Imperfect Leinster make it a perfect 10 with defeat of Connacht

Leo Cullen’s team was 17 points to the good against their provincial rivals in this URC derby just after half-time but only made this safe when Ross Byrne kicked a last-ditch penalty in the 80th minute while down to 14 men.

It’s a Jekyll and Hyde effort that follows on from an edgy and imperfect Champions Cup win over Clermont Auvergne at this same Ballsbridge venue a week ago, even if this was a much-changed side and squad from the one that overcame the French.

Leinster had 15 Ireland internationals absent because of injury and the need to rest players. They were facing a very strong Connacht side that had Bundee Aki, Mack Hansen and Finlay Bealham starting together for the first time since the last Test window.

The visitors will be both encouraged by their bravura comeback and miffed by the defensive deficiencies that helped Leinster build up such a lead in the first place, but it all added up to what turned into an increasingly rollicking interpro.

That said, if the first-half of Friday’s game between Ulster and Munster in Belfast was a hard watch then the opening exchanges here were every bit as trying, pockmarked as they were with endless stoppages and the sight of players standing with hands on hips.

Three scrums in the first nine or so minutes took an eternity. At least half the time on the clock to that point had been lost to scrum sets and resets, and there was a needless loop of TMO shots for what as a nothing challenge by Josh Ioane on Gus McCarthy.

Sometimes rugby doesn’t do itself any favours.

Most of this … action was taking place in Connacht’s half and Leinster eventually made this territorial advantage count on 20 minutes with Andrew Osborne galloping over off a well-worked lineout strike play.

Ross Byrne’s no-look reverse pass was a beaut but Osborne still slipped through the defensive net way too easily. Bad as that was for them, there was worse to come eight minutes later when Charlie Tector went over for the second.

Connacht were down to 14 men by then, Shane Jenning’s blatant body check on Luke McGrath the cause of his ten minutes in purgatory. Tector, like Osborne, motored home through the midfield with Bundee Akli and Cathal Forde the culprits this time.

The visitors were stitching the odd couple of passes together but it wasn’t enough.

There was one particularly promising effort with Aki, Paul Boyle and Denis Buckley all tearing holes in the blue line but it ended with a turnover and Max Deegan – of all people – hoofing clear and claiming a 50:22 with it.

Connacht’s night was complicated again with eight minutes to the break when Ioane went off for a HIA and Forde switched from 13 to 10 to fill the gap. It all left them 14-0 down and with plenty to address at the interval.

A Ross Byrne penalty less than three minutes after the restart left it a three-score game but that prompted a delayed reaction with Pete Wilkins’ men launching a concerted assault on the Leinster 22 and try line.

Only repeated penalties by the home side kept them at bay initially but referee Chris Busby hadn’t long warned Leinster about their discipline when Lee Barron paid the price of ten minutes in the bin for the collective’s sins.

Barron was only on a matter of seconds. So was Oisin Dowling, the Connacht second row who drilled over from close range off the back of yet another lineout maul and multiple phases with what was his first touch.

A missed conversion from Forde left it 17-5 with 35 minutes to go. Still a long way to go but Connacht had their tails up now and they continued to push and probe before claiming a sensational try just before Barron’s return.

It started with Hansen returning a long kick and amounted to 14 passes spanning both sides of the field and four phases of play when Jennings was played in to clear space down the right before touching down behind the posts.

Leinster responded by seeking what would have been a contest-killer but Jamison Gibson-Park’s run came up inches short on one side after 65 minutes while Lee Barron was somehow stopped from touching down by Cian Prendergast on the left seven minutes later.

The latter intervention was miraculous.

Back up the field went Connacht but they couldn’t land another blow, even when Jimmy O’Brien was directed to the sinbin with five minutes to go for tackling Hansen in the air and Ross Byrne ended it with Leinster’s first points in over 35 minutes.

A perfect 10 for the province now this season but they know themselves that the blue machine isn’t purring just yet. Next up is Munster in Thomond Park on the 27th. Connacht will probably be wondering how they didn’t even earn a losing bonus point.

Leinster: J O’Brien; A Arenzana-King, C Tector, J Barrett, A Osborne; R Byrne, L McGrath; J Boyle, G McCarthy, R Slimani; D Mangan, RG Snyman; A Soroka, S Penny, J Conan.

Replacements: M Deegan for Conan (22); R Baird for Deegan (HIA, 33); J Gibson-Park for McGrath, L Barron for McCarthy, C Healy for Slimani and M Milne for Boyle (all 51); H Byrne for Arenzana-King (62); B Deeny for Mangan (75).

Connacht: P O’Conor; M Hansen, C Forde, B Aki, S Jennings; J Ioane, B Murphy; D Buckley, D Heffernan, F Bealham; J Murphy, D Murray; C Prendergast, S Hurley-Langton, P Boyle.

Replacements: S Cordero for Ioane (HIA, 32); C Blade for Murphy, S Jansen for Boyle, O Dowling for Murphy and J Aungier for Bealham (all 52); D Tierney-Martin for Heffernan (58); C Oliver for Hurley-Langton and J Duggan for Buckley (both 64).

D Tierney-Martin, J Duggan, J Aungier, O Dowling, S Jansen, C Blade, S Cordero, C Oliver.

Referee: C Busby (IRFU).