Leinster see off Connacht
Leinster climbed above fellow Irish outfit Connacht in the Magners League table after claiming a 18-6 victory at the Sportsground.
Last Updated: 23/10/10 10:24pm
Leinster climbed above fellow Irish outfit Connacht in the Magners League table after claiming a 18-6 victory at the Sportsground.
In a forgettable derby, Connacht missed out on a losing bonus point as Frank Murphy's pass was intercepted by young flanker Dominic Ryan for an injury-time try.
The visitors led 5-3 at the break due to an Isa Nacewa try and maintained their advantage, despite a second penalty from Ian Keatley, as Jonathan Sexton converted Ryan's effort to complete his eight-point haul.
The visitors dominated possession and territory for long stretches of the game without truly getting into top gear and just did enough in the end against a disappointing Connacht side.
There was a buzz of anticipation at the Galway venue when winger Fionn Carr received the ball, but that was all too rare and Leinster's slick lineout staved off the early pressure.
Score
The visitors used the set-piece to set up Nacewa's score. Scrum-half Isaac Boss blasted through a gap at the back of a lineout near halfway, and looped a long pass out to the left for Nacewa to gather and skip past Darragh Fanning for well-executed try.
Sexton miscued the conversion but he was influential in open play, his inside pass putting flanker Sean O'Brien raiding through the middle.
With Connacht's confidence dented, Leinster worked a maul in the 22 and almost created an opening for stand-in captain Jamie Heaslip on the left - but the covering Fanning and Ray Ofisa bundled him into touch.
Sexton's punt towards the right corner was gathered by the alert Gavin Duffy and Connacht soon relived the pressure.
A ruck offence from O'Brien allowed Keatley to claw back some territory and after a similar infringement from Cian Healy, he opened Connacht's account with a 34th-minute penalty.
Keatley should have sent the hosts ahead but his poor miss from a late penalty, just to the right of the posts, summed up an up-and-down half from Connacht.
Penalties
The westerners gave away some cheap penalties as the second half resumed, with Sexton slotting a 49th-minute opportunity from a left-sided position.
After a drab period of play, Connacht showed what they could do when, from their first visit of the half to Leinster's 22, they garnered a penalty which Keatley despatched from in front of the posts for 8-6.
Sexton replied in the 65th minute after good carries from Shane Horgan, replacement Gordon D'Arcy and man-of-the-match Richardt Strauss.
Leinster were knocking on the door for a clinching try, Carr doing well to halt a diagonal run from replacement Fergus McFadden.
With three minutes left, Sexton was narrowly wide with a drop-goal shot. A Carr and Sean Cronin-inspired break, with the latter chasing his own kick up the left touchline, brought Connacht back to life.
A knock on and the lack of a reward for a huge shove in the scrum saw Connacht remain five points adrift and as they pushed for a late opening, Ryan snatched Murphy's pass on the Connacht's 10-metre line and sprinted clear for a sucker-punch score.
