Leinster defeated the Ospreys 61-14 in the United Rugby Championship at the RDS Arena on Saturday.
The Irish province closed the gap on league leaders Glasgow Warriors, with victory taking them to within just one log point of Franco Smith’s side.
Jimmy O’Brien, Ross Moloney, Jordan Larmour (3), Jason Jenkins, Jamie Osborne and Charlie Ngatai scored tries for Leinster, with Ross Byrne adding five conversions and Ciaran Frawley two conversions. .
Leinster’s second-half performance inflated the scoreline, with Ospreys only leading 21-14 at half-time thanks to an Owen Watkin try and a penalty try, but the Welsh side were able to add to their tally with 40 points in the second half. There wasn’t.
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A goal from Owen Watkin and a penalty try brought the Ospreys level at 14-14 by the middle of the first half, but the Ospreys were denied the lead and dropped one place to 11th.
O’Brien, who was named Player of the Match, scored the opening goal within three minutes, evading a tackle from Luke Morgan and swooping in from the left.
Second-rower Moloney celebrated his 30th birthday with a fine goal from close range, before Ross Byrne followed it up with a similar goal in the 11th minute.
Despite this, the Ospreys hit back brilliantly when Morgan Morris linked up with Watkin from the scrum and the center cut inside Osborne and Josh van der Flier for a deft seven-pointer.
The Welsh side had equalized by the 18th minute, Dan Edwards’ cross-field kick finding Morgan in the right corner. He was tackled in the air by Frawley and was given a yellow card and a penalty try.
Leinster regained the lead in the 27th minute when Max Nagy failed to deal with Byrne’s clever kick, Larmour swooped down and grounded the ball, but the home side never looked back.
Ominously, Jenkins scored within the first minute after a half-tome past Morgan, with Byrne converting for the fourth time.
By the hour mark, substitute Jamison Gibson-Park, captain Caelan Doris and Robbie Henshaw had all contributed to a fast-paced attack that sent Larmour’s second try wide.
Even with Kieran Giles breaking the ball, Ospreys were unable to change the momentum of the second half and were unable to connect with Jack Walsh.
Leinster, by contrast, struggled in possession, with Tommy O’Brien collecting his own kick-through before Osborne played a pass into goal.
Ngatai then broke a tackle and crossed from fellow substitute Scott Penney’s pass as Leinster’s tries continued.
Evaldi Boshov was given a late yellow for a deliberate knock-on which added to Wales’ problems, and Gibson Park hit the ball wide to allow Larmour to reach the half-century milestone for the province.
Full-back Frawley completed three conversions, including the last one after Tommy O’Brien got on the scoresheet chasing Jimmy O’Brien’s kick.
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leinster v ospreys
Leinster: 15 Ciaran Frawley, 14 Jordan Larmour, 13 Jamie Osborne, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Jimmy O’Brien, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Sheeran Doris (c), 7 Will Connors, 6 Ryan Baird, 5 Jason Jenkins, 4 Ross Moloney, 3 Tad Furron, 2 Ronan Kelleher, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacement: 16 Dan Sheehan, 17 Michael Milne, 18 Thomas Clarkson, 19 Jack Conan, 20 Josh Van Der Flier, 21 Jamison Gibson Park, 22 Charlie Ngatai, 23 Tommy O’Brien
Osprey: 15 Max Nagy, 14 Luke Morgan, 13 Owen Watkin, 12 Kieran Williams, 11 Kieran Giles, 10 Dan Edwards, 9 Ruben Morgan-Williams, 8 Morgan Morris, 7 Justin Tipuric (c), 6 Hari Deaves, 5 Hugh Sutton, 4 James Ratty, 3 Rhys Henry, 2 Dewi Lake, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacement: 16 Sam Parry, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 Tom Botha, 19 Victor Sekekete, 20 Jack Morgan, 21 Luke Davies, 22 Jack Walsh, 23 Evaldi Boshoff
venue: RDS Arena (Dublin)
kick off: 19:35 BST (20:35 ITA & SA)
Referee: Sam Grove-White (SRU)
Assistant referee: Kean Davison (IRFU), Oisin Quinn (IRFU)
TMO: Andrew McMenemy (IRFU)
Broadcaster: TG4, S4C, Premier Sports, Super Sports, Flow Rugby, URC.tv
