Leinster 16 Cardiff Blues 9: Trial player Michael Berne grabbed the only try of the game at Donnybrook as Leinster notched their first win of the Magners League against the injury-hit Cardiff Blues.
Australian centre Berne touched down three minutes before the interval, with Felipe Contepomi's second-half penalty brace being enough to see out an eighth consecutive home win for Leinster.
The Blues, who showed 10 changes to the side that lost at the Ospreys in midweek, battled bravely with debutant Ben Blair landing three penalties, but their chances were hit in the second half when both Gary Powell and Bradley Davies were sin-binned.
In the early stages, returning Ireland winger Denis Hickie had a try ruled out for being ahead of kicker Contepomi when he sent a deft chip through, and Leinster's lineout woes, which manifested themselves in Edinburgh last week, continued to dog them.
Aggressive defence from the visitors saw them steal a lineout and force a penalty which New Zealander Blair sent through the posts for an 18th-minute lead.
Contepomi then missed a 45-metre penalty before succeeding with a close-in kick, but directly from the restart, 'crossing' allowed Blair boot his second penalty for 6-3.
Leinster then nudged themselves in front just before half-time when a series of phases close to the Cardiff line resulted in scrum-half Chris Whitaker taking a high pass from Niall Ronan and popping it under-arm style to the lurking Berne who nipped in at the left corner.
Contepomi's terrific conversion sent a buoyant Leinster in at half-time with a 10-6 buffer.
The second half was almost exclusively a battle between the forwards with neither side being able to gain a proper attacking platform from their set piece.
The Blues, hoping for their first win in Ireland for 20 months, suffered a setback when prop Powell was binned for a punch on Will Green, just three minutes after the restart. Contepomi converted the resultant penalty for a 13-6 advantage.
The Argentinian then swapped penalties with Blair coming up to the 70-minute mark and while the Blues ended the game on the front foot, the late loss of lock Davies, who infringed at a lineout, severely weakened their charge.
In a frenetic finish, Leinster also had their tighthead prop Green binned for preventing Ross Johnson from chasing a kick through.
