Leinster bounce back to bag bonus point win against Munster

Leinster fought back from a 13-0 first-half deficit to beat Munster 24-18 at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin and seal their second win of the season.

Munster opened up a healthy lead after the first half an hour through two penalties from fly-half Charlie O’Shea and a brilliant converted try from winger Shane Daly, who finished off a thrilling team move.

Leinster responded before half-time as scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park span a superb pass from the base of the scrum to right wing Tommy O’Brien, who went over to reduce the arrears to 13-5.

The visitors came under heavy pressure after the restart and held on to their eight-point advantage until the 55th minute when flanker Ryan Baird crashed over from close range.

Leinster fly-half Joey Carbery converted to make it 13-12 and with Munster down to 14 men after centre Alex Nankivell was shown a yellow card, the home side were rewarded for more sustained pressure.

Replacement fly-half Charlie Tector scampered over to put Leinster 17-13 ahead and centre Jamie Osborne touched down in the corner after another long pass from Gibson-Park to extend their lead to 24-13 before Munster full-back Ben O’Connor scored his side’s second try in the final minute.

Leinster Rugby: 15. Hugo Keenan; 14. Tommy O’Brien, 13. Jamie Osborne, 12. Robbie Henshaw, 11. Jimmy O’Brien; 10. Joey Carbery, 9. Jamison Gibson-Park; 1. Andrew Porter, 2. Rónan Kelleher, 3. Tadhg Furlong, 4. Joe McCarthy, 5. James Ryan, 6. Ryan Baird, 7. Josh van der Flier, 8. Dan Sheehan (capt)

Replacements: 16. Gus McCarthy, 17. Alex Usanov, 18. Thomas Clarkson, 19. Conor O’Tighearnaigh, 20. Scott Penny, 21. Fintan Gunne, 22. Caspar Gabriel, 23. Charlie Tector

Munster Rugby: 15. Ben O’Connor; 14. Shay McCarthy, 13. Seán O’Brien, 12. Alex Nankivell, 11. Shane Daly; 10. Charlie O’Shea, 9. Craig Casey; 1. Josh Wycherley, 2. Marnus van der Merwe, 3. Kieran Brookes, 4. Fineen Wycherley, 5. Tadhg Beirne (capt), 6. Jack O’Donoghue, 7. Alex Kendellen, 8. Gavin Coombes

Replacements: 16. Max Clein, 17. Mark Donnelly, 18. Michael Ala’alatoa, 19. Seán Edogbo, 20. Brian Gleeson, 21. Ben O’Donovan, 22. JJ Hanrahan, 23. Gordon Wood.