IT WAS ONE of those Galway nights. The rain teemed down, and the wind came in off the bay.
Many teams have come to Connacht over the years and hated every second of the conditions.
Not Leinster tonight. Leo Cullen’s loved nearly every gleeful moment of this. A dominant bonus-point win saw them equal their biggest-ever winning margin away to Connacht.
Cullen made 14 changes to his starting XV after last weekend’s win over Munster, but you wouldn’t have guessed it if you were coming to this afresh. The Leinster performance was slick, cohesive, clinical and full of physical edge.
A seven-try win was richly deserved by Leinster on a miserable night for Stuart Lancaster’s Connacht against his old team. In contrast to their visitors, the westerners were devoid of bite and totally lacking in precision.
After their recent upsurge in form, this was a disappointing regression. Lancaster’s men dearly missed their Ireland international contingent, but Leinster didn’t seem to miss their 17-strong group at all.
Leinster celebrate skipper Max Deegan's score. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
With experienced out-half Joey Carbery shining as he steered the ship in an impressive halfback pairing with Fintan Gunne, Leinster had standout performers across the pitch. Carbery contributed 20 of their 50 points.
This was another excellent outing for 21-year-old fullback Todd Lawlor, who was one of their seven try-scorers and proved a constant threat to the Connacht defence, while Jordan Larmour was superb on his first appearance of the season on the wing.
Number eight James Culhane and hooker Gus McCarthy were omnipresent for Leinster up front, leading by example as the away team won far more of the battles in the trenches.
Connor Fahy did well on his Leinster debut in midfield, while tighthead prop Alex Mullan got his first senior appearance off the bench. All in all, this was a very happy evening’s work for Leinster to finish a good first block of the season.
Connacht, meanwhile, ended theirs with the most dispiriting outing of the opening chapter of this campaign. Aside from one first-half maul try, they simply never got going and struggled to deal with Leinster’s intelligent kicking game.
They’ll have been frustrated to lose out in contact too often against a Leinster team who had no shortage of punch. Connacht created nothing at all in attack, making zero linebreaks to Leinster’s 14. Defensively, Connacht had no answers. And Cullen’s side were on top at the set-piece too in what was a complete performance in Galway.
Joey Carbery kicks a conversion for Leinster. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
Leinster had built a 21-5 lead at half-time thanks to a tidy performance with the wind behind them.
Their first score came off the back of a scrum penalty win for loosehead prop Alex Usanov against Finlay Bealham, with Carbery kicking to touch just outside the Connacht 22.
From there, Leinster unveiled a clever trick play, with Scott Penny and Gunne darting away from Max Deegan’s lineout win on an apparent peel play, only for Culhane to sneak through untouched after the transfer from Deegan. Culhane offloaded to hooker McCarthy, and he rode Shayne Bolton’s tackle to finish.
Carbery converted that first-phase effort from wide on the left and soon added the extras to a much different Leinster try – which came after a near-miss involving Carbery’s left-footed chip, Lawlor’s right-footed flick, and Fahy agonisingly knocking on over the line.
This one started at a lineout 38 metres out from the Connacht line and saw Leinster go through phase after punishing phase until they scored through right wing Larmour a whopping two minutes and 30 seconds after McCarthy’s lineout throw.
Advertisement
Dave Heffernan scores for Connacht. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
Connacht badly needed a big play, and they got it from the restart, with former Leinster lock Josh Murphy winning a breakdown turnover penalty that they kicked into the left corner. They built a superb maul, Leinster couldn’t resist, and hooker Dave Heffernan dotted down.
But Leinster were undeterred and had their third try in the 32nd minute, striking clinically in transition after out-half Seán Naughton’s clearing kick from the Connacht 22 came up short of touch.
Larmour claimed it and darted towards the left touchline, where he sent fullback Lawlor scorching outside Bolton for an emphatic finish.
Carbery was on target again for 21-5, and Leinster might even have grabbed a bonus-point try just before the break, only for a knock-on as they built a promising-looking maul five metres from Connacht’s tryline.
Connacht continued to struggle to deal with Leinster’s kicking game early in the second half, including a smart Gunne grubber, so the visitors happily set up camp in the home side’s territory again. The pressure resulted in a penalty that Carbery popped over for a 19-point lead.
There was heavy rain in Galway. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
The bonus-point try followed swiftly and it was another peach. Lawlor gobbled up a loose kick from Naughton and set off on the counter yet again, breaking a tackle and offloading to lock Brian Deeny, who sent Culhane galloping away.
