Connacht 34 Leinster 6:A PERFORMANCE like this had been building up inside Connacht, perhaps not just this season, but over the la: st few years. To the delight of the vast majority of the 5,813 crowd on a lovely night in the west, the fight disappeared in some of Leinster's ranks long before the end, as they were unmercifully put to the sword by a clinical home side. The five-try rout and bonus point was fully deserved.

Leinster’s night began badly even before the kick-off, and went from worse to worse. Isa Nacewa, having become unwell on Thursday was moved to the bench, which meant Fionn Carr was promoted to the starting line-up on his old stomping ground for what was a decidedly warm reception – from some of his erstwhile teammates.

Quinn Roux, their man mountain of a lock from South Africa, injured his shoulder in the arm-up and, having started, lasted only 13 minutes before he was taken off. By then, Gordon D’Arcy had already departed with what looked like a repeat of the bruised ribs which forced his first-half withdrawal last week.

However, altogether more serious looking was the injury which forced Rob Kearney from the field toward the end of the first-half on his delayed re-appearance with an injury to his lower back from a double tackle after gathering a Dan Parks crosskick.

Already discommoded by having 11 players in the Irish camp, and the continuing need to welcome back their front-liners, with just one full session together it was perhaps understandable therefore that Leinster’s performance thus became more ragged. Their turnover rate became almost ridiculous by their standards and, not least because of their injury toll, this was the most worrying night thus far of a worrisome season so far.

But for all the misfortune that befell an already slightly under-strength Leinster, this was Connacht’s night. After uncharacteristically conceding 11 tries in four games, they’d clearly placed a big onus on their defence judging not just by the voracious work-rate and tackle count, but also its effectiveness.

Although working hard to recycle the ball themselves, three times in the opening quarter Leinster players spilled the ball in contact. No-one epitomised Connacht’s greater intensity more than the old warhorses up front. Johnny O’Connor ran back the restart and drove Carr into the touchline to signal his intent, and thereafter generally put himself about with gusto.

So too did an inspired Michael Swift on the night he became the first player in the league’s history to reach 150 games. He was so inspired he even tried a chip and catch, though without his foot connecting with the ball; though in contact he was immense. So too was George Naoupu, who engineered a couple of important steals.

Connacht, and especially their talented young backline, have been creative this season. With Dan Parks pulling the strings outside the composed and swift-passing Kieran Marmion, and inside Fetu’u Vainikolo and four indigenous backs aged 22 or under, this remained the case despite losing skipper Gavin Duffy.

Dave McSharry, Eoin Griffin and Tiernan O’Halloran in particular, but in his preferred position of fullback, the energetic 19-year-old Robbie Henshaw truly looked the part. Connacht have some future Irish backs in the making and Parks, primarily by dint of doing the right things at the right time, and (allowing for two narrowly missed drop goal attempts here) kicking his goals.

A well-coached, well-organised side, they also have some well rehearsed strike moves, and the old warhorses having set the tone, Connacht duly began striking. Although the Leinster scrum withstood a second concerted effort by the Connacht pack soon after Devin Toner replaced the hulking Roux, Marmion moved the rock secure ball to Parks, and with Vainikolo and Griffin running decoys, McSharry came on a shorter arc inside to take the short pass and, with the Leinster defence flummoxed, score by the posts untouched.

The only dampener for Eric Elwood and the Connacht think tank was the concession of second three-pointer to Ian Madigan for going offside in front of the kicker off the restart. Undeterred, back Connacht came, and after strong carries by Naoupu and Swift, Parks saw Shane Jennings shooting out of the defensive line to hit McSharry wide out; well-timed passes by the centre and Henshaw releasing the rejuvenated Vainikolo to race up the touchline and step inside John Cooney for the try.

Better followed when Naoupu won turnover ball and O’Halloran broke clear form inside half-way with a stunning show and go, Parks supporting on the inside for a quick-witted chip ahead from which Marmion was only just denied a try, at the second attempt, by Andrew Conway. In the event Brendan Macken was binned for gambling on tackling Marmion at the base before the ball had emerged and Connacht availed of the extra man by attacking that channel of another well-rehearsed scrum move, Griffin coming onto Parks’ lovely skip pass to locate the touchline-hugging O’Halloran and he rolled out of Carr’s weak tackle to score.

In truth, only a harsh penalty count kept Connacht at bay, for much of the second-half as Leinster, chasing a lost cause into the wind, went down in a blaze of errors. The bonus point eventually came via the phenomenal Naoupu who first made an outrageous one-handed carry up the touchline, and then after his utterly eclipsed opposite number Leo Auva’a was binned for not releasing after the tackle, the number eight scored himself off Mike McCarthy’s ensuing line-out take.

To rub salt in the wound, Ronan Lougnney pounced for a fifth try from, of all things, an overthrow by another unhappy Connacht old boy, Sean Cronin. Long before the end the home crowd in the shed were giving a raucous rendition of The Fields which, of course, they are more entitled to than anyone else. All the more so on raucous Galway nights like this.

SCORING SEQUENCE: 5 mins: – Madigan pen 0-3; 14 mins – McSharry try, Parks con 7-6; 16 mins – Madigan pen 7-6; 23 mins – Vainikolo try, Parks con 14-6; 37 mins – O’Halloran try 19-6; 40 mins – Parks con 22-6; (half-time 22-6); 74 mins – Naoupu try, 78 mins – Loughney try, Nikora con 34-6.

CONNACHT: R Henshaw; T O’Halloran, E Griffin, D McSharry, F Vainikolo; D Parks, K Marmion; D Buckley, A Flavin, N White (capt), M Swift, M McCarthy, E McKeon, J O’Connor, G Naoupu. Replacements: R Loughney for White, D Gannon for McKeon (both 49 mins), B Wilkinson for Buckley, W Faloon for O’Connor (both 52), J Harris-Wright for Flavin (57), D Moore for Msrmion, M Nikora for Parks, M Fifita for McSharry (all 76).

LEINSTER: R Kearney; F McFadden, B Macken, G D’Arcy, F Carr; I Madigan, J Cooney; H van der Merwe, T Sexton, J Hagan, Q Roux, T Denton, B Marshall, S Jennings (capt), L Auva’a. Replacements: N Reid for D’Arcy (5), Toner for Roux (13), I Nacewa for Kearney (32), S Cronin, C Healy and M Ross for van der Merwe, Sexton and Hagan (all 46), J Murphy for Jennings (60), L McGrath for Cooney (74).

Referee: Peter Fitzgibbon (IRFU).