RUGBY
Leinster continue winning ways
By Daire Walsh
LEINSTER made it three wins from four in the Guinness Pro12 at the RDS on Friday evening, when Leo Cullen’s side finished with 12 points to spare (31-19) against the Ospreys.
Their Swansea counterparts entered the contest in a rich vein of form, but even though the visitors enjoyed a productive end to the proceedings, Leinster ultimately held out – and ended the weekend in fourth position in the league standings.
With a number of high-profile encounters on the horizon (including an 8 October encounter with Munster at the Aviva Stadium), the Blues were close to full-strength for their second home fixture of 2016/17.
Cullen selected 10 players in his starting line-up who have been capped by Ireland at senior international level, with Jack McGrath, Mike Ross and Rhys Ruddock also taking their place amongst the replacements. Naas native Jamie Heaslip retained his place in the back-row alongside Jordi Murphy and Josh van der Flier, while Jonathan Sexton was making his seasonal bow at out-half.
The three-time European Cup winner was replacing Joey Carbery – who has started the opening three games of Leinster’s campaign – but the Athy youngster did make the match-day selection along with James Tracy.
Fresh from their away victory over Edinburgh seven days earlier, Leinster were eager to record back-to-back wins for the first time this season, and at the mid-way point in the contest, they found themselves in pole position.
The increasingly-impressive Josh van der Flier had crossed the whitewash for the hosts, and with a penalty try being supplemented by 14 points from Sexton (which included a well-worked try on the stroke of half-time), the Blues brought a seemingly insurmountable 24-0 lead into the second period of play.
Indeed, Leinster created even greater daylight between the sides after the break – as van der Flier broke through for his second try of the night.
It appeared to be a case of damage limitation for the Ospreys by this stage, but after Ben John claimed a five-pointer, the visitors started to build some momentum.
The Blues did lose Sexton to a yellow-card in the closing moments (Carbery was introduced in his absence), and although they were never in danger of letting their lead slip, Dafydd Howells and James King tries did add a degree of respectability to the final scoreline.
Meanwhile, Naas were on the receiving end of a 15-8 defeat to Ballymena in Division 1B of the Ulster Bank League at Eaton Park on Saturday. Tries from Stephen Mulholland and Mark Best had placed Ballymena in the driving seat, but a Fionn Higgins five-pointer meant that Naas came away with a losing bonus point.
There was greater fortune for Adam Byrne, Jimmy O’Brien and Jeremy Loughman at College Park on the same day, however, as they were part of a UCD team that overcame Dublin University by a margin of ten points (23-13) in the top-flight of the Ulster Bank League.