| Connacht (0) 0 |
| Leinster (7) 10 |
| Tries: Foley Cons: R Byrne Pens: Frawley |
Leinster continued their winning streak in the United Rugby Championship, defeating inter-provincial rivals Connacht 10-0 at the Sportsground.
Cormac Foley scored the only try of the game for Leinster and Ross Byrne was successful with the conversion.
Substitute Ciaran Frawley scored the only other points of the game with a 76th-minute penalty.
Leinster remain top of the table with five wins out of five, while Connacht have won only one of their five games.
The visitors got off to a strong start, with Josh van der Flier using the maul as a launchpad to surge forward and offload to Foley, who crossed in the corner before Byrne added the extras from a difficult angle.
The hosts showed good defensive endeavour in the opening quarter, managing to disrupt the Leinster lineout on several occasions and force uncharacteristic errors to slow Leinster’s momentum.
Byrne had the opportunity to extend Leinster’s lead with a penalty on 38 minutes but skewed his kick wide in wet and windy conditions in Galway.
Connacht finished a frenetic first half with a spell of sustained pressure on Leinster’s line, but last ditch defending held out the hosts to ensure the visitors went in at the break with a narrow lead.
Fly-half Byrne missed his second penalty of the evening on 50 minutes, failing to connect cleanly with the ball.
Connacht had opportunities to come back into the game in the third quarter but failed to capitalise at key moments.
It was Leinster who dominated the majority of the second half in terms of both territory and possession and looked the more likely of the two sides to add to the score.
A ruck penalty on 76 minutes gave Leinster another chance to kick for the posts.
Replacement Frawley was handed the kicking duties and was successful with his effort in the swirling wind at the Sportsground to extend his sides lead to 10 points.
Following a scrum penalty on 80 minutes, Connacht out-half Jack Carty kicked the ball dead to bring a disappointing end to a disappointing game for the hosts.
Connacht: Conor Fitzgerald, John Porch, Byron Ralston, David Hawkshaw, Mack Hansen, Jack Carty (capt), Colm Reilly; Peter Dooley, Dave Heffernan, Finlay Bealham, Niall Murray, Gavin Thornbury; Josh Murphy, Shamus Hurley-Langton, Paul Boyle.
Replacements: Grant Stewart for Heffernan (59), Denis Buckley for Dooley (44), Jack Aungier for Bealham (62), Oisin Dowling for Thornbury (55), Conor Oliver for Hurley-Langton (55), Caolin Blade for Reilly (50), Tom Daly for Fitzgerald (65), Ciaran Booth.
Leinster: Jimmy O’Brien, Liam Turner, Garry Ringrose (capt), Charlie Ngatai, Rob Russell, Ross Byrne, Cormac Foley, Ed Byrne, Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Furlong, Ross Molony, James Ryan, Caelan Doris, Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan.
Replacements: John McKee for van der Flier (70), Andrew Porter for Byrne (44), Michael Ala’alatoa for Furlong (40), Joe McCarthy for James Ryan (62), Martin Moloney, Nick McCarthy for Foley (54), Ciarán Frawley for Russell (72), Robbie Henshaw for Ngatai (46).
