Leinster routs Dragons to celebrate Healy record
MATCH REPORT: Replacement Joe McCarthy’s 64th-minute try sealed the bonus point for Leinster in a pedestrian 34-6 United Rugby Championship win over the Dragons.
Playing at Lansdowne Road, with the RDS under redevelopment, Leo Cullen’s men celebrated Cian Healy setting a new record as Leinster’s most-capped player.
A subdued first half ended with Leinster leading 10-6 thanks to unconverted tries from captain Jack Conan (17 minutes) and Ross Byrne (37 minutes).
Lloyd Evans landed two penalties.
Conan scored during Chris Coleman’s sin-binning, and Player of the Match Max Deegan struck six minutes into the second half. McCarthy, Jordan Larmour and Aitzol King made it a 29-point margin in the end.
Veteran prop Healy’s 281st appearance saw him overhaul Devin Toner, but Dragons did not read the script.
It took Jimmy O’Brien’s ankle tap to prevent Ewan Rosser from racing over early on.
However, Coleman made head contact with Thomas Clarkson in the 16th minute following Ben Carter’s initial tackle.
Conan duly crashed over to take advantage of the yellow card. Byrne, who swung a pass wide in the build-up, missed the difficult conversion.
Two obstruction calls spoiled Leinster mauls, and Evans rewarded Brodie Coghlan’s breakdown work with a 25th-minute penalty.
Approaching the break, Byrne nipped inside Coghlan’s tackle to reach out for the line, but Evans’ last-minute penalty left just four points in it.
Leinster upped the physicality on the restart, aided by a Conan turnover. Deegan muscled over from close range, giving Byrne a straightforward conversion for 17-6.
The doughty Dragons failed to capitalise on an overlap when Harry Wilson elected to kick, and their challenge gradually petered out.
Conan’s line-out transfer had McCarthy powering over in the left corner, and Larmour and replacement King, with his first senior score from a long Harry Byrne pass, took the hosts’ try haul to six.
The scorers
For Leinster
Tries: Conan, R Byrne, Deegan, McCarthy, Larmour, King
Cons: R Byrne 2
For the Dragons
Pens: Evans 2
Yellow card: Chris Coleman (Dragons, 16 – foul play, high tackle)
Teams
Dragons: 15 Angus O’Brien, 14 Rio Dyer, 13 Harry Wilson, 12 Steff Hughes, 11 Jared Rosser, 10 Lloyd Evans, 9 Dane Blacker, 8 Shane Lewis-Hughes, 7 Harri Keddie, 6 Ryan Woodman, 5 George Nott, 4 Ben Carter (captain), 3 Chris Coleman, 2 Brodie Coghlan, 1 Rodrigo Martinez.
Replacement: 16 Oli Burrows, 17 Rhodri Jones, 18 Luke Yendle, 19 Matthew Screech, 20 George Young, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Joe Westwood, 23 Ewan Rosser.
Leinster: 15 Jamie Osborne, 14 Jordan Larmour, 13 Liam Turner, 12 Charlie Tector, 11 Jimmy O’Brien, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Jack Conan (captain), 7 Will Connors, 6 Max Deegan, 5 James Ryan, 4 Brian Deeny, 3 Thomas Clarkson, 2 Gus McCarthy, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements: 16 Lee Barron, 17 Michael Milne, 18 Rabah Slimani, 19 Joe McCarthy, 20 Josh van der Flier, 21 Fintan Gunne, 22 Harry Byrne, 23 Aitzol King.
Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Eoghan Cross (Ireland), Tomas O’Sullivan (Ireland)
TMO: Dave Sutherland (Scotland)
