RG Snyman’s try secured Leinster’s bonus point 26-12 win in a Round 4 United Rugby Championship derby at Croke Park on Saturday evening.
James Lowe, Caelan Doris, Hugo Keenan and Snyman picked up the five-pointers in what was a devastating first half.
Munster quickly started off well as Mike Haley’s grab of the kick-off which tempted the home side into coughing up a penalty.
The plan appeared to be to scope the outside channels and give Calvin Nash and Sean O’Brien room to manoeuvre.
Some expert floor work from Doris was good enough to provide a decent field position for Leinster.
From there, it was a matter of big men on the move as Tadhg Furlong and Ciarán Frawley hit it up before Jamison Gibson-Park launched that trademark skip pass for Lowe to dot down for the first try of the evening. Frawley converted.
After the restart, Leinster lighthouse James Ryan snatched a lineout from Tadhg Beirne to relieve pressure inside the 22.
A misfiring Munster lineout was an invitation for the Blues to surge again, Liam Turner making metres down the right.
James Lowe’s intuition to tap and go from a five-metre penalty provided a platform for Josh van der Flier to create momentum before Doris went over at the posts. Frawley converted again.
The stream of possession continued, Doris muscling metres, Lowe escaping up the left and the backs stitching the passes for Keenan to make it three tries, and Frawley three conversions, in 15 minutes.
Jack Conan was penalised for playing the ball off his feet and Jack Crowley settled for a long-range penalty but his effort came back off the crossbar.
At the next penalty, Crowley opted for the corner as Munster started to dig in with some real pressure.
Ryan was once more able to foil the Munster lineout, this time from five metres out, but the away side kept coming. Soon, Tom Farrell made an incision. Nankivell straightened. But Garry Ringrose grasped O’Brien’s offload.
It looked like Munster found the answer from Nankivell’s left-handed delivery to Nash only for the pass to be ruled forward after Munster had touched down.
The visiting front row popped up at the resulting scrum. Frawley was in place to clear when handy work from Haley and Crowley created a sliver of space.
Farrell found an opening where there seemed to be none. Gibson-Park prevented a certain try for O’Brien.
Back-to-back scrum penalties put Munster five metres away again. This time, Jean Kleyn secured Niall Scannell’s throw. Gavin Coombes cleverly picked out O’Brien for the try in the 35th minute but Crowley missed the conversion to leave the score 21-5.
Liam Turner’s contest in the air forced a lineout. Doris guaranteed the gain line. The pressure built consistently. Snyman shot between Stephen Archer and Craig Casey to claim the bonus-point try and give Leinster a 26-5 lead at the interval.
A failure to deal with the kick-off at the start of the second half offered Munster an entry point on the 22. Coombes’ carry was trumped by Doris’s agility at the breakdown.
Ball movement was Munster’s way forward. Furlong engulfed Nash. Ringrose blocked Crowley. Frawley kicked on when Jack O’Donoghue couldn’t gather the ball at his feet.
The element of desperation was supported by precise passing, which was closed down by Max Deegan taking John Hodnett and Frawley taking Nankivell.
A miracle steal by Beirne on Ringrose sparked a fluent movement which was ended by Jamie Osborne’s interception of O’Brien.
It was the away side’s turn to absorb pressure, patiently lining up ball handlers through phases, Ringrose’s straight running resetting the point of attack. The ball retention ended with Andrew Porter’s spill under pressure.
Farrell slipped outside Furlong’s tackle. Nankivell was in the clear, preferring to take on Keenan and Thomas Clarkson when a simple ball to Tom Ahern would have done the trick.
Osborne smashed Nankivell backwards to give the cavalry, led by Turner and Frawley, a chance to pound out a penalty from the counter-ruck.
Leinster came close to adding to their first-half tally when Gibson-Park chipped for Lowe to chase but Haley had the legs to just edge the race.
Conor Murray exploited a gap. Coombes was the unlikely provider of a grubber kick for Haley to apply downward pressure, Crowley converting in the 67th minute to make it 26-12.
The pace was relentless. Nash fended off Van der Flier in the air. Frawley dealt with an awkward bounce. Ringrose sniped for cheap metres.
Stellar work at the breakdown garnered a shot at the posts for Ross Byrne which fell short before Frawley’s penalty hit an upright from near halfway.
There was still time for Ringrose to take a quick tap and for Munster to threaten on the counter in the hectic final minutes but in the end, the game finished 26-12 as Leinster claimed their four bonus point win from four games this season.
Scorers:
Leinster Rugby: Tries: James Lowe, Caelan Doris, Hugo Keenan, RG Snyman. Conversions: Ciarán Frawley (3).
Munster Rugby: Tries: Seán O’Brien, Mike Haley. Conversion: Jack Crowley.
Teams:
Leinster Rugby: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Liam Turner, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Jamie Osborne, 11 James Lowe, 10 Ciarán Frawley, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris (c), 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Jack Conan, 5 James Ryan, 4 RG Snyman, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Lee Barron, 1 Andrew Porter. Replacements: 16 Gus McCarthy, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Thomas Clarkson, 19 Ryan Baird, 20 Max Deegan, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Ross Byrne, 23 Harry Byrne.
Munster Rugby: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Alex Nankivell, 11 Seán O’Brien, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 John Hodnett, 6 Jack O’Donoghue, 5 Tadhg Beirne (c), 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Jeremy Loughman. Replacements: 16 Diarmuid Barron, 17 Kieran Ryan, 18 John Ryan, 19 Tom Ahern, 20 Ruadhán Quinn, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Tony Butler, 23 Shay McCarthy.