LEINSTER RECORDED A try-scoring bonus point 34-22 victory over the Cardiff Blues at Arms Park this evening to move them to the top of the RaboDirect Pro12 table.
Munster will have a chance to displace them on Sunday when they travel to the Ospreys, but for now Matt O’Connor can take pleasure in his side extending their winning streak to five games in the league.
Debutant No. 8 Jack Conan kicked off the scoring after just four minutes had elapsed, when he pounced on a ball that shot out the side of a scrum five metres out from the Blues try-line. The Old Belvedere man burrowed his way across the whitewash to allow Jimmy Gopperth a straightforward conversion.
Richardt Strauss got on the the end of some nice handling down the left flank to score Leinster’s second try, finishing off a passage of pressure inside the home team’s 22. With Gopperth again adding the extras, O’Connor’s men found themselves 14-0 up after just 20 minutes.
The Blues bounced back immediately however, when out-half Gareth Davies beat some weak tackles to score under the posts and then convert his own try. A Gopperth penalty kept the scoreboard ticking over for Leinster, but a Kristian Dacey try from a powerful maul saw Cardiff go in at the half time break just 17-12 down.
Leinster enjoyed the better of the third quarter of the game though, with Ireland internationals Michael Bent and Eoin Reddan scoring tries to push themselves out of Cardiff’s reach at 34-15.
Impressive fullback Dan Fish did dot down in the 61st minute to cap off a strong individual performance for the Blues, but Leinster comfortably saw out the remainder of what was an entertaining clash.