WITH THOSE GIVEN a weekend off watching from the stands, Leinster demonstrated their strength in depth earlier as several players seized their chance to power the province to a big interpro win.
Adam Byrne and Barry Daly, the former making his first appearance of the season and the later making his full debut, both scored second-half tries during the 25-13 victory over Connacht.
While the pack and backline was sprinkled with experience, it was the province’s young tyros who came to the fore with Dan Leavy outstanding in a man of the match performance.
Afterwards, Leo Cullen was understandably pleased with what he saw and heaped praise on his side as they extended their winning streak at home in the Pro12 to 19 games.
“It was an important win, it keeps that bit of momentum going in the league,” he said.
“It’s always a bit of a challenge when you’re missing players but I thought guys acquitted themselves well. It was a short turnaround as well from Montpellier into this week so we were limited in terms of what we could do preparation wise.
“These weeks are a really good opportunity for us to see new players. Guys are pushing hard, there’s competition for places.
“We kind of expected that kind of disjointed nature but the effort and endeavour was very positive and guys in the squad are showing really good characteristics at the moment and that’s pleasing.
“Obviously we’ll miss a few now and we wish them well heading away but we’ll get the next group of players in and ready for Zebre. It’s a great window because we are pushing deep into our Academy group and it’s great to see them up close, we enjoy it as coaches.”
Four points moves Leinster to the top of the Pro12 with just one game left in the first block of fixtures.
The eastern province learned their lesson from the league final defeat to Connacht in May but employing a more aggressive defensive approach as they stifled the visitors’ explosive running game.
The work of Leavy, Jack Conan and Sean O’Brien, in particular, was a huge factor in victory as the back-row dominated the breakdown and forced turnover after turnover.
Afterwards, Cullen said O’Brien was making steady progress after getting another 67 minutes, actually 57 because he was shown a deserved yellow, under his belt ahead of the November Internationals.
“Sean is making steady progress, he had a couple of 40 minutes in recent weeks and it will be up to the national management what they want to do with him,” the former second-row said.
On the crowd at the RDS, Cullen added: “The crowd were amazing as well and the players fed off that. It was a fantastic effort from everyone to turn out today and it made it a great occasion.”
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