The number eight was hauled down just short of scoring, but Gunne calmly floated the ball wide left for skipper Deegan to finish strongly into the corner.
Carbery tacked on the two points and then got in on the try-scoring himself, diving over in the left corner from Larmour’s pass off another smart set-piece play, this time from a five-metre scrum. The pressure stemmed back to Penny’s breakdown turnover a few minutes earlier.
Cullen’s side weren’t finished there, though. Replacement centre Ciarán Mangan got in on the fun as he intercepted a Josh Ioane pass and raced clear from more than 60 metres out.
And with three minutes left, Gunne got a well-earned try, the closing act of an impressive Leinster performance.
Connacht scorers:
Tries: Dave Heffernan
Conversions: Seán Naughton [0 from 1]
Leinster scorers:
Tries: Gus McCarthy, Jordan Larmour, Todd Lawlor, Max Deegan, Joey Carbery, Ciarán Mangan, Fintan Gunne
Conversions: Joey Carbery [6 from 7]
Penalties: Joey Carbery [1 from 1]
CONNACHT: Josh Ioane; Shayne Bolton (Finn Treacy ’54), John Devine (Sam Gilbert ’44), Cathal Forde, Daniel Ryan; Seán Naughton, Caolin Blade (Colm Reilly ’61); Francois van Wyk (Jerry Cahir ’51), Dave Heffernan (Matthew Victory ’51), Finlay Bealham (Fiachna Barrett ’55); Josh Murphy (Niall Murray ’51), David O’Connor; Seán O’Brien (Shamus Hurley-Langton ’40), Will Connors, Paul Boyle (captain).
LEINSTER: Todd Lawlor (Caspar Gabriel ’70); Joshua Kenny, Connor Fahy (Ciarán Mangan ’70), Charlie Tector, Jordan Larmour; Joey Carbery, Fintan Gunne (HIA – Cormac Foley ’57 to ’69); Alex Usanov (Peter Dooley ’63), Gus McCarthy (Stephen Smyth ’63), Niall Smyth (Alex Mullan ’65); Brian Deeny, Alan Spicer (Conor O’Tighearnaigh ’54); Max Deegan (captain), Scott Penny, James Culhane (Alex Soroka ’71).
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
32 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
Lethal Leinster dismantle Lancaster's Connacht in Galway
Connacht 5
Leinster 50
IT WAS ONE of those Galway nights. The rain teemed down, and the wind came in off the bay.
Many teams have come to Connacht over the years and hated every second of the conditions.
Not Leinster tonight. Leo Cullen’s loved nearly every gleeful moment of this. A dominant bonus-point win saw them equal their biggest-ever winning margin away to Connacht.
Cullen made 14 changes to his starting XV after last weekend’s win over Munster, but you wouldn’t have guessed it if you were coming to this afresh. The Leinster performance was slick, cohesive, clinical and full of physical edge.
A seven-try win was richly deserved by Leinster on a miserable night for Stuart Lancaster’s Connacht against his old team. In contrast to their visitors, the westerners were devoid of bite and totally lacking in precision.
After their recent upsurge in form, this was a disappointing regression. Lancaster’s men dearly missed their Ireland international contingent, but Leinster didn’t seem to miss their 17-strong group at all.
With experienced out-half Joey Carbery shining as he steered the ship in an impressive halfback pairing with Fintan Gunne, Leinster had standout performers across the pitch. Carbery contributed 20 of their 50 points.
This was another excellent outing for 21-year-old fullback Todd Lawlor, who was one of their seven try-scorers and proved a constant threat to the Connacht defence, while Jordan Larmour was superb on his first appearance of the season on the wing.
Number eight James Culhane and hooker Gus McCarthy were omnipresent for Leinster up front, leading by example as the away team won far more of the battles in the trenches.
Connor Fahy did well on his Leinster debut in midfield, while tighthead prop Alex Mullan got his first senior appearance off the bench. All in all, this was a very happy evening’s work for Leinster to finish a good first block of the season.
Connacht, meanwhile, ended theirs with the most dispiriting outing of the opening chapter of this campaign. Aside from one first-half maul try, they simply never got going and struggled to deal with Leinster’s intelligent kicking game.
They’ll have been frustrated to lose out in contact too often against a Leinster team who had no shortage of punch. Connacht created nothing at all in attack, making zero linebreaks to Leinster’s 14. Defensively, Connacht had no answers. And Cullen’s side were on top at the set-piece too in what was a complete performance in Galway.
