LEO CULLEN HAD plenty of reasons to be singing in the rain at Rodney Parade after watching his young side pick up the full five points from a 33-10 away win that moved his Leinster team up to second in the URC table.
Stand in skipper Dan Sheehan was one of five Irish World Cup members in the starting XV and he scored one and made another of the five tries that condemned the Dragons to a fourth successive defeat – and a 14th in a row against the boys in blue.
“We got the early lineout drive try, which helped settle things down and then the two tries either side of half-time were crucial,” said Cullen.
“They were both really well worked scores and it meant we weren’t trying to chase a game in those conditions. The Dragons had periods on top, but we got the bonus, so we’re delighted with that.”
The win contained tries from Sheehan and Tom Clarkson in the first half and then Ciaran Frawley, Charlie Ngatai and Scott Penny after the break. Ross Byrne converted four of them.
Having lost their opening game in Glasgow Warriors, the Leinster results and performances have grown and this was a third bonus-point win in a row and the third game on the trot in which they have plundered five tries.
“We were very frustrated not to get anything from that first game after creating so many chances, but this weekend has shown again that everyone is getting better in this league,” added Cullen.
“The extra-long pre-season has meant everyone has had more time to prepare and there are certain clubs who have not been impacted as much as others with the World Cup.
“We’ve had to manage this period with players away, however, we’ve brought through several young players. At Newport we had an academy hooker (Lee Barron), No8 (James Culhane) and scrum half Ben Murphy all getting game time, so that was a real positive for them.
“We’re also getting a bit of depth again with the international boys coming back. It was great to have five of them back this week and we hope to have a few more next week.
“They all trained well this week, and it was great to have some different voices within the group.”
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