Speaking of backrow speed, Josh van der Flier didn’t quite reach the same level on the speedometer as Baird - he was nearly caught after all - but this was still a good finish. Look at Larmour coming in off his wing to influence proceedings, sit defenders down and open up space on the outside.
We all know Larmour has excellent footwork, but if he develops a consistent ability to influence games coming on off his wing like he did here, well, we all know how Andy Farrell loves his wings to do just that.
Are there many better sights than Ryan Baird in full flight? Probably not, but Charlie Ngatai’s step and break - he was excellent in attack for Leinster - opened up the gap and the former St Michael’s man showed off his top end speed on the support line.
Rob Russell is getting a reputation as a poacher. He’s now got seven tries in as many URC matches this season, albeit his effort tonight was the easiest he’ll ever get after Leinster sucked in the defence and Cormac Foley threw a good wide ball.
Let’s run through the scores in the second half. Jordan Larmour was man of the match, and scoring two tries - this one again showing off his ridiculous footwork - went a long way to determining that. His defence contribution both in collisions and at the breakdown were noteworthy, but that’s not as fun to watch as Larmour breaking ankles.
78 mins: Oh wow. Leinster nearly go straight from the kick-off. Scott Penny steps a defender before working pass another only for the try-scoring offload to be spilled by Foley. Meanwhile, Larmour is named player of the match.
Full-time: Leinster 41 Connacht 12
Clinical in the end from Leinster. For 65 minutes Connacht made them work very hard but ultimately Leinster’s depth and ability to raise the intensity levels in the closing stages saw them run up the score. They stretch their lead atop the URC table to eight points thanks to this result.
75 mins: John McKee’s strong chop tackle dislodges the ball from Dowling thanks to the speed with which he was upended. Connacht’s resistance continues to wilt further in the closing stages.
TRY JOSH VAN DER FLIER
76 mins: What a score. Larmour comes in off his wing, holding the ball long enough to draw his man before feeding O’Brien. He then fixes the last man to then send van der Flier over in the corner. Comprehensive stuff. Byrne misses the wide conversion.
TRY RYAN BAIRD!
72 mins: Ngatai is heavily involved again. Faced with three green shirts, instead of kicking or running into traffic he steps inside to break the line. Baird is on his shoulder and he has plenty of gas to take the last pass and sprint away over the line. Byrne adds the extras and this game is well and truly done.
71 mins: Carty thinks he has a 50:22 but it’s gone out on the full. Inches away from being perfect and a relief for Foley who had let the ball go out of play instead of trying to claim it.
TRY ROB RUSSELL
69 mins: Rob Russell has seven tries in seven URC matches this year! A Doris offload to Ngatai set up the attack inside the 22. Leinster then go phase after phase, sucking in defenders before Cormac Foley’s long pass leaves Russell with an easy run-in. Byrne pulls his conversion wide.
68 mins: Chance wasted. Leinster patiently work their way into the 22 before O’Brien’s lovely offload nearly sends Byrne over. Gibson-Park then tries a chip over the top but it’s blocked down and Connacht are able to regather.
65 mins: Leinster’s lineout continues to flatter to deceive. McKee is on now and he overthrows everything. Connacht get the ball but can’t do anything with it as a forward pass ends their attack. Replays have shown how Sexton got injured, it was a head clash with Buttler and Sexton could well be lucky they didn’t look at that collision before he was subbed as he could well have been carded for being to upright.
64 mins: A try-saver for Leinster. Jimmy O’Brien was the man who brought Ralston into touch while scrambling. Connacht broke into the 22 playing against 14 with Sexton down injured. He’s off as Harry Byrne comes on to replace him.
Jack Carty is back on. Connacht did not concede while he was in the bin.
60 mins: Poor from Leinster. They don’t look after their own ball at the maul and Buttler is able to disrupt and force a turnover scrum.
59 mins: Sexton wants a deliberate knock-on call after his attempted wide ball to Russell is batted down. He initially doesn’t get it with the officials deciding it was accidental, only for the TMO to intervene and the decision to be overturned and a penalty given. Sexton kicks into the 22.
58 mins: One snipe too many for Blade. This time after making half a yard, he’s isolated and Kelleher gets in over the ball. Again, it’s questionable if he was supporting his bodyweight but he gets the decision.
57 mins: Now Connacht have a penalty. Turner is pinged for not rolling away after a good snipe by Blade which took play into the 22. Connacht go to the corner.
