RUGBY ROUND UP
Carbery to Leinster’s rescue
By Daire Walsh
ATHY’S Joey Carbery came to the rescue of Leinster at the RDS last Friday evening, when his 74th-minute penalty against Glasgow Warrirors helped Leo Cullen’s charges to extend their winning run to 10 games in the Guinness PRO12.
It proved to be a bizarre end to an absorbing contest in the Ballsbridge venue, as a floodlight failure (with just 90 seconds remaining on the clock) caused a significant delay in play. Carbery’s earlier three-pointer – which followed an impressive fightback by the Scottish outfit – had moved the Blues into a slender 31-30 lead, and once power had been restored, they held out for their 18th triumph of the campaign.
Following their defeat to Clermont Auvergne in the Champions Cup semi-final just five days earlier, there was a number of alterations to the Leinster starting line-up for the latest visit of the 2014/15 winners to Dublin.
After missing out on a place in the matchday squad in Lyon, the Kill duo of Adam Byrne and James Tracy returned to the respective positions of right-wing and hooker. Suncroft’s Fergus McFadden made his 151st provincial appearance on the left-flank, while Carbery featured on the bench alongside ex-Clongowes Wood College student Peadar Timmins – who was a late addition to the 23.
An injury to Jack Conan meant that Dan Leavy was promoted to a back-row that included Josh van der Flier and Dominic Ryan. Indeed, after Peter Horne had opened the scoring with an early place-kick, Ryan responded with the opening try of the game in the fourth-minute.
Rory O’Loughlin and Peter Dooley also crossed over in the first-half, helping the hosts to establish a 23-6 interval cushion. Glasgow worked their way back into contention with a converted Adam Ashe score after the restart, but after Zane Kirchner claimed a bonus-point try just shy of the hour mark, Leinster looked set to cruise towards another victory.
Yet, further tries by Lee Jones and Finn Russell propelled the visitors into a 30-28 advantage, and Leinster needed a successful kick from Carbery (who had replaced Ross Byrne at out-half on 70 minutes) to move back into the ascendancy.
There were some nervous moments for Leinster eight side of the subsequent power shortage, but with one game remaining in the regular season, they remain in pole position in the Championship table. Indeed, it proved to be a good weekend in general for Adam Byrne, as he was awarded the Irish Independent Try of the Year at the Leinster Rugby Awards Ball in Dublin’s Clayton Hotel on Saturday.
Meanwhile, there was Kildare interest in both camps at the Sportsground on the same evening, when Connacht entertained Scarlets in Pat Lam’s final home PRO12 game as head coach of the western province.
Ballymore Eustace native Craig Ronaldson secured a second-half try for Connacht, but with Eadestown’s Tadhg Beirne delivering another accomplished display in the Scarlets second-row, the Welsh side emerged with a deserved 30-8 win.