Munster A 15 Leinster A 17: Leinster began their weekend action in winning style when they qualified for the final of the British & Irish Cup with a hard earned win over the holders at Dooradoyle last night.

The game was crying out for a try and the fair sized crowd had to wait until 10 minutes from the end for it to come.

It fell to Leinster when Andrew Boyle got in at the corner but Munster had a chance to snatch it in the final minutes but JJ Hanrahan was unable to land a penalty though he had been successful with five other kicks.

Leinster were never behind and they got off to the best possible start when Munster were penalised inside 60 seconds and Noel Reid landed the kick which settled nerves for the visitors. It was Munster’s turn for a shot at goal after 12 minutes and JJ Hanrahan made it 3-3. Indiscipline was proving costly for Munster and they conceded further penalties in the 24th and 28th minutes for going in at the side and on both occasions Reid found the target.

Munster kept in touch with a second Hanrahan penalty which was negatived when Reid was on target for the fourth time two minutes before the break with a kick from the 22 and straight in front of the posts. It was 9-12 four minutes into the second half with Hanrahan’s third penalty and after a break by Niall Ronan he made it 12-12 but Boyle’s try clinched it for Leinster.

The second semi-final takes place today between Bedford v Newcastle.

MUNSTER 'A': S Scanlon; C Bohane, D Barnes, I Dineen, R O'Mahony; JJ Hanrahan, D Williams; J Cronin, S Henry, A Cotter; D Foley, I Nagle; N Ronan, B O'Mahony, CJ Standler. Replacements: D Casey, M Hornan, B Hayes, S Dougall, J Holland, S Deasy, M Prendergast.
LEINSTER 'A': F Carr; A Boyle, A Byrne, N Reid, S Coghlan-Murray; C Marsh, L McGrath; J O'Connell, A Dundon, M Bent; T Denton, M Flanagan; B Marshall, C Gilsenan, L Auva'a. Replacements: J Tracey, M Moore, T Beirne, D Leavy, A Griggs, T Daly, M McGrath.
Referee: I Tempest.