GUINNESS PRO14
LEINSTER 35
DRAGONS 5
By Daire Walsh
Leinster shook off the cobwebs at the RDS on Friday night to record an emphatic bonus point triumph over Dragons in Conference A of the Guinness PRO14.
Leo Cullen’s men are aiming to secure a fourth consecutive league crown in 2020/21 and although tougher days will lie ahead, they impressively dispatched the challenge of their Newport counterparts.
James Lowe bagged a brace of tries in each half, while Garry Ringrose, Jordan Larmour and Ryan Baird also recorded five-pointers to round off an accomplished performance. There was an eery atmosphere around the Ballsbridge venue with the Level Three restrictions currently in operation in the capital meaning this game took place behind closed doors.
It may have been Leinster’s sixth encounter in succession to take place in such circumstances, but it was the first in their official home ground.
Despite seeing their 2019/20 campaign come to an end less than two weeks ago – at the hands of Saracens in a Champions Cup quarter-final – Leinster began their latest defence of the PRO14 crown with a team that was stacked full of experience.
12 of the match day squad that featured in the defeat to Sarries were handed starts, while a quintet of replacements – Sean Cronin, Cian Healy, Andrew Porter, Luke McGrath and Ross Byrne – were also on the field in the Aviva Stadium for that last-eight exit. The likes of Rhys Ruddock, Max Deegan and Tommy O’Brien were also given game-time in an ‘A’ interprovincial clash against Ulster at the same venue just seven days earlier, ensuring they were up to speed for the arrival of Dragons to south Dublin.
Amongst the Dragons line-up there was a host of familiar faces. This included towering second row Joe Maksymiw, who joined the Welsh outfit from Connacht at the beginning of July. Of big interest to Leinster fans in advance of this contest was the positioning of both Hugo Keenan and Larmour in the back-three.
Whereas the latter was selected at full-back in the Blues’ most recent competitive fixture, with Keenan posted on the right-wing, they found themselves trading places for the visit of their Celtic counterparts.
Formerly a part of the IRFU’s Sevens programme, Keenan offers considerable versatility to Leo Cullen and Stuart Lancaster. He popped up on the left flank with just four minutes gone on the clock and was agonisingly close to breaking the deadlock for the hosts.
Racing onto Jonathan Sexton’s delicate kick in behind the Dragons defence, it initially looked like Keenan had touched down beyond the whitewash. While replays showed that he had gotten his outstretched hand to the ball, a lack of downward pressure meant a try was ruled out by TMO Simon McDowell.
This was a let-off for Dragons and thanks to the stop-start nature of the opening quarter, Leinster found it difficult to maintain their early attacking momentum. There was a subsequent set-back for the hosts as Ciarán Frawley was removed for a HIA.
Tommy O’Brien was summoned from the bench to partner Ringrose at the heart of the Leinster midfield. In the absence of Frawley, the duo quickly developed a firm understanding and helped the title holders to open their account on 17 minutes.
After a strong carry by O’Brien inside the Dragons ’22’, Jamison Gibson-Park passed out wide for Ringrose to ground in the right-corner. Sexton effortlessly dissected the posts off a touchline conversion and with opposition centre Jamie Roberts sent to the sin-bin the signs were already ominous for Dean Ryan’s side.
A second Leinster try seemed inevitable and, with a trademark side step, Larmour duly delivered another five-pointer on the left-wing in the 22nd minute. With Sexton receiving on-field treatment, Ringrose stepped up to the kicking tee for the resulting bonus strike.
He increased his personal tally for the night with a superb right-footed effort, but of concern to both Cullen and international supremo Andy Farrell is the fact Sexton was immediately withdrawn from the action. His place went to regular understudy Ross Byrne, who is also viewed as one of the main back-up options to the veteran fly-half for Ireland.
The return of Roberts to inside centre did little to ease the pressure on the Dragons rearguard. Ringrose was in electrifying form throughout and his mazy run gave Leinster forward momentum just past the half-hour mark.
After he was eventually stopped, the blues recycled and moved the ball at pace through the hands. Larmour was heavily involved and it was left to the increasingly influential O’Brien to put Lowe through for a simple finish.
Ross Byrne was Leinster’s third kicker of the evening and he expertly supplied the extras to leave all of 21 points between the teams. Towards the end of the opening period, Dragons offered more of an attacking threat.
Jonah Holmes released Sam Davies for what should have been a simple score, but the out-half lost his footing with the try-line in sight. Having survived this mini surge, Leinster brought a convincing 21-0 cushion into the interval.
They continued to dominate on the resumption and while Dragons provided a stubborn resistance, Cullen stepped up the pursuit for maximum points by introducing additional fresh legs on the stroke of 50 minutes. Joining O’Brien and Ross Byrne was an entirely new front-row of Cronin, Healy and Porter.
Deegan was also added to the mix in a direct swap with fellow international star Jack Conan. Leinster were getting much of their attacking energy in the back field and it was another sweeping move that led to their fourth touchdown of the game on 56 minutes.
Lowe was on hand to supply the finishing touches, giving the soon to be Irish-qualified winger his 31st try in just 48 appearances for the province. Another Ross Byrne conversion left Leinster in an unassailable position but, to their credit, Dragons showed plenty of fight in response to this latest hammer blow.
Just before drifting into touch, Ashton Hewitt squeezed over on the left-hand side to finally get Dragons off the mark. Sam Davies’ subsequent effort at goal rebounded off the post for the only missed place-kick of the night.
There was another injury concern for Cullen in the final-quarter as Deegan was forced off a mere 14 minutes after his introduction. This, however, was another chance for Baird to stake his claim for a spot in the Leinster pack and he seized it with both hands.
After leaping to steal a Dragons line-out, the abrasive lock powered past the retreating Dragons defence to score his side’s fifth converted try and his fourth in the blue jersey.
Having had a score cancelled out at the start of the match, Keenan suffered a similar fate on the stroke of full-time. It was unfortunate for the former Blackrock College student, but it took nothing away from the display of either the player or the team.
Scorers for Leinster: James Lowe 2 tries, Garry Ringrose try, con, Jordan Larmour, Ryan Baird try each, Ross Byrne 3 cons, Jonathan Sexton con.
Scorers for Dragons: Ashton Hewitt try.
LEINSTER: Hugo Keenan; Jordan Larmour, Garry Ringrose, Ciarán Frawley, James Lowe; Jonathan Sexton, Jamison Gibson-Park; Ed Byrne, Rónan Kelleher, Michael Bent; Scott Fardy, James Ryan; Rhys Ruddock, Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan.
Replacements: Tommy O’Brien for Frawley (11), Ross Byrne for Sexton (24), Sean Cronin for Kelleher, Cian Healy for E Byrne, Andrew Porter for Bent, Max Deegan for Conan (all 50), Ryan Baird for Deegan (63), Luke McGrath for Gibson-Park (68), Bent for Porter (75).
DRAGONS: Will Talbot-Davies, Jonah Holmes, Nick Tompkins, Jamie Roberts, Ashton Hewitt; Sam Davies, Rhodri Williams; Brok Harris, Elliot Dee, Aaron Jarvis; Joe Davies, Joe Maksymiw; Aaron Wainwright, Harrison Keddie, Ross Moriarty.
Replacements: Lloyd Fairbrother for Jarvis (half-time), Josh Lewis for Talbot-Davies, Matthew Screech for Maksymiw (both 50), Conor Maguire for Harris (63), Taine Basham for Keddie (64), Tavis Knoyle for Williams (69), Richard Hibbard for Dee (72), Adam Warren for Roberts (73).
Referee: Andrea Piardi (FRA).