Leinster get a fiver in Galway
MATCH REPORT: Ciaran Frawley’s 76th-minute penalty ensured Leinster beat Connacht 10-0 at the Sportsground to make it five wins from five this season.
The wet and windy conditions made for a scrappy first half, scrumhalf Cormac Foley scoring off an early line-out to give Leinster a seven-point advantage.
Connacht was left to rue their missed opportunities as a break from United Rugby Championship Player of the Match Josh van der Flier set up replacement Frawley to kick the visitors to victory.
Leinster cracked open the home defence inside the first three minutes, Van der Flier breaking off a maul and feeding Foley for a simple finish. Ross Byrne expertly converted from out wide.
Two Niall Murray line-out steals lifted Connacht, as well as his charge-down on Foley, but a subsequent knock-on spoiled their first visit to Leinster 22.
Connacht’s improved maul defence kept the deficit at seven points at the start of the second quarter, before they hurried Leinster into more errors.
The Westerners’ own line-out drive was halted short, and the radar was off when Colm Reilly’s looping pass to Mack Hansen went into touch.
As the rain came down, the slippery ball was Connacht’s undoing when they failed to capitalise on a scrum penalty. Byrne then pulled a 40-metre penalty wide.
A late Connacht onslaught, on the back of a scrum penalty conceded by Tadhg Furlong, went unrewarded, with Paul Boyle held up before half-time.
No.8 Boyle was prominent on the restart and, while Leinster continued to have line-out issues, Connacht was wasteful again from a gilt-edged maul opportunity.
Although Byrne missed a 54th-minute penalty attempt, Connacht’s execution let them down when their maul was grounded and then a line-out to the tail was knocked on.
It was Leinster who went up a gear during the closing stages.
Dan Sheehan and Van der Flier both made breaks, the latter being brought down by John Porch. Murray infringed, received a yellow card and had to watch Frawley seal Connacht’s fate.
Player of the Match
Connacht had a number of candidates, chief among them being the tireless Murray, Josh Murphy and also Porch, who covered a huge amount of ground in defence. However, Leinster had a few players come to the fore at crucial stages. Top of the pile was Van der Flier, who supplied the assist, made an important late raid downfield and tackled at his usual high rate.
Play of the match
Neither side’s endeavour and intensity could be questioned, but their accuracy in attack was impacted by the weather at times. Leinster produced the moment of quality when Van der Flier emerged through a line-out drive and laid off for Foley to go over in the left corner.
The scorers
For Connacht
None
For Leinster
Try: Foley
Con: Byrne
Pen: Frawley
Teams
Connacht: 15 Conor Fitzgerald, 14 John Porch, 13 Byron Ralston, 12 David Hawkshaw, 11 Mack Hansen, 10 Jack Carty (captain), 9 Colm Reilly, 8 Paul Boyle, 7 Shamus Hurley-Langton, 6 Josh Murphy, 5 Gavin Thornbury, 4 Niall Murray, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Peter Dooley.
Replacements: 16 Grant Stewart, 17 Denis Buckley, 18 Jack Aungier, 19 Oisín Dowling, 20 Conor Oliver, 21 Caolin Blade, 22 Tom Daly, 23 Ciaran Booth.
Leinster: 15 Jimmy O’Brien, 14 Liam Turner, 13 Garry Ringrose (captain), 12 Charlie Ngatai, 11 Rob Russell, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Cormac Foley, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Caelan Doris, 5 James Ryan, 4 Ross Molony, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Ed Byrne.
Replacements: 16 John McKee, 17 Andrew Porter, 18 Michael Ala’alatoa, 19 Joe McCarthy, 20 Martin Moloney, 21 Nick McCarthy, 22 Ciarán Frawley, 23 Robbie Henshaw.
Referee: Frank Murphy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Peter Martin (Ireland), Oisin Quinn (Ireland)
TMO: Colin Stanley (Ireland)
