Leinster maintained their winning start to the BKT United Rugby Championship with a 24-6 win against the Emirates Lions, although the South Africans did keep Leo Cullen's side below four tries for the first time this season.
Tries for Josh van der Flier and Caelan Doris saw Leinster keep the tourists at arm’s length for much of the contest at the Aviva Stadium, before a penalty try right on full-time put some gloss on the result.
The South African side rarely threatened the Leinster line, but were organised and tough on the opposite side of the ball, repeatedly thwarting their hosts who spent the final 20 minutes chasing two scores which could have brought up a bonus-point.
Sam Prendergast played 60 minutes, kicking two conversions and a penalty ahead of linking up with the Ireland squad next week, and while the out-half wasn't perfect, he continued to play with a sense of adventure, testing the corners and backfield with some innovative kicking.
He linked up nicely on a number of occasions with his former Ireland Under-20 team-mate Hugh Cooney, who impressed in the centre on his home debut, but this was a game won in the forwards, with Doris, Van der Flier and Ryan Baird in particular carrying hard and getting their side over the gainline.
RG Snyman needed less than a minute to have his first impact on the game, with his block-down on Morne van den Berg’s box-kick leading to a penalty under the posts, which Prendergast kicked to give his side an early 3-0 lead.
Leinster enjoyed the bulk of the possession in the opening ten minutes, but weren't as clinical as they had been against Munster and Connacht in that early period.
A series of excellent carries from Robbie Henshaw, Ryan Baird and Max Deegan provided the best opportunity, but after they got width on the ball, Hugo Keenan was held up over the line by the covering Lions defence. Moments later, Deegan was almost put into space by a deft Prendergast pass, but spilled the ball as he saw daylight ahead of him.
A penalty against Van der Flier at the breakdown allowed Kade Wolhuter level the game at 3-3 in the 11th minute, and six minutes later the Lions out-half put his side in front, when he landed a second three-pointer from just inside the Leinster half.
While Leinster were creating opportunities, they were getting on the wrong side of referee Craig Evans, and were lucky not to fall further behind on 23 minutes. Prendergast initially won a turnover in his own half, before James Lowe tested the backfield with a chip over the defensive line, but the supporting cast piled in over the top of the ruck to concede a penalty, and to their relief Wolhuter pulled his long-range effort right and wide.
The home side needed a spark, and Lowe’s left boot provided it on 28 minutes. With a scrum in their own 22, Leinster went to Lowe for an exit kick, and the winger launched a rocket downfield, which caught a perfect bounce to stay infield and trickle down into the Lions 22.
Edwill van der Merwe tried to run his way out of danger, but after a Luke McGrath tackle, Michael Milne got in over the ball to win a penalty, which Leinster kicked to the corner.
A lineout mishap looked like it might halt their progress, but after earning a scrum five metres out, Doris carried hard to get them close to the line, before Van der Flier drove over to score after multiple pick-and-go efforts.
Prendergast’s conversion put his side 10-6 in front on 31 minutes but they couldn’t add to the tally as the half progressed, in large parts down to their indiscipline which gave away nine first half penalties.
The Lions continued to frustrate Leinster early into the second half, while the hosts’ main avenue for attack appeared to be using Lowe’s kicking game, combined with a strong chase, to pin the visitors back into their own half. It was providing territory, but they couldn't convert it to points.
Hugh Cooney, who was impressing in his first start in the centre, put them into a promising position on 45 minutes when he changed the point of the attack back down the blindside, but as the Lions defence shot up in front of Lowe, he shipped a forward pass to Deegan outside him, which ended the attack.
Seven minutes later, a scrum penalty gave them another opportunity to launch an attack at the Lions 22, as Doris, Baird and Henshaw all carried hard to straighten the defence, but just as it looked like Andrew Osborne was about to run in and score in the corner, play was called back for a forward pass against Prendergast.
They continued to knock on the door. In the 55th minute, Lowe was inches from scoring after Prendergast sent a grubber to the corner, but Leinster were foiled by a brilliant recovery from Henco van Wyk who got his fingertips to the ball.
It felt inevitable that Leinster would score, and on 58 minutes they finally did. With a penalty five metres out, Gus McCarthy tapped and went for the line, and while he was stopped short, Van der Flier popped the ball up for Doris to charge over, as Prendergast put some daylight between the sides at 17-6.
The Lions were refusing to buckle though, and worked a rare opportunity in the 22 when they forced a breakdown penalty 40 metres out with just over 15 minutes to play, but a crooked lineout ended that trip as soon as it started.
It was as close as they came to a try, with Leinster looking the most likely to break over the paint. A Cormac Foley spill at the base of a ruck on 75 minutes realistically ended the chance for the province to score two quick tries which would have secured the bonus-point, but with the final play of the game a dominant maul was hauled to ground by the Lions pack, with a penalty try giving Leinster a buffer on the scoreboard that their dominance probably deserved.
Leinster scorers: Tries: Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris, Penalty Try
Cons: Sam Prendergast (2)
Pens: Sam Prendergast
Lions scorers: Pens: Kade Wolhuter (2)
Leinster: Hugo Keenan; Andrew Osborne, Hugh Cooney, Robbie Henshaw, James Lowe; Sam Prendergast, Luke McGrath; Michael Milne, Gus McCarthy, Rabah Slimani; RG Snyman, Ryan Baird; Max Deegan, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris (capt)
Replacements: Stephen Smyth (for McCarthy, 79), Andrew Porter (for Milne, 45), Thomas Clarkson (for Slimani, 45), Brian Deeny (for Baird, 67), James Culhane (for Deegan, 69), Cormac Foley (for McGrath, 63), Ross Byrne (for Prendergast, 63), Charlie Tector (for Henshaw, 79)
Lions: Quan Horn; Richard Kriel, Henco van Wyk, Rynhardt Jonker, Edwill van der Merwe; Kade Wolhuter, Morne van den Berg; Juan Schoeman, PJ Botha, Asenathi Ntlabakanye; Ruben Schoeman, Reinhard Nothnagel; JC Pretorius, Jarod Cairns, Francke Horn (capt)
Replacements: Franco Marais (for Botha, 60), Heiko Pohlmann (for J Schoeman, 67), RF Schoeman (for Ntlabakanye, 67), Ruan Delport (for R Schoeman, 60), Renzo du Plessis (for Pretorius, 69), Sanele Nohamba (for Wolhuter, 67), Marius Louw (for Jonker, 60), Erich Cronje (for Q Horn, 11)
Referee: Craig Evans (WRU)
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