Leinster battle past stubborn Cardiff to seal bonus-point win
United Rugby Championship leaders Leinster overcame fierce Cardiff resistance to claim a 33-20 bonus-point victory at the Arms Park.
Leinster, unbeaten in the competition against Welsh opposition since Cardiff beat them more than two years ago, conceded 15 unanswered points and trailed just after half-time.
But they ultimately overpowered their hosts to post a ninth win of the URC campaign as tries from wing Rob Russell, number eight Max Deegan, hooker John McKee and replacement prop Michael Milne’s double saw them home, while fly-half Ross Byrne kicked four conversions.
Cardiff, inspired by two tries from Wales international prop Rhys Carre and an Aled Summerhill touchdown, pushed their opponents hard, yet their only other points came via a Tinus de Beer conversion and penalty.
Leinster blasted out of the blocks and rocked Cardiff with two tries inside the first 10 minutes.
Prop Tom Clarkson proved key in the opener, breaking clear before finding Russell with a scoring pass, then Deegan crashed over from close range and one Byrne conversion made it 12-0.
Cardiff were rocked back on their heels, but they put some promising passages of play together either side of a De Beer penalty, with Summerhill and Owen Lane offering attacking threats.
Cardiff continued to make headway and they were rewarded four minutes before half-time through a lineout move straight off the training ground that worked to perfection.
Carre was the beneficiary, finishing powerfully after scrum-half Ellis Bevan put him in space from accurate set-piece possession, then Carre struck again on the stroke of half-time after De Beer’s conversion cut Cardiff’s deficit to two points.
Flanker Thomas Young almost breached Leinster’s cover before visiting full-back Jordan Larmour was yellow-carded for a technical infringement and brute strength was again to the fore as Carre smashed through two Leinster defenders for his second try that secured a 15-12 interval advantage.
Leinster thought they had regained the lead when Clarkson crossed from close range, but he was held up over the line by Young.
Cardiff could only hold out for another five minutes, though, as relentless pressure exerted through the Leinster forwards ended with Milne touching down and Byrne converting.
Milne’s second try on the hour mark, again converted by Byrne, put daylight between the teams, although Cardiff summoned a Summerhill consolation six minutes from time after McKee had gone over.
Comments on RugbyPass
The first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
31 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
31 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
31 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to comments