Cardiff Blues 32 Leinster 33
Leinster left it late to get their Guinness Pro14 title defence off to a winning start as Bryan Byrne scored at the death to snatch a 33-32 victory over Cardiff Blues.
Doubles from Jason Harries and Rey Lee-Lo looked to have been enough to give new head coach John Mulvihill his first victory in charge against the European and domestic champions.
Scores from James Tracy, Byrne and Jamison Gibson-Park kept Leinster within touching distance, before the replacement hooker burrowed over again to snatch it at the death.
A defensive lapse saw Leinster concede an offside penalty to allow Cardiff out-half Jarrod Evans to kick his side into a 3-0.
Things got worse moments later when last season’s Pro14 top try scorer Barry Daly was forced off through injury.
The sluggish start from Leo Cullen’s side continued when a set-piece move from their Welsh opponents had the defence all at sea. Evans was put into space before fending off a weak tackle attempt by debutant Joe Tomane and passing for Lee-Lo to score.
Ross Byrne kicked a simple penalty on his 50th appearance to make it 8-3 with 21 minutes gone before the mini comeback was complete thanks to the opportunism of James Tracy. The hooker pounced at a five metre lineout to intercept a pass from Blues scrum-half Lloyd Williams and wrestle his way to the line to level it up.
The pendulum swung back the way of the Blues when they put the ball through the hands to Harries, who stepped off his right foot to finish at the corner.
Evans converted to make it 15-11, but Byrne hit a penalty on the stroke of half-time to close the gap to a single point.
But Leinster were chasing the game again after the Blues scored two tries in four second-half minutes.
First Harries sprinted down the wing to score his second at the corner after combining with backline colleagues Owen Lane and Matthew Morgan.
The irrepressible Evans was central again as he got the backline moving before Lane sent a looping pass for Lee-Lo to complete his brace.
Evans converted both tries to give the Blues a 29-14 advantage, before Brian Byrne was mauled over the line to bring Leinster back to within 10.
The introduction of Gibson-Park came up trumps when he scurried over for a converted try with 13 minutes to go to have the Blues sweating. And there was still time for Byrne to power over from close range for his second, with Ross Byrne converting for a dramatic 33-32 triumph.
CARDIFF BLUES: M Morgan; J Harries, R Lee-Lo, W Halaholo, O Lane; J Evans, L Williams; B Thyer, K Dacey, D Arhip; S Davies, R Thornton; J Turnbull, E Jenkins, N Williams.
Replacements: E Lewis for Dacey (59), R Gill for Thyer (59), S Andrews for Arhip (59), G Earle for Jenkins (66), O Robinson for N Williams (51), T Williams for L Williams (56), S Shingler, G Smith for Halaholo (71).
LEINSTER: D Kearney; A Byrne, R O'Loughlin, J Tomane, B Daly; R Byrne, L McGrath; P Dooley, J Tracy, M Bent; R Moloney, S Fardy; J Murphy, R Ruddock, C Doris.
Replacements: B Byrne for Tracy (51), E Byrne for Dooley (51), A Porter for Bent (51), M Kearney for J Murphy (56), M Deegan for Doris (67), J Gibson-Park for McGrath (64), N Reid for Tomane (75), F McFadden for Daly (9).
Referee: Nigel Owens.
Attendance: 9, 284.
