| Dragons (15) 29 |
| Try: L Baldwin, J Lewis Pens: S Davies 5 Cons: Davies 2 |
| Leinster (14) 35 |
| Tries: Dooley, Penny, Murphy, Penalty try, Sheehan Cons: R Byrne (4) |
Champions Leinster extended their lead at the top of Conference A with a bonus-point Pro14 win over Dragons at Rodney Parade.
Tries from Peter Dooley, Scott Penny, Josh Murphy and Dan Sheehan plus a penalty try secured the victory.
Five Sam Davies penalties had seen Dragons lead 15-14 at half-time.
The hosts suffered yellow cards for Lloyd Fairbrother and Dan Baker but late tries from Luke Baldwin and Josh Lewis ensured a losing bonus point.
Sam Davies finished the game with 19 points but also decided to kick the ball out at the end of the game with the final play rather than attempt an unlikely victory as Dragons suffered a seventh straight defeat in all competitions.
Dragons have managed just three wins from their 11 Pro14 games, while Leinster sit top of Conference A after picking up 55 points from 11 wins in 12 matches.
The hosts welcomed back Wales international wing Jonah Holmes after injury, while Aneurin Owen made a first start at centre in the absence of Lions star Jamie Roberts, following the birth of his son.
There was a minute silence before the start for Dragons academy member Ross Mohring who passed away recently.
Leinster number eight Jack Conan made his 100th appearance for the Irish region and produced a man-of-the-match display.
Davies, who signed a new contract this week, opened the scoring after 15 minutes with a penalty after Ross Molony was penalised, and added two more including one from half-way with the wind to build a 9-0 lead.
Prop Dooley reduced the deficit by charging over under the posts with Byrne converting.
Dragons outstanding flanker Ben Fry won a penalty almost immediately which Davies slotted over but Leinster power told with a second try as flanker Penny crashed over.
Wales number eight Baker made his Dragons debut after replacing Matthew Screech and his introduction coincided with Davies slotting over his fifth penalty.
Dragons led by a point at the interval after foraging flanker Fry was denied a late first-half try because of obstruction from a driving lineout.
The hosts’ lineout woes early in the second half cost the Dragons, with prop Fairbrother yellow carded in his 100th Pro14 game for persistent offending in defence, including no arms tackles and offside.
Flanker Murphy made use of the numerical advantage as he was driven over for Leinster’s third try and Dragons remained short-handed when Baker was yellow-carded for a professional foul as Leinster secured a bonus-point penalty try.
Replacement hooker Sheehan side-stepped his way over for Leinster’s fifth try before Dragons replacement scrum-half Baldwin dived over for the home side’s opening touchdown.
Another try from Lewis brought Dragons within six points and could have set up a grandstand finish, but Davies kicked the ball off the field instead of searching for the converted try which would have won the game for the home side.
This was a strange finale following a spirited Dragons fightback as Dean Ryan’s men settled for a losing bonus point.
Dragons director of rugby Dean Ryan: “In two or three months it (losing bonus point) will be important. I would hate to get to the end (of the season) and miss out on a point.
“I was asked a question whether I thought we could go 80 metres (down the pitch) against Leinster on here and we would be lucky.
“Mixed emotions (overall), with the 10-15 minutes after half-time and the yellow cards, we don’t have the confidence to go though those moments, but we showed at the end we can compete.
“I can’t go without recognising some of our youngsters, Aneurin Owen, Ben Carter, and Ben Fry I thought was outstanding, they looked the real deal and that’s a real positive.”
Leinster director of rugby Leo Cullen: “Conditions were difficult, first half our discipline was poor playing into the wind though we scored two tries
“A better second half, then we make some changes and it gets a bit disjointed, we made life a bit more difficult than it needed to be but there were some good passages of play so it’s mixed emotions.
“Overall, a positive result, a win away from home against a tough team on a difficult pitch.”
Dragons: Jordan Williams; Jonah Holmes, Aneurin Owen, Jack Dixon, Ashton Hewitt; Sam Davies, Rhodri Williams (c); Brok Harris, Richard Hibbard, Lloyd Fairbrother, Joe Davies, Ben Carter, Matthew Screech, Ben Fry, Huw Taylor
Replacements: Ellis Shipp, Greg Bateman, Chris Coleman, Joe Maksymiw, Dan Baker, Luke Baldwin, Josh Lewis, Connor Edwards.
Leinster: Max O’Reilly; Cian Kelleher, Rory