From Piaras Murphy at Donnybrook
Leinster 21 Newport 6
Leinster put on yet another solid defensive performance as they beat Newport and thus stretched their winning streak for the season to ten, and their unbeaten home record at Donnybrook to sixteen.
However, they started hesitantly and looked very much a side that hadn’t played for three weeks, highlighted by two badly struck penalty goal attempts by Nathan Turner in the first seven minutes.
Newport took the lead after ten minutes through a Shane Howarth penalty. They continued to harry and hustle the Leinster players in possession, although they were somewhat aided and abetted by a loose interpretation of the offside law by the match referee.
With Brian O’Driscoll absent, Leinster badly needed a game breaker and out it came in the form of Denis Hickie.
He left his mark on the game after 25 minutes, when from a scrum deep in the Leinster half, with Newport and the crowd expecting Leinster to clear, Brian O’Meara fed Hickie who sprinted through a surprised Newport midfield to give the supporting Shane Horgan a simple try beside the posts, which Spooner converted. The score remained 7-3 at the break.
The Australian restored some confidence to his game with two penalties within ten minutes of the restart.
Leinster, however, spent much of their time stubbornly defending, allowing the Welsh the scant reward of a single Howarth penalty after 58 minutes.
With such a converted try the difference Leinster continued to spend their time defending their precious lead.
Spooner supplied some relief in the 78th minute with his third penalty. Two minutes into injury time Shane Horgan picked his way through the Newport defence to give the scoring pass to substitute Peter McKenna.
Talk about putting some gloss on the scoreline.