Leinster rout Ospreys to clinch URC second place

Leinster scored 11 tries, with a hat-trick from Joe McCarthy, as they demolished the Ospreys 68-14 at the Aviva Stadium to secure second place in the United Rugby Championship.

The home side made a strong start with two tries inside the opening seven minutes. Joe McCarthy barged over under the posts from close range before Max Deegan went through following a drive from a line-out, and Harry Byrne successfully landed both conversions for a 14-0 lead.

Leinster continued their momentum as flanker Josh van der Flier touched down after being picked out on the overlap by Jack Conan before Jimmy O’Brien then ran clear to secure a bonus-point try in the 23rd minute.

Ospreys finally stemmed the flow just after the half-hour mark when Huw Sutton crashed over from Rhys Davies’ offload, but the Irish province still took a comfortable 28-7 lead into half-time.

Leinster then took the game away from the Ospreys with a ruthless second half. Garry Ringrose ran in, winger Jordan Larmour then chasing down a kick through before McCarthy powered across in the 56th minute.

United Rugby Championship

P

W

L

D

PF

PA

PD

BP T

BP-7

BP

Total

1

Glasgow

18

13

5

0

65

2

Leinster

18

12

6

0

63

3

Stormers

18

12

5

1

60

4

Bulls

18

12

6

0

59

5

Cardiff Rugby

18

11

7

0

55

6

Connacht

18

10

8

0

54

7

Lions

17

10

6

1

53

8

Ulster

18

9

8

1

52

9

Munster

17

10

7

0

51

10

Sharks

18

8

9

1

46

11

Ospreys

18

7

9

2

39

12

Edinburgh

18

7

11

0

38

13

Benetton

18

6

10

2

33

14

Scarlets

18

4

12

2

28

15

Dragons RFC

18

3

11

4

28

16

Zebre

18

2

16

0

15

Larmour added another try just before the hour, running in from his own half, with McCarthy completing his hat-trick and James Lowe scoring from wide for his 69th Leinster try to tie the club record. Ospreys got a late scant consolation try from Dan Edwards.

Meanwhile, a 75th-minute try by Marc Page earned Scarlets a share of the spoils after a thrilling 35-35 draw with Dragons.

In the battle between the two Welsh clubs to avoid the wooden spoon, Dragons were set to leapfrog Scarlets after a try by the departing Aaron Wainwright and a second-half penalty try.

Scarlets had suffered recent defeats in late fashion but flipped the script this time and Page finished off before Joe Hawkins nailed a tough conversion to clinch a dramatic draw in Llanelli.

An enthralling contest started with a bang when Taine Plumtree’s second-minute try for Scarlets was cancelled out by Thomas Young after four minutes.

Plumtree went over again for Scarlets, but Brodie Coghlan and Wainwright scored to ensure Dragons held a narrow 22-14 advantage at half-time.

Angus O’Brien kicked two penalties after the break to give 15th-placed Dragons breathing space before tries for Scarlets duo Josh Macleod and Jarrod Taylor were followed by a penalty try for the visitors, but the final word went to Page to ensure bragging rights were claimed by the home team.