Playing in front of 18,397 spectators at Irish Rugby HQ – only the lower tiers of the Ballsbridge ground were opened up for the game – Leo Cullen’s men led 10-6 at the interval thanks to tries from Jack Conan and Ross Byrne.

Leinster found it difficult at times to break down a resolute and resilient Dragons side, but with Max Deegan, Joe McCarthy, Jordan Larmour and Aitzol King all touching down on the resumption, the eastern province have now registered a maximum tally of 10 points from their two URC games to date.

While they are set to face off against arch rivals Munster in Croke Park a fortnight from now, the Aviva will serve as the main home venue for Leinster throughout the 2024/25 season due to the redevelopment of the nearby RDS Arena.

The selection of Cian Healy at loosehead prop for this contest ensured he became Leinster’s record appearance holder with 281 provincial caps to his name and he had to be on his toes during the early exchanges as Dragons initially enjoyed the lion’s share of possession.

However, the sin-binning of Dragons tighthead Chris Coleman – following a collision with opposition number Thomas Clarkson – provided the hosts with the incentive to push on for a breakthrough score and it was team captain Conan who drove over for a deadlock-breaking unconverted try in the 18th minute.

A determined Dragons outfit struck back with a successful long-distance penalty from Lloyd Evans on 26 minutes and this left them just two points adrift upon returning to their full compliment of players.

Despite struggling to establish a consistent attacking rhythm during the opening half, Leinster bagged their second try of the game when Ross Byrne dotted down at the end of a prolonged move in the 38th minute.

Yet the Blues out-half followed up this five-pointer with his second wayward conversion attempt of the evening and Dragons were ultimately facing into a manageable four-point deficit (10-6) at the break courtesy of an Evans penalty right on the stroke of half-time.

This kept Dai Flanagan’s charges well in contention on the resumption, but even though it required a TMO check, Leinster eventually secured their third try on 47 minutes when Deegan was adjudged to have ground the ball past the whitewash under intense pressure from Evans.

Byrne comfortably supplied the extras to this score and the eastern province were now within sight of the maximum return of five points from this round two encounter. They had to wait until the final-quarter before a bonus try was officially secured, but it finally arrived 15 minutes from time when Ireland international McCarthy powered over in clinical style after Conan had gathered a line-out throw from replacement hooker Lee Barron.

Larmour then dotted down for his second try in as many games on 69 minutes to created further daylight between the teams and on just his second appearance for the side, King opened his Leinster scoring account by crossing over in stoppage-time.

Scorers for Leinster: Tries – J Conan, R Byrne, M Deegan, J McCarthy, J Larmour, A King. Cons – R Byrne (2).

Scorers for Dragons: Pens – L Evans (2).

LEINSTER: J Osborne; J Larmour, L Turner, C Tector, J O’Brien; R Byrne, L McGrath; C Healy, G McCarthy, T Clarkson; B Deeny, J Ryan; M Deegan, W Connors, J Conan.

Replacements: L Barron for McCarthy, M Milne for Healy, R Slimani for Clarkson, J McCarthy for Deeny (all 52), J van der Flier for Connors, F Gunne for McGrath, H Byrne for Tector (all 63), A King for Larmour (71).

DRAGONS: E Rosser; R Dyer, H Wilson, S Hughes, J Rosser; L Evans, D Blacker; R Martinez, B Coghlan, C Coleman; B Carter, G Nott; R Woodman, H Keddle, S Lewis-Hughes.

Replacements: M Screech for Nott (6), L Yendle for Coleman (27-33), R Jones for Martinez, R Williams for Blacker (both 51), O Burrows for Coghlan, Yendle for Coleman, J Westwood for Hughes (all 59), G Young for Keddle (65), A Owen for Dyer (68).

Referee: M Adamson (SRU).