Leinster 30 Connacht 20:There are hundreds of rugby stories to be told from this weekend. In this little corner we are talking about Leinster. And Connacht
Life moves swiftly on after the World Cup disappointment and this provided the best tonic for the disappointed Irish rugby supporter. Of all ages.
Plenty of groggy eyed father and son partnerships were visible on the walk from Donnybrook to Ballsbridge this evening.
A total of 15,220 tickets were "sold” for this game but, at best, 8,000 punters turned out in the October sunshine, which became a more familiar drizzle by the finish, for this ancient interprovincial scrap.
It won’t be long before the focus switches firmly back on these goings on. Leinster’s Irish contingent will be home soon.
They have until October 28th to lick their wounds before a trip to Murrayfield to face Edinburgh. Seven days later and it’s Munster in the Aviva.
So, how well has the machine functioned in their absence? A bit shaky, but everything is just as they left it.
Niall O’Connor recovered from an earlier penalty, which was just out of his range, to open the scoring for Connacht on nine minutes.
There was some expected niggle early on, mostly down to players refusing to roll away and the likes of John Muldoon making a nuisance of himself.
Referee Peter Fitzgibbon laid down a marker of his own when sending Connacht prop Dylan Rogers to the sin-bin on 11 minutes for grabbing scrumhalf Cillian Willis. Nacewa kicked the resulting penalty.
This was moments after Rhys Ruddock had broke into open country.
Isa Nacewa, then Willis, also found gaping holes in the visitors defence either side of a try from Devin Toner. The big lock barged over fullback Matthew Jarvis a few phases after the prodigal Jamie Hagan twisted his former scrum-mates into knots.
The European champions were simmering – poised to streak away. Then everything changed.
Connacht didn’t do anything overly dramatic to alter the game’s expected flow. They just sped up the pace of their ball and attacked the wide channels.
Ray Ofisa picked a decent line off O’Connor’s long, looping pass to race to the whitewash and O’Connor converted.
Maybe this was just an aberration. No, actually, it was a pattern. The westerners went wide again before the break, this time the right wing, where Brian Tuohy profited from a wrap around to step inside the cover for their second try. O’Connor’s conversion looked well wide. Fitzgibbon allowed it.
It was 20-8 at half-time; Connacht in complete control, while Leinster’s defence was in ribbons.
The fight back was inevitable and sustained. Nacewa quickly chipped away at the lead with two penalties. Then, on the hour mark, Ian Madigan raised a few eyebrows by nailing a penalty from inside his own half.
Three point game.
The tide turned blue on 65 minutes. Leo Auva’a profited from a scrum against the head to charge into the Conancht 22. The recycle saw the forgotten man, Luke Fitzgerald, slide over by the uprights.
Leinster were ahead. And there they stayed.
Leinster:I Nacewa; F Carr, E O'Malley, L Fitzgerald, D Kearney; I Madigan, C Willis; H van der Merwe, R Strauss, J Hagan; S Sykes, D Toner; K McLaughlin, R Ruddock (capt), L Auva'a. Replacements:N White for J Hagan (half-time), D Ryan for K McLaughlin (50 mins), D Hudson for F Carr (52 mins), D Browne for S Sykes (64 mins).
Connacht:M Jarvis; M McCrea, G Duffy (capt), H Fa'afili, B Tuohy; N O'Connor, F Murphy; B Wilkinson, A Flavin, D Rogers; M Swift, M McCarthy; J Muldoon, J O'Connor, R Ofisa. Replacements:TJ Anderson for R Ofisa (45 mins), D McSharry for M Jarvis (50 mins), P O'Donohoe for F Murphy (51 mins), E Reynecke for A Flavin, R Loughney for B Wilkinson (both 52 mins), D Gannon for M McCarthy (73 mins).
Referee: P Fitzgibbon(IRFU).