54 mins: Poor form Leinster. Gibson-Park snipes and goes close but is half isolated after being hauled down. Kelleher sees the jackal threat and panics, diving in off his feet an in the side. Connacht clear with the penalty.
53 mins: Now Cian Prendergast fails to roll away, allowing Sexton to kick into the corner. Connacht’s discipline early in this half has majorly let them down.
52 mins: Yellow card Jack Carty! Gibson-Park takes a quick tap, looks to offload but Carty intercepts when he wasn’t back 10m.
50 mins: Inches in it. Sexton is caught behind the gainline but manages to offload. Gibson-Park finds space in behind for the 50:22 but just overcooks it, sending the ball out on the full.
46 mins: Hawkshaw injured himself while trying to stop Larmour scoring, the step inside forcing his studs to get caught in the ground. It’s a nasty one which requires a stretcher. Eventually Sexton can take the conversion which he slices wide.
TRY JORDAN LARMOUR
45 mins: Larmour has a second! Again, he starts it all off by stepping a defender before releasing Russell into the 22. A few phases later, Gibson-Park spots a gap down the short side, firing a flat pass which allows Larmour to step inside and score.
43 mins: First defensive set of the half comes to an end for Leinster when Caelan Doris gets in over the ball to win the breakdown penalty.
41 mins: The second half is underway...
The last try of the half was from Connacht, but it was a very Leinster-esque score in the 22. Accuracy at the breakdown, fast ball and the right decision when picking runners, it was all too much as Farrell eventually crashed over. Gibson-Park says he was obstructed, but he never realistically would have made the tackle.
This try is music to the ears of Jordan Larmour fans. Finally we saw a display of how devastating his footwork can be. Right foot, left foot, two steps and multiple defenders are on their backside. He needed some luck with Carty fluffing O’Brien’s kick but it was fitting that Larmour himself got on the loose ball for the score.
Next up it was Brian Deeny for Leinster. A good maul, a couple of hard carries around the edge before the big second row spotted a gap down the short side and used his long arms to reach over the line.
Then Leinster were guilty of a defensive lapse, Sexton missing a one-up tackle and Russell unable to scramble. Hawkshaw was the beneficiary as his hard running was rewarded with a score against his old side.
Plenty of tries to take you through. First off Liam Turner opened things up, just poor defence from John Porch (11). He doesn’t follow his inside defender in biting in, leading to a disconnect and a wide open hole.
What a half of rugby. Both sides have had good, quick ruck ball and have threatened. Connacht’s discipline has been marginally the worse of the two, allowing Leinster a few avenues into the 22 but Leinster too have been guilty of that.
The difference between the two sides is Larmour’s moment of magic where he showed off his devastating footwork.
Half-time: Leinster 19 Connacht 12
I’m not sure Gibson-Park knew the clock was in the red there. It’s a brilliant grubber into the corner to pin Connacht inside their own 22, but it’s useless given the lineout won’t take place!
TRY TOM FARRELL
37 mins: Brilliant from Connacht. Accurate breakdown work and fast ball eventually does for Leinster as they work the ball to Farrell out wide. Gibson-Park says he was impeded which is why he wasn’t there for the tackle but the TMO is happy to let the try stand. Carty badly shanks his conversion.
36 mins: Poor from Ngatai. He clearly wasn’t the first man but still went in to contest the maul, making the penalty call an easy one. Carty goes into the corner.
TRY JORDAN LARMOUR
Wow, what a score. Not without luck, but the footwork from Larmour deserved a score. He stepped in off his right, and then immediately off his left to beat three defenders and sent O’Brien into the 22. He kicked with defenders swarming around, it’s not a great effort but an off-balanced Carty can only spill it straight into the arms of Larmour who had a clear run to the line.
Sexton converts from out wide.
31 mins: The sublime to the ridiculous from Sexton. Furst of all he steps Kilgallen on kick chase but then he slices his kick badly out on the full.
29 mins: Good phase play from Connacht with both Murray brothers very prominent, but it comes to an end when O’Brien gets in over the ball to win the penalty. Not sure he supported his body weight but Leinster get away with it.
David Hawkshaw’s effort that briefly had Connacht in the lead.
26 mins: Two brilliant pieces of Leinster handling are undone by an error. Doris and Gibson-Park throw two lovely offloads as they break around the fringes but Ngatai wasn’t ready for the last pass as he spills it forward.
