Leinster made up for their poor showing against the Ospreys in Swansea last weekend with a convincing 31-10 win over the Dragons in front of a bumper crowd at the RDS on Friday night.
After a dour performance on the opening round of the RaboDirect Pro 12 the Dubliners made amends tonight with a some stand-out performances, tries from Brendan Macken, Ian Madigan and Fionn Carr and a positive result come the final whistle against the Men of Gwent.
The home team started like they had a point to prove, with lively and incisive running from the backs, Carr in particular causing problems for the visiting defence.
With 5 minutes on the clock, Leinster full back Isa Nacewa got the first points of the evening with an easy penalty to give the hosts a 3-0 lead.
Moments later the Dragons were penalised for going off their feet at the breakdown, but this time Nacewa hooked his effort slightly to the left of the uprights.
The away side were back on terms after 12 minutes, when Leinster's loose forwards were pinged by referee Andy Macpherson for the same offence the Dragons committed previously, and fly half Jason Tovey made no mistake in levelling the scores 3-3.
The ensuing ten minute period was interspersed by some exciting open play running from Nacewa and Leinster's other outside backs, with the 1-cap Fijian always looking to spark things from deep. However a plethora of penalties awarded against both sides prevented the game from getting off the ground, and a second successful Nacewa penalty on the half-hour mark was the only tangible result to show for the teams' endeavours following a sensational break in midfield by Carr; 6-3 Leinster.
The Dragons were not there just to make up the numbers however, and would have got the first try of the night following a clever cross-kick from Tovey had the bounce been slightly kinder to left wing Mike Poole.
The visitors were guilty of coughing up opportunities to add to their solitary penalty, and rookie scrum half Joe Bedford will rightly be rapped for an enthusiastic but ultimately stupid decision to tap and go on the Leinster 22, with the result being the Dragons conceding a penalty for being offside thirty seconds later and a potential 3 points being spurned.
It was overall an uneventful first 40 minutes, sparked briefly into life by the class of Nacewa and Carr, but within moments of the restart the game was all but over as a contest.
In the 45th minute, the livewire Carr spotted a gap in midfield, beating two defenders with guile and pace before firing a majestic pass wide left for Brendan Macken to collect and gallop in at the corner for five points. The touchline conversion was missed but Nacewa was given a chance to redeem himself within minutes.
Young fly half Ian Madigan received the ball from a ruck on half way and, with the ball in both hands, went on a mazy run that bamboozled the frayed Dragons defence, breaking the line with consummate ease before illustrating a good turn of pace to free himself of visiting tacklers and dot down near the sticks. Nacewa had no problem with this conversion and Leinster had extended their lead to 18-3 over a shell-shocked Dragons side with half an hour left to play.
A third penalty followed swiftly after to further stretch Leinster's advantage, but the Dragons showed they weren't going down without a fight on the hour mark; with a quick tap paying off this time as replacement scrum half Wayne Evans went quickly, feeding Tovey who in-turn shipped the ball out to Pat Leach, with the centre stepping on the gas before popping back inside to Tovey for an easy run in. The extras were converted simply by the Welsh pivot to bring the score to 21-10 with twenty minutes to play.
Any chance of a Dragons fight-back was extinguished soon after, when more ill-disciple from the forwards cost the team another 3 points, with Nacewa punishing them with his accurate right boot.
With the match comfortably set for Leinster at 24-10 the game disappointingly began to fizzle out. Numerous penalties beset the final ten minutes of play, with the final bright spot of the evening being a well-deserved try for former Connacht wing Fionn Carr. Replacement Aufa'a broke the Dragons line wide right, sauntering down the wing before providing the ball for the impressive Carr to cut inside the full back and dive over the whitewash for his first Leinster try.
The conversion made the final score 31-10 and ended a satisfactory 80 minutes for Leinster, whilst the Dragons return to Wales after a couple of tough opening fixtures in Ireland which sees them pointless after two rounds of the domestic season.
Star Man: Isa Nacewa (Leinster) “ A constant threat in attack and solid in defence, the Aucklander always kept the Dragons defence guessing and his exemplary goal kicking kept the scoreboard ticking over.
5-metre flop: Joe Bedford (Dragons) “ Unfortunately for the young half back he did little right on the night, his performance epitomised by a poor box kick into the opposition 22 that came to nought and the chance for 3 points wasted with the thoughtless tap penalty.
