Leinster A 47 Munster A 15
Cathal Marsh was the star performer at Donnybrook last night, as his 27-point haul was the driving force in Leinster As comprehensive success over Munster A at the quarter-final stage of the British & Irish Cup.

With Girvan Dempsey’s defending champions taking on the 2012 winners, this was an intriguing clash on paper, but courtesy of three opening period tries, the Blues were always a couple of steps ahead of their opponents.

An incisive fifth-minute move across the opposition line enabled out-half Marsh to cross over for an unconverted score, and owing to indiscipline by a retreating Munster, he added two more penalties to his tally.

With Munster struggling to bring their back-three — which included former Blues winger Andrew Conway — into the play, Leinster were always the more likely to alter the scoreboard, and thanks to superb approach play by Marsh, Colm O’Shea and lock Quinn Roux, inside centre Noel Reid squeezed through on the right-hand side 22 minutes in.

Relentless pressure inevitably led to a third try just past the half-hour, powerful No 8 Jack Conan providing the finishing touches, and although Munster out-half Rory Scannell looked set to break through two minutes before the interval, he was held up by an outstanding Sam Coghlan-Murray tackle.

Dolphin star Scannell did open his side’s account with a routine stoppage-time penalty, however, and the southern province gave themselves a glimmer of hope six minutes after the restart when Paddy Butler drove over at the end of a maul on Leinster’s right-hand side.

A majestic score by second-row Tom Denton three minutes later helped Leinster to steady the ship again, but Munster were eager to make their provincial rivals work for their victory, and moments after his introduction, replacement Jack O’Donoghue broke through unopposed.

The Munster deficit still stood at 17 points (32-15), though, and despite their best efforts, they couldn’t breach the Leinster line during the closing moments, and concluding tries from Marsh and Andrew Boyle completed a magnificent evening’s work for the Blues.

Scorers for Leinster A: C Marsh 2 tries, 4 cons, 3 pens, N Reid try, J Conan, T Denton, A Boyle try each.

Scorers for Munster A: P Butler, J O’Donoghue try each, R Scannell pen, D Johnston con.

LEINSTER A: D Hudson; S Coghlan-Murray, C O’Shea, N Reid, A Boyle; C Marsh, L McGrath; J O’Connell, J Tracy, M Kelly; T Denton, Q Roux; B Marshall, D Ryan, J Conan.

Replacements: E Byrne for O’Connell (h-t), J Cooney for McGrath (47), L Auva’a for Ryan (48), T Daly for Coghlan-Murray (51), B Byrne for Tracy (54), O’Connell for Kelly (60), S Crosbie for Marsh (73), R Molony for Denton (76).

MUNSTER A: R O’Mahony; A Conway, C Bohane, I Dineen, L O’Dea; R Scannell, G Hurley; N Horan, N Scannell, B Scott; D O’Shea, B Holland; S Buckley, B O’Mahony, P Butler.

Replacements: R Burke for Scott (40+2), D Johnston for R Scannell (h-t), J O’Donoghue for Buckley, G Slattery for N Scannell (both 51), B Haugh for Hurley (60), Scott for Horan (67), N Kenneally for Dineen (70), S McCarthy for Holland (76).

Referee: C Maxwell Keys (ERU).