Leinster 33
Connacht 29
Sean Farrell reports from the RDS
THERE WAS NO Christmas party across Dublin quite as enjoyable as this one.
Leinster and Connacht set out into this inter-provincial battle showing remarkable attacking ambition as they shared nine tries in a jaw-droppingly entertaining derby.
With Jack Carty in outstanding form, Connacht appeared on the verge of a first win in Dublin since 2002.
The westerners led by 17 points and the game look ready to be put in the books, but Leinster confounded the logic and set about reeling in the deficit with a brilliant blend of tight five force and exhilarating skills to bring tries from Sean Cronin, Dan Leavy and Andrew Porter that snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.
Connacht were forced into a late back-line reshuffle as Tiernan O’Halloran didn’t make it through the warm-up. However, having Bundee Aki as a late addition is no great weakness and the Ireland centre duly played a part in a slick early back-line move that set the mood nicely.
Off a sixth minute line-out Aki and Carty combined to set Darragh Leader into space. The fullback, brilliant throughout the contest, in turn set Cian Kelleher haring to a spacious right-hand corner.
The reigning champions trailed for only six minutes before Jamison Gibson-Park had a cut on the back of a maul. The talented Kiwi dummied and ghosted through a tackle before releasing his pass at the second attempt to put Conor O’Brien under the posts.
In a season when too many teams have thrown their hat at tough looking away trips, Connacht refused to stand in awe of Leinster in Dublin.
Caolin Blade’s incisive pass sent Tom Farrell through a collision with O’Brien and his offload set Leader on a scything run that took him the long way around Adam Byrne and over the try-line for a brilliant score.
Not content with the lead, the westerners extended the advantage to 7-19 into the half-time interval through a moment of individual brilliance from Carty.
The 10, with shades of his chip over the top against the same opponent in Galway last season, this time collected the ball himself and didn’t break stride as he powered under the posts.
A heavy streak of pragmatism ran through Leinster’s reaction after the interval. The young bucks were eschewed for the big men up front and Mick Kearney wriggled through Ultan Dillane to ground his first Leinster try with the half just three minutes old.
A comeback? The crowd were in the mood for it.
But the visitors gleefully silenced the RDS for a fourth time as they carved open the blue defensive line to secure a bonus point. Carty was once again central in the attack, slipping the grasp of Leavy and powering into the space behind. He took heed of Blade’s appeal for a pass and brilliantly supplied it off his left and at full speed to send his scrum-half scorching in under the sticks.
Pre-match bookmakers had the home side 14-point favourites, but now Connacht had that exact cushion to lean on. And a brilliant 45-metre blast from Carty set the bar just a little higher for Leinster to reach at.
They always reach.
Cronin powered over off the back of a maul to give voice back to the RDS and the roof threatened to come off when, with eight minutes to go, Leinster attacked with a series of sensational passes and offloads under pressure from Byrne, O’Loughlin, Scott Fardy and Rhys Ruddock before Leavy grounded in the corner.
Suddenly, it was a three-point game and all the momentum flowed just one way. Aki did his level best to turn the tide by levelling Ciaran Frawley with a hit that all of Skerries felt.
But Leinster were undeterred and returned to their big carriers to bring them, phase by phase, to the brink of the try-line and an unlikely victory. There, the biggest man of them all, Andrew Porter applied the finishing touch on an utterly brilliant night of rugby.
Scorers
Leinster
Tries: C O’Brien, M Kearney, S Cronin, D Leavy, A Porter
Conversions: R Byrne (4/5)
Connacht
Tries: C Kelleher, D Leader, J Carty, C Blade
Conversion: J Carty 3/4
Penalties: J Carty 1/1)
LEINSTER: Hugo Keenan (Ciaran Frawley ’38), Adam Byrne, Rory O’Loughlin, Conor O’Brien (Noel Reid ’64), Dave Kearney, Ross Byrne, Jamison Gibson-Park
Peter Dooley (Ed Byrne ’49), Bryan Byrne (Sean Cronin ’49), Michael Bent (Andrew Porter ’40), Mick Kearney (Ross Molony ’49), Scott Fardy, Rhys Ruddock, Dan Leavy, Caelan Doris (Max Deegan ’59).
CONNACHT: Darragh Leader, Cian Kelleher, Tom Farrell, Bundee Aki, Kyle Godwin, Jack Carty, Caolin Blade, Denis Buckley (Peter McCabe ’55), Tom McCartney (Shane Delahiunt ’57), Finlay Bealham (Dominic Robertson McCoy ’38), Ultan Dillane
Gavin Thornbury, Jarrad Butler, Colby Fainga’a, Paul Boyle (Eoghan Masterson ’68).
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