Leinster 36

Scarlets 19

Daire Walsh reports from Aviva Stadium

IT WASN’T THEIR most polished performance of the campaign to date, but Leinster ultimately moved up to third in the United Rugby Championship table with a bonus point triumph over Scarlets at the Aviva Stadium this evening.

Along with welcoming back nine players who featured prominently for Ireland in the Six Nations Championship – including captain Caelan Doris – Leinster head coach Leo Cullen was able to call upon Andrew Porter for his first appearance since a URC victory over Connacht in the same venue on 3 January.

Garry Ringrose was one of the returning international contingent, but he was briefly withdrawn in the early exchanges for a head injury assessment with Robbie Henshaw taking his spot in midfield.

Henshaw and his team-mates were placed under severe pressure during Ringrose’s temporary absence, but some strong defensive work from Jamison Gibson-Park and Joe McCarthy, in particular, helped to keep Scarlets at bay. While the sides remained scoreless upon the reintroduction of Ringrose, the persistent Welsh region opened the scoring in the 17th minute.

After winning possession off an attacking line-out, an incisive grubber kick from Johnny Williams was seized upon by his centre partner Joe Roberts for a breakthrough try. Joe Hawkins added the extras to this score and in addition to falling seven points adrift, Leinster simultaneously lost lock Brian Deeny to a yellow card for 10 minutes.

Yet the sin-binning of Roberts for a deliberate knock-on at the beginning of the second quarter meant their numerical deficiency didn’t last for long and Scarlets flanker Jarrod Taylor was also yellow carded just as Deeny was resuming his place in the Leinster pack.

This provided the hosts with all the incentive they needed and following a strong carry from Doris off a set-piece move, Gibson-Park and Jamie Osborne combined before Ringrose touched down to the right of the posts.

A routine Harry Byrne conversion brought the sides back on level terms and while the return of Roberts looked set to be a boost for Scarlets, Leinster moved in front for the first time after a multitude of Leinster players were involved in a move that ended with Joshua Kenny scoring a 34th minute try.

This unconverted effort left Leinster just five to the good (12-7) at the end of a scrappy opening period, but the eastern province gave themselves considerable breathing space during a blistering start to the second half.

Just 13 days on from claiming a brace of tries in Ireland’s Triple Crown-clinching victory over Scotland at the same venue, Tommy O’Brien amassed the same tally in the space of just two minutes on the resumption.

Firstly, the 27-year-old winger was in the right place to dot down in the left corner on 43 minutes via Gibson-Park’s skip pass at the end of an extended attack. He then popped up moments later on the opposite flank to round off a sweeping move after McCarthy had brilliantly stolen a Scarlets line-out.

Cullen opted to introduce a plethora of replacements either side of Tommy O’Brien’s second try, including Sam Prendergast for another outing at full-back following the withdrawal of Jimmy O’Brien with what looked like a knock.

Caelan Doris offloads the ball despite Max Douglas and Kemsley Mathias. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO

Tadhg Furlong, Gibson-Park, Porter and Doris (albeit temporarily) were some of the other players to depart the scene in a third-quarter that saw Leinster leaking a try to Scarlets winger Tom Rogers off a quick move inside the ‘22’.

This was a warning sign to Leinster despite them having already secured a bonus point, but the pressure was eased on the home team when a powerful finish by Max Deegan off a five metre drive was awarded by referee Aimee Barrett-Theron following consultation with TMO Quinton Immelman.

This try came as a timely boost for Leinster, given Scarlets fired back with a converted score of their own from second row Max Douglas with just eight minutes of normal time remaining.

Scarlets might have been in the reckoning for a losing bonus point had it not been for Deegan adding his name to the scoresheet, but there was enough time left on the clock for Kenny to add his second try in the 75th minute.

This ensures Leinster leapfrog Ulster in the table ahead of their trip to Zebre Parma on Saturday night.

Leinster scorers:

Tries – Tommy O’Brien 2, Joshua Kenny 2, Garry Ringrose, Max Deegan

Conversions – Harry Byrne [3 from 6]

Scarlets scorers:

Tries – Joe Roberts, Tom Rogers, Max Douglas

Conversions – Joe Hawkins [2 from 3]

LEINSTER: Jimmy O’Brien (Sam Prendergast ’47); Tommy O’Brien, Garry Ringrose (Robbie Henshaw ‘5-’15 & ‘45), Jamie Osborne (Robbie Henshaw ’37 to half-time), Joshua Kenny; Harry Byrne, Jamison Gibson-Park (Fintan Gunne ’55); Andrew Porter (Jerry Cahir ’45), Dan Sheehan (Gus McCarthy ’63), Tadhg Furlong (Rabah Slimani ’45); Joe McCarthy, Brian Deeny (Conor O’Tighearnaigh ’67); Max Deegan, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris (Alex Soroka ’56-’63 & ‘77).

SCARLETS: Blair Murray; Tom Rogers (Ioan Jones ’62), Joe Roberts, Johnny Williams, Ellis Mee (Macs Page ’35); Joe Hawkins, Dane Blacker (Archie Hughes ’48); Kemsley Mathias (Sam O’Connor ’63), Harry Thomas (George Roberts ’48), Henry Thomas (Harri O’Connor ’55); Sam Lousi (Jake Ball ’77), Max Douglas; Jarrod Taylor, Dan Davis (Tristan Davies ’71), Fletcher Anderson.

Referee: Aimee Barrett-Theron (SARU).