United Rugby Championship, Aviva Stadium
Leinster 52 (19)
Tries: Sheehan, Tector 2 , Prendergast, Deeney, O’Brien 2, Kenny Cons: Prendergast 6
Connacht 17 (17)
Tries: Tierney-Martin, Bealham Cons: Gilbert 2 Pens: Gilbert
Leinster ensured a clean sweep of their United Rugby Championship festive derbies thanks to a dominant second half performance against Connacht in the Aviva Stadium.
The champions had led by only two points at half-time but scored five unanswered tries after the turn to ultimately run out 52-17 winners.
After wins over Ulster at home and Munster in Limerick either side of Christmas, Leo Cullen’s side made a quick start to lead 14-0 after only eight minutes but poor discipline and handling errors allowed the visitors back into the game.
Connacht, who have now lost three in a row, came back to lead 17-14 thanks to tries from Dylan Tierney-Martin and Finlay Bealham but Sam Prendergast’s score in the final minute of the half saw the hosts take the slender advantage into the break.
The second half, however, was one-way traffic with Brian Deeney, Charlie Tector, JJ Kenny all scoring tries while Tommy O’Brien crossed for a double.
Leinster’s quick start gave no indication of the thrilling half that was to follow.
The hosts raced into a 14-0 lead through tries from Dan Sheehan and Charlie Tector.
A quickly taken penalty preceded Sheehan’s score from out wide, while Connacht’s failure to deal with Sam Prendergast’s chip over the top allowed Tector to gather the loose ball for his try.
With a one-sided interpro seemingly in the offing, instead, aided considerably by Leinster’s ill-discipline, Connacht stormed back into the game.
Leinster gave away 10 penalties in the first half hour of the game alone with Joe McCarthy sent to the sin bin for one cynical transgression.
A pair of tap penalties either side of McCarthy’s yellow saw Connacht’s front row forwards Dylan Tierney-Martin and Finlay Belham power over from close range to turn the game on its head.
With Sam Gilbert kicking both conversions and adding a penalty, Connacht led 17-14 with half-time approaching.
The western province could not, however, hold out until the turn with Sam Prendergast’s well-worked try ensuring the lead changed hands for the third time in the opening half.
Leinster then made a similarly quick start to the second half, but this time did not let up until the win was secured.
Brian Deeney was first to go over to secure the four-try bonus point only four minutes after the restart.
Then, shortly after fumbling a Jamison Gibson-Park cross-kick with the line at his mercy, Tommy O’Brien sidestepped his way across the whitewash as Leinster attacked swiftly off a line-out. This time there was to be no Connacht comeback.
Off a dominant scrum, another area of Leinster’s game that showed marked improvement after the turn, they again executed well with Sam Prendergast delaying his pass perfectly to send Tector over for his second and Leinster’s sixth.
Just after the hour mark, that score ended the game as a contest and things quickly got worse for Connacht.
For Leinster’s seventh, Tector was provider rather than scorer, intercepting a Connacht pass before sprinting into space and finding O’Brien on his shoulder.
With five minutes remaining, wing JJ Kenny ran in from distance for a deserved try to round out the night’s scoring.
The win marked Leinster’s seventh in succession, a run that goes back to defeat by Munster at Croke Park back in October.
Despite the recent domestic struggles of La Rochelle, however, the URC champions will surely expect a greater challenge next weekend when they return to European action in what will be a repeat of the 2022 and 2023 Champions Cup finals against Ronan O’Gara’s side.
Leinster: Frawley; O’Brien, Cooney, Tector, Kenny; Prendergast, Gibson-Park; Boyle, Sheehan (capt), Clarkson, McCarthy, Deeny, Mangan, Connors, Conan.
Replacements: McCarthy, Cahir, Porter, O’Tighearnaigh, Deegan, Van der Flier, McGrath, Osborne.
Yellow card: McCarthy
Connacht: Gilbert; Mullins, Hawkshaw, Aki, Treacy; Ioane, Devine; Buckley, Tierney-Martin, Bealham, Joyce, O’Connor, Murphy, Prendergast, Jansen.
Replacements: De Buitlear, Bohan, Barrett, Murray, Boyle, Murphy, West, Forde.
Referee: Andrew Brace (IRFU)
