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Leaders Leinster storm to victory over Cheetahs

Leinster's Max Deegan (Photo by Tony Marshall/Getty Images)

Conference A leaders Leinster continued their unbeaten season with a 36-12 bonus-point win over Cheetahs at a rain-lashed RDS.

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Newly capped Ireland hooker Ronan Kelleher closed out the first half with his seventh try of the Guinness PRO14 campaign, adding to Will Connors and Michael Bent’s earlier scores, as Leinster made light of the wind and rain to lead 22-0.

The Irish province had 82 per cent of possession by the break and continued to dominate, setting up further tries for Rhys Ruddock and man of the match Connors. Replacement forwards Luan de Bruin and Aidon Davis both crossed for Cheetahs during the final 18 minutes.

Leinster fared better with their early ball retention despite playing into the wind and a heavy rain shower. There were ground-gaining runs from Fergus McFadden and Joe Tomane, but conditions made the lineout a lottery.

Although a Bent knock on ended a promising set of carries, Cheetahs leaked a series of penalties. That allowed Max Deegan, fresh from his own Ireland debut, to break menacingly from a 20th-minute maul before Connors spun out of a couple of tackles to touch down.

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The young flanker’s first senior score was neatly converted from the left by Ciaran Frawley, who also knocked over a penalty following prop Charles Marais’ 28th-minute yellow card for a no-arms tackle on Peter Dooley.

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Deegan’s break from a short Frawley pass opened up the South Africans’ defence again, and after Kelleher was stopped short, a well-supported Bent soon burrowed over for his third try of the season.

Kelleher increased his influence with a turnover penalty, and the subsequent maul – right on the stroke of half-time – saw the 22-year-old front-rower power over for a deserved five-pointer. Frawley’s conversion flashed wide from the right.

Luke McGrath’s snappy break quickly launched Leinster forward on the resumption, Ruddock soon driving in under the posts with Ross Molony on his shoulder. The latter secured lineout possession for the drive which Connors broke from for his second try of the day, converted once more by Frawley.

Cheetahs got on top at scrum time nearing the hour mark, their front row reserves forcing repeated penalties. Leinster lost replacement Sean Cronin to the sin bin for a no-arms tackle close to his own line, with Rhyno Smith denied a try by the scramble defence.

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De Bruin eventually squeezed over in the 62nd minute, captain Ruan Pienaar supplying the extras. Cheetahs lost centre Benhard Janse van Rensburg to the bin for a dangerous sliding challenge on McFadden, but lock Davis stretched out to turn some powerful team carrying into a last-minute try.

– Press Association 

WATCH: RugbyPass Rugby Explorer takes a trek through South African rugby  

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J
JW 5 minutes ago
Crusaders outlast fast starting Blues to reach another Super Rugby final

Yeah nar, but that’s kinda the thing, I don’t think the old approach was working either!


You might have it right though, leading up, in all rugby/competitions mean, to the last WC it did feel like there had been better discipline/less than the normal amount of cards. Well, at least a certain demographic of teams improved at least, but not so much NZ ones is my point.


I bet you also think going harsher would be the best way to go reducing head contact and the frequency of concussions?


I would hate to have your theory tested as it requires subjective thinking from the officials but..

AI Overview

In Super Rugby Pacific, a red card means the player is sent off for the rest of the match, but with a 20-minute red card, the team can replace the player after 20 minutes of playing with 14 men. If the foul play is deemed deliberate and with a high degree of danger, a full red card is issued, and the player cannot be replaced. A second yellow card also results in a 20-minute red card with a replacement allowed. 

is there to stop that from happening. The whole subjective thing is why we have 20min cards, and I worry that the same leniency that stopped them from red carding a player who ran 30 meters and still didn’t get his head low enough would stop them straight redn them too.


Back to the real topic though, right after that WC we saw those same angles getting red carded all over the show. So do some players actually have control over their actions enough to avoid head collisions (and didn’t gaf after the WC?), or was it pure luck or an imaginary period of good discipline?


So without a crystal ball to know the truth of it I think you’ll find it an immeasurably better product with 20m red cards, there just does not appear to be any appropriate amount of discipline added to the back end, the suspensions (likely controlled by WR), yet.

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