TRY BRIAN DEENY
22 mins: Leinster retake the lead. After a good maul, Leinster get close before Deeny spots half a gap from close range and dives over. Good vision to spot Connacht not manning that side of the ruck sufficiently. Sexton converts.
21 mins: Leinster get a penalty as Connacht fail to roll away. Sexton asks Ryan what he thinks about the lineout, and after a quick chat he turns down the shot to go to the corner. Big call given Leinster have lost four out of six lineouts.
18 mins: Leinster nearly hit back immediately. Gibson-Park takes a penalty quickly, linking with Sexton to get into the 22. Ryan isn’t held in the tackle and he tries to offload to Baird metres from the line but the ball goes forward. Niall Murray got a hand in there to disrupt and it’s saved his side from scoring.
TRY DAVID HAWKSHAW
17 mins: Hawkshaw scores against his old team! Sexton misses a one-on-one tackle on first phase as his old teammate bursts through far too easily. Carty converts to put Connacht into the lead!
15 mins: Connacht continue to cause problems. Leinster give away the penalty as Doris seals off his feet. Carty will kick into the 22 once again.
13 mins: CHANCE! Connacht’s quick ball inside the 22 causes problems. They have an overlap on the outside but Porch’s pass to Murray goes to waste when the secondrow slips at the crucial moment.
12 mins: Larmour puts in a big hit on Porch there but his good work is undone by Ryan falling on top of the ruck. Connacht get a penalty and Carty kicks it into the corner.
11 mins: Baird hits Carty just after he kicks clear but the officials are happy there was nothing in it. Pressure on Kelleher’s throw here given all the steals and it shows, he’s overthrown everybody as Connacht scoop up the loose ball.
Here is that opening score from Turner.
9 mins: Kelleher’s lineout isn’t functioning as desired so far. Both of the Murray brothers have gotten a pilfer as Connacht do well to disrupt the set-piece.
8 mins: The handling from Leinster is so smooth under pressure as passes out the back and offloads offset the Connacht line speed. Sexton ultimately kicks across to Baird in space. He lets it bounce, allowing Porch to come back. If he attacked it and got it on the full he could have been in for the score.
5 mins: Really good recovery from Ngatai. He gets taken out of the game by a really good decoy line but sprints back in defence to make up for his error to get in over the ball and win a clearing penalty. That was a good attack from Connacht, they were troubling Leinster with short pops and fast ruck speed up to the penalty.
4 mins: Sexton misses what was a very kickable conversion.
TRY LIAM TURNER
3 mins: Well that didn’t take very long. Straight off the top of the lineout, Sexton takes a ball out the back. He has Turner going hard and Doris out the back and with no one respecting Turner’s run, Sexton gives him a short pop which opens up space far too easily for the score. It’s a first senior score for the Blackrock man.
1 min: We are underway at the RDS. Sexton’s early dink over the top is collected well by Prendergast. Farrell then takes out O’Brien in the air, allowing Sexton to kick into the 22. Can’t be giving Leinster early access points into the game like that...
Fancy some prematch reading? Here’s Daire Walsh’s preview piece. The long and the short of it is Connacht’s absentees plus Leinster’s returning big guns in the forwards should lead to a comfortable win for the hosts.
Leinster 41 Connacht 12
As for Connacht, they are without a number of big names with Mack Hansen, Josh Murphy and Finlay Bealham are all ruled out through illness. What’s more, Bundee Aki is rested due to Ireland internationals having their game time limited.
Peter Dooley and David Hawkshaw both return to the RDS for the first time since leaving Leinster for Connacht, while Niall and Darragh Murray - yes they are brothers - start in the secondrow for the first time together.
Let’s start with the teams. Leinster have brought back a raft of internationals while sprinkling in some of their younger talent. Gibson-Park, Sexton and Ngatai form the 9-10-12 axis with former Blackrock school’s cup captain Liam Turner at 13.
Brian Deeny starts at secondrow alongside James Ryan, while many people’s new favoured potential Ireland backrow of Ryan Baird, Josh van der Flier and Caelan Doris starts tonight.
There’s a late change to the bench where Marcus Hannan has been ruled out, Andrew Porter takes the 17 jersey.
Hello all and welcome to the second half of the New Year’s Day interpro double-header! After the drama of Munster’s last-gasp win over Ulster, next up it’s Leinster hosting Connacht in the RDS.
Nathan Johns here to guide you through the action. Get in touch on Twitter (@nathanrjohns) as we build up to kick-off.