Leinster had built a 21-5 lead at half-time thanks to a tidy performance with the wind behind them.
Their first score came off the back of a scrum penalty win for loosehead prop Alex Usanov against Finlay Bealham, with Carbery kicking to touch just outside the Connacht 22.
From there, Leinster unveiled a clever trick play, with Scott Penny and Gunne darting away from Max Deegan’s lineout win on an apparent peel play, only for Culhane to sneak through untouched after the transfer from Deegan. Culhane offloaded to hooker McCarthy, and he rode Shayne Bolton’s tackle to finish.
Carbery converted that first-phase effort from wide on the left and soon added the extras to a much different Leinster try – which came after a near-miss involving Carbery’s left-footed chip, Lawlor’s right-footed flick, and Fahy agonisingly knocking on over the line.
This one started at a lineout 38 metres out from the Connacht line and saw Leinster go through phase after punishing phase until they scored through right wing Larmour a whopping two minutes and 30 seconds after McCarthy’s lineout throw.
Connacht badly needed a big play, and they got it from the restart, with former Leinster lock Josh Murphy winning a breakdown turnover penalty that they kicked into the left corner. They built a superb maul, Leinster couldn’t resist, and hooker Dave Heffernan dotted down.
But Leinster were undeterred and had their third try in the 32nd minute, striking clinically in transition after out-half Seán Naughton’s clearing kick from the Connacht 22 came up short of touch.
Larmour claimed it and darted towards the left touchline, where he sent fullback Lawlor scorching outside Bolton for an emphatic finish.
Carbery was on target again for 21-5, and Leinster might even have grabbed a bonus-point try just before the break, only for a knock-on as they built a promising-looking maul five metres from Connacht’s tryline.
Connacht continued to struggle to deal with Leinster’s kicking game early in the second half, including a smart Gunne grubber, so the visitors happily set up camp in the home side’s territory again. The pressure resulted in a penalty that Carbery popped over for a 19-point lead.
The bonus-point try followed swiftly and it was another peach. Lawlor gobbled up a loose kick from Naughton and set off on the counter yet again, breaking a tackle and offloading to lock Brian Deeny, who sent Culhane galloping away.
The number eight was hauled down just short of scoring, but Gunne calmly floated the ball wide left for skipper Deegan to finish strongly into the corner.
Carbery tacked on the two points and then got in on the try-scoring himself, diving over in the left corner from Larmour’s pass off another smart set-piece play, this time from a five-metre scrum. The pressure stemmed back to Penny’s breakdown turnover a few minutes earlier.
Cullen’s side weren’t finished there, though. Replacement centre Ciarán Mangan got in on the fun as he intercepted a Josh Ioane pass and raced clear from more than 60 metres out.
And with three minutes left, Gunne got a well-earned try, the closing act of an impressive Leinster performance.
Connacht scorers:
Tries: Dave Heffernan
Conversions: Seán Naughton [0 from 1]
Leinster scorers:
Tries: Gus McCarthy, Jordan Larmour, Todd Lawlor, Max Deegan, Joey Carbery, Ciarán Mangan, Fintan Gunne
Conversions: Joey Carbery [6 from 7]
Penalties: Joey Carbery [1 from 1]
CONNACHT: Josh Ioane; Shayne Bolton (Finn Treacy ’54), John Devine (Sam Gilbert ’44), Cathal Forde, Daniel Ryan; Seán Naughton, Caolin Blade (Colm Reilly ’61); Francois van Wyk (Jerry Cahir ’51), Dave Heffernan (Matthew Victory ’51), Finlay Bealham (Fiachna Barrett ’55); Josh Murphy (Niall Murray ’51), David O’Connor; Seán O’Brien (Shamus Hurley-Langton ’40), Will Connors, Paul Boyle (captain).
LEINSTER: Todd Lawlor (Caspar Gabriel ’70); Joshua Kenny, Connor Fahy (Ciarán Mangan ’70), Charlie Tector, Jordan Larmour; Joey Carbery, Fintan Gunne (HIA – Cormac Foley ’57 to ’69); Alex Usanov (Peter Dooley ’63), Gus McCarthy (Stephen Smyth ’63), Niall Smyth (Alex Mullan ’65); Brian Deeny, Alan Spicer (Conor O’Tighearnaigh ’54); Max Deegan (captain), Scott Penny, James Culhane (Alex Soroka ’71).
Referee: Hollie Davidson [SRU].
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
comprehensive Connacht Galway Leinster Report URC