Leinster round off RDS season with bonus-point win

Leinster signed off at the RDS with a 33-7 victory over Connacht in the final round of the BKT United Rugby Championship regular season.

Already qualified for a home quarter-final, Leo Cullen’s side moved to the top of the standings ahead of Saturday’s games in which Munster and Bulls can overtake Leinster.

An almost full house at the soon-to-be redeveloped Dublin 4 stadium greeted last weekend’s beaten Investec Champions Cup finalists, who included only one starter, Jamie Osborne, from the defeat in London.

And they treated their fans to a bonus-point win over a Connacht side, missing Ireland internationals Bundee Aki and Mack Hansen, that were never really in the contest.

Tries from Jack Conan, Jimmy O’Brien and Frawley, and three conversions from Sam Prendergast had Leinster 21-0 up at the break, while Dan Sheehan and O’Brien rounded off the scoring.

Colm Reilly’s late effort was a mere consolation for the Westerners, whose season comes to an end.

With Connacht realistically needing a bonus-point win to extend their season until Saturday at least, Leinster would have had the feeling that an early salvo would take the wind out of their sails.

Tenth in the table before kick-off, their chances of earning a first win in Dublin since January 2021 looked over as early as the 23rd minute when the Champions Cup finalists ran in their third converted try.

It took just nine minutes for the hosts to open the scoring, number 8 Conan dragging a number of defenders with him over the line after bolting from the back of a 5m scrum.

Sam Prendergast, whose brother Cian lined out at blindside for Connacht, was running the show.

He was heavily involved in the build-up play for the first score before providing crucial assists for the second and third.

His dummy of the ball close to the line provided the space for full-back Jimmy O’Brien to finish under the posts.

Connacht offered little in reply; Carty kicked the ball dead twice and Dave Heffernan then couldn’t find his man with a lineout throw 10 metres out. Santi Cordero, on his first start after a lengthy injury layoff, tried to jig his way through but was well marshalled.

Caolin Blade had been temporarily replaced for a head injury assessment, while Sean O’Brien came on for the injured Sean Jansen.

When Rónan Kelleher and Scott Penny combined at the front of a lineout, the Connacht defence was again breached and Prendergast and Conan set up Frawley, who started at first centre, for a simple dot down and a 21-0 lead.

Connacht did have a spell of pressure after that, but man of the match Ross Molony, who moves to Bath next season, and Tommy O’Brien, came up with big defensive plays to keep the visitors out.

The half ended with yet another scrum penalty for Leinster who totally dominated the set-piece.

The atmosphere at the start of the second half was subdued before Cordero’s kick-pass for Blade just bounced out of the scrum-half’s grasp.

From there a series of handling errors almost led to Rob Russell scoring in the corner but his offload fell to a Connacht defender.

But the crowd of 17,225 rose to its feet in the 49th minute when Rhys Ruddock (below), who retires at the end of the season after 15 years with Leinster, was replaced by Ryan Baird.

Another round of applause followed when Cardiff-bound Ed Byrne departed as part of a full front row reshuffle in the 52nd minute.

There was little of note happening on the field, however, and Leinster blew a couple of chances to extend their lead before an impressive defensive set by Connacht led to Michael Ala’alatoa spending 10 minutes in the bin for a high clearout on Blade, who was replaced by Reilly for the second time.

Leinster did eventually get their bonus-point try when Sheehan broke off the back of a lineout maul in the 63rd minute.

Connacht managed a consolation score off the restart when Reilly finished off a move involving Shane Jennings and Conor Oliver. Replacement Tom Daly added the conversion on his final appearance for the province.

David Hawkshaw’s burst, after evading Baird, almost led to another, but the centre’s pass failed to find Reilly in support.

The try of the match came in the 73rd minute when Jimmy O’Brien ran in 80 metres untouched after taking Prendergast’s pass in his own half.

Leinster now await the results of tomorrow’s games to see who they face at the Aviva Stadium next weekend, while Connacht go on their summer holidays.

Leinster: Jimmy O’Brien; Tommy O’Brien, Jamie Osborne, Ciarán Frawley, Rob Russell; Sam Prendergast, Cormac Foley; Ed Byrne, Rónan Kelleher, Thomas Clarkson; Ross Molony, Brian Deeny; Rhys Ruddock, Scott Penny (capt), Jack Conan

Replacements: Dan Sheehan, Michael Milne, Michael Ala’alatoa, Ryan Baird, Max Deegan, Luke McGrath, Harry Byrne, Charlie Ngatai

Connacht: Santiago Cordero; Shane Jennings, David Hawkshaw, Cathal Forde, Shane Mallon; Jack Carty (capt), Caolin Blade; Peter Dooley, Dave Heffernan, Finlay Bealham; Joe Joyce, Niall Murray; Cian Prendergast, Conor Oliver, Sean Jansen

Replacements: Dylan Tierney-Martin, Denis Buckley, Jack Aungier, Darragh Murray, Seán O’Brien, Colm Reilly, Byron Ralston, Tom Daly

Referee: Chris Busby (IRFU)

Watch Munster v Ulster in the URC on Saturday from 5pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to commentary on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1