Leinster hosted Vodacom Bulls on Friday evening and continued their dominance of the log with a comprehensive seven-try to one, 47-14 bonus point win.
A blitzkrieg of two tries within three minutes early in the second half took the fight out of the Vodacom Bulls who missed their starters with their bench not delivering any punch in the final twenty minutes of play.
The first half of play was a humdinger with the Vodacom Bulls dominating the physical contacts, however, Leinster clawed the way back after fifteen minutes of play and two tries gave them a 12-06 lead. The Vodacom Bulls added eight unanswered points during the final five minutes of play to lead 14-12 going into the second half.
The initial physical onslaught by the Vodacom Bulls paid off early with a Johan Goosen converted penalty to open the scoring after eight minutes of play in the first half. Goosen added a second penalty conversion six minutes later on the back of the third penalty conceded by Leinster come scrum time.
Despite being under siege up front, Leinster has shown their abilities on the attack and after nineteen minutes of play Josh van der Flier scored under the poles following great interplay and passing by Leinster. Leinster led 07-06 at the end of the first quarter.
Ten minutes later Leinster scored their second try when Rónan Kelleher scored a try off the back of a five-meter lineout-maul to extend Leinster's lead to 12-06.
The Vodacom Bulls struck back almost immediately when Kurt-Lee Arendse scored in the corner following a counter-attack by Johan Goosen who put Arendse in the gap with a great pass. Johan Goosen added his third converted penalty for the Vodacom Bulls to retake the lead by 14-12 which was also the halftime score.
Leinster started the second half like a house on fire and scored tries, securing a bonus point, by James Lowe and Michael Milne to extend their lead to 26-14 after just eight minutes of play in the second half.
Dan Sheehan scored in the corner as Leinster set up camp in the Vodacom Bulls red zone, launching attack after attack against a defence that started to show cracks. Leinster at this stage are dominant with the Vodacom Bulls forced to defend for most of the time.
Leinster's added tries by Jack Conan and Liam Turner, to extend Leinster's lead to 47-14. Leinster outplayed the Vodacom Bulls in the second half with the Vodacom Bulls failing to add some punch during the final twenty minutes of play.
Scorers:
Leinster: Tries: Josh van der Flier, James Lowe, Michael Milne, Dan Sheehan, Jack Conan, Liam Turner. Conversions: Harry Byrne (3), Ross Byrne (3).
Vodacom Bulls: Try: Kurt-Lee Arendse (2). Conversion: Chris Smith. Penalties: Johan Goosen (3).
Teams
Leinster: 15 Jordan Larmour, 14 Rob Russell, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Jamie Osborne, 11 James Lowe, 10 Harry Byrne, 9 Luke McGrath (c), 8 Jack Conan, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Ryan Baird, 5 Joe McCarthy, 4 Ross Molony, 3 Michael Ala’alatoa, 2 Rónan Kelleher, 1 Cian Healy. Replacements: 16 Dan Sheehan, 17 Michael Milne, 18 Tadhg Furlong, 19 Jason Jenkins, 20 Caelan Doris, 21 Jamison Gibson-Park, 22 Ross Byrne, 23 Liam Turner.
Vodacom Bulls: 15 Willie Le Roux, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 David Kriel, 11 Devon Williams, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Marcell Coetzee (captain), 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Ruan Nortje (cc), 4 Ruan Vermaak, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Akker van der Merwe, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp. Replacements: 16 Johan Grobbelaar, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Mornay Smith, 19 Reinhardt Ludwig, 20 Mpilo Gumede, 21 Zak Burger, 22 Chris Smith, 23 Harold Vorster.