Stormers 22 

They may have seen their winning run coming to a halt, but a draw against defending champions DHL Stormers at the RDS last night was enough to confirm a first-place finish for Leinster at the end of the regular United Rugby Championship season.

17-0 behind with just over 30 minutes on the clock, Leo Cullen’s men flipped the game on its head either side of the break before a resolute Stormers restored parity in a compelling finale.

However, thanks to the four tries they accumulated – in comparison to three from their South African rivals – Leinster came away with three points from this game. This puts them 13 clear of the Stormers with just two rounds left to play and ensures the Irish province will have a potential home path to URC glory in the current campaign.

Shorn of 18 players that featured for Ireland on their way to a Grand Slam success in the Six Nations, Leinster fell behind to a routine Manie Libbok penalty on eight minutes.

They were struggling to create attacking momentum and despite initially holding firm, their whitewash was eventually breached just past the first-quarter mark. Following an extended spell inside the ’22’, Libbok feigned a pass before side-stepping his way underneath the posts for a try that he also converted.

The hosts suffered an additional blow in the 34th minute when Libbok pounced after Ciaran Frawley let a pass from Luke McGrath slip through his grasp. The fly-half broke free into the opposition half and with Jordan Larmour breathing down his neck, he released Suleiman Hartzenberg for a converted try.

This threw down the gauntlet to Leinster, but the eastern province came to life with a five-pointer from Michael Milne after a patient spell of possession close to the Stormers whitewash.

Although a missed conversion by Harry Byrne kept the Blues 12 points adrift (17-5) at the interval, momentum was with them for the start of the second half. Finding touch off an attacking penalty just three minutes after the resumption, Scott Penny dived over off the ensuing set-piece move for his 28th try in the Leinster colours.

The Blues faithful breathed a sigh of relief when the Stormers just fell short from a stunning counter attack off a defensive line-out, but they were in full voice when Milne delivered the final pass for Rob Russell to touch down on 54 minutes.

A third miscued bonus strike by Byrne kept Stormers in the ascendancy, before Leinster finally pushed ahead when a ‘pick and go’ led to Max Deegan securing a bonus try with a superb one-handed finish.

As well as letting their lead slip, Stormers also had to deal with the sin-binning of Hartzenberg. Yet Leinster were on the back-foot in spite of their temporary numerical supremacy and their five-point cushion was cancelled out when Clayton Blommetjies got to Libbok’s grubber kick ahead of Dave Kearney for a 69th-minute try.

Libbok couldn’t supply the extras into the wind, but with Byrne hitting the post off a late penalty, there was to be no separating these two teams in the end.

Scorers for Leinster: Tries – M Milne, S Penny, R Russell, M Deegan. Cons – H Byrne.

Scorers for Stormers: Tries – M Libbok, S Hartzenberg, C Blommetjies. Pens – M Libbok. Cons – M Libbok (2).

LEINSTER: J Larmour; R Russell, L Turner, C Frawley, D Kearney; H Byrne, L McGrath; M Milne, J McKee, M Ala’alatoa; R Molony, J Jenkins; R Ruddock, S Penny, M Deegan.

Replacements: L Barron for McKee, E Byrne for Milne, V Abdaladze for Ala’alatoa, W Connors for Ruddock (all 62), B Deeny for Jenkins, N McCarthy for McGrath (both 68)

STORMERS: C Blommetjies; S Hartzenberg, D du Plessis, D Willemse, S Senatla; M Libbok, P de Wet; S Kitshoff, J Dweba, F Malherbe; R van Heerden, M Orie; D Fourie, B-J Dixon, H Dayimani.

Replacements: N Fouche for Malherbe, H Jantjies for de Wet (both 56), W Engelbrecht, for Dixon (61), B Harris for Kitshoff, JJ Kotze for Dweba, M Theunissen for Fourie (all 62), E van Rhyn for Orie, J-L du Plessis for Blommetjies (both 71).

Referee: S Grove-White (SRU).