By Jessica Lee
Leinster have kept their perfect record in the United Rugby Championship (URC), with a stunning bonus-point 33-12 win over a strong Connacht side in Galway on Saturday night.
Coming off the back of their win against Munster in a sold-out Croke Park last weekend, the boys in blue made a fast start to the game, with Jamie Osborne scoring a try in the seventh minute and was quickly followed by Ciaran Frawley kicking the conversion.
Despite Connacht’s defense holding firm against Leinster’s strong efforts, Liam Turner scored a try just minutes later, and the kick was converted.
Ciarán Frawley suffered an ankle injury during the buildup to Turners try and was replaced by Ross Byrne.
An injured Frawley will be a concern for Irish Rugby manager Andy Farrell, as Leinster are set to face New Zealand in the Aviva Stadium in three weeks’ time.
Leinster Captain James Ryan appeared to have scored a try; however, it was later disallowed due to accidental offside when Ryan received the ball and Connacht were awarded the scrum.
Connacht finally got into the game at the 33rd minute, after a scrappy tackle on the try line with Sean O’Brien getting the score.
World Cup winner and South African native, RG Snyman, got Leinster’s third try after gathering a loose ball just before half time, with Ross Byrne adding two points to Leinster’s advantage.
Just five minutes into the second half, Leinster further proved their dominance over the home side as flanker Max Deegan scored their fourth try for the bonus point.
Connacht returned from half time hungry to get scores on the board but struggled to get through the robust Leinster defense. However, a try from Cathal Forde came in the 64th minute and the conversion was scored by Josh Ioane.
This small win for Connacht was short lived, as just minutes later Andrew Osborne ripped up the wing to catch Byrne’s kick from the restart and scoring the final try of the game.
With 10 minutes left on the clock, Connacht desperately tried to close the gap, but it was too little, too late. The score was 12-33 to Leinster when the final whistle blew.
This is Leinster’s second consecutive inter-provincial victory so far in this URC campaign, with RG Snyman receiving player of the match for his performance.
Connacht: P O’Conor; S Bolton, D Hawkshaw (C Forde 62), B Aki, S Cordero (H Gavin 59); J Ioane, B Murphy (C Blade 56); D Buckley (P Dooley 52), D Heffernan (D Tierney-Martin 56), F Bealham (J Aungier 52); J Joyce (N Murray 52), D Murray; C Prendergast (c), S O’Brien (S Jansen 56), P Boyle.
Leinster: H Keenan; L Turner (H Cooney 74), G Ringrose, J Osborne, A Osborne; C Frawley (R Byrne 17), J Gibson-Park (F Gunne 71); J Boyle (A Porter 44), G McCarthy (S Smith 74), R Slimani (T Clarkson 44); RG Snyman (B Deeny 70), J Ryan (c); M Deegan, W Connors (S Penny 59), J Culhane.
Referee: Eoghan Cross (IRFU)