoring for the hosts for the first of his two tries in the first half, converted by Joe Hawkins.

The Dragons responded with tries by Thomas Young and Brodie Coghlan, with Angus O’Brien converting both scores and adding a penalty to hold a 17-7 lead after 12 minutes.

Plumtree grabbed his double in the 14th minute before Aaron Wainwright extended the Dragons’ lead to 22-14 with a 36th-minute try.

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O’Brien added a penalty kick to push the Dragons’ lead to 25-14 before Josh MacLeod scored in the 50th minute, with Hawkins’ conversion bringing it back to a four-point game.

Dragons earned a penalty try, which led to Gareth Davies being sent to the sinbin, but Scarlets struck back through Jarrod Taylor before going down to 13 players with Carwyn Leggat-Jones yellow-carded as well.

O’Brien’s 63rd minute penalty stretched the Dragon’s lead to seven points, but Macs Page’s 74th minute try converted by Hawkins ensured a 35-35 draw.

Leinster 68-14 Ospreys

Scorers

For Leinster:
Tries: McCarthy 3, Deegan, Van der Flier, O’Brien, Ringrose, Larmour 2, Lowe
Cons: Byrne 4, Frawley 5

For Ospreys:
Tries: Owen-Sutton, Edwards
Cons: Edwards 2

Teams: 

Leinster: 15 Jimmy O’Brien, 14 Tommy O’Brien, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Jordan Larmour, 10 Harry Byrne, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 James Culhane, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Jack Conan (captain), 5 Diarmuid Mangan, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Gus McCarthy, 1 Jerry Cahir
Replacements: 16 Rónan Kelleher, 17 Alex Usanov, 18 Tadhg Furlong, 19 Max Deegan, 20 Caelan Doris, 21 Fintan Gunne, 22 Ciarán Frawley, 23 James Lowe

Ospreys: 15 Jack Walsh, 14 Keelan Giles, 13 Evardi Boshoff, 12 Owen Watkin, 11 Iestyn Hopkins, 10 Dan Edwards, 9 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Jac Morgan (captain), 6 James Ratti, 5 Huw Sutton, 4 Rhys Davies, 3 Ben Warren, 2 Efan Daniel, 1 Garyn Phillips
Replacements: 16 Lewis Lloyd, 17 Cam Jones, 18 Kian Hire, 19 Ben Roberts, 20 Harri Deaves, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Phil Cokanasiga, 23 Luke Morgan

Referee: Ru Campbell (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Peter Martin (Ireland) and Dan Carson (Ireland)
TMO: Dave Sutherland (Scotland)

Scarlets 35-35 Dragons RFC

Scorers

For Scarlets:
Tries: Plumtree 2, MacLeod, Taylor, Page,
Cons: Hawkins 5

For Dragons RFC:
Tries: Young, Coghlan, Wainwright, Penalty try does not require a conversion.
Cons: O’Brien 2
Pens: O’Brien 3

Yellow cards: Gareth Davies (Scarlets, 56′), Carwyn Leggat-Jones (Scarlets, 62)

Teams: 

Scarlets: 15 Ioan Jones, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Macs Page, 12 Joe Roberts, 11 Blair Murray, 10 Joe Hawkins, 9 Dane Blacker, 8 Taine Plumtree, 7 Josh Macleod (captain), 6 Jarrod Taylor, 5 Max Douglas, 4 Jac Price, 3 Archer Holz, 2 Ryan Elias, 1 Josh Morse
Replacements: 16 Harry Thomas, 17 Sam O’Connor, 18 Harri O’Connor, 19 Dan Davis, 20 Osian Williams, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Carwyn Leggatt-Jones, 23 Jac Davies

Dragons: 15 Angus O’Brien, 14 David Richards, 13 Fine Inisi, 12 Aneurin Owen, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Tinus de Beer, 9 Niall Armstrong, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Thomas Young, 6 Ryan Woodman, 5 Ben Carter, 4 Seb Davies, 3 Dillon Lewis, 2 Brodie Coghlan, 1 Wyn Jones
Replacements: 16 Elliot Dee, 17 Rhodri Jones, 18 Chris Coleman, 19 Levi Douglas, 20 Harrison Keddie, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Harri Ackerman, 23 Huw Anderson

Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Assistant referees: Ben Connor (Wales) and Carwyn Sion (Wales)
TMO: Aled Griffiths (Wales)