RUGBY
Cullen enjoys home comforts
By Daire Walsh
THEY were made to work for their victory in the end, but with flanker Josh Van Der Flier producing a man of the match display, Leo Cullen ultimately enjoyed a successful home debut as Leinster head coach against Cardiff Blues at the RDS on Saturday evening.
With international rugby placed on the back-burner ahead of the Rugby World Cup – Ireland will get their campaign underway this Saturday against Canada – Leinster were aiming to make amends for their opening round Pro12 reversal at the hands of Edinburgh.
In addition to the absence of 17 World Cup-bound players, Cullen also had to make his plans for the visit of Danny Wilson’s charges without the services of stand-in captain Kevin McLaughlin, Tom Denton, Rhys Ruddock, Gordon D’Arcy, Marty Moore and Mick Kearney.
Yet, there was still a good deal of quality contained within their starting line-up, including the vastly-experienced Fergus McFadden. The Suncroft man took his place in the back-three alongside Isa Nacewa – who was playing his first game at the Ballsbridge venue since his return to the Leinster set-up – and promising debutant Garry Ringrose.
With Ben Te’o and Noel Reid also featuring in an intriguing back division, the passionate Leinster faithful were looking forward to a compelling contest, but it was the visitors who made the brighter start to the proceedings.
Rising Welsh out-half Rhys Patchell was in excellent form throughout the game, and his brace of penalties offered Cardiff an early advantage. The woodwork had denied Nacewa the opportunity to pass 400 career Leinster points, but he eventually opened his side’s account from a routine 14th minute place-kick.
This kick-started a promising spell from the hosts, and following an extended period of pressure, number eight Jack Conan drove powerfully over the whitewash for a converted score. This looked like being a confidence-building score for Leinster, but thanks to a successful long-distance penalty from Patchell, Cardiff reduced the gap to a minimum (10-9) in time for the interval.
In front of an attendance of 13,300, Leinster extended their lead upon the resumption, when Nacewa added three points to his personal tally. The concession of penalties was making life difficult for the home team, though, and another six-point Patchell salvo moved Cardiff back into the ascendancy just before the hour mark.
The introduction of several players from their replacements bench offered fresh impetus to the Leinster play, however, and after Nacewa’s 67th minute three-pointer had swung the pendulum in their favour, relentless work from the Leinster pack led to a decisive penalty try.
Elsewhere, Naas enjoyed a dream start to their Ulster Bank League Division 2A season on Friday evening, when they defeated Skerries on a scoreline of 16-0. When you consider that Skerries were close to gaining promotion into the second-tier of the All-Ireland League last term, this was a terrific performance on the road by the Forenaughts outfit.
However, it was a disappointing afternoon for MU Barnhall in Parsonstown on Saturday, as they were defeated by City of Derry (32-20) in the first round of a revamped Division 2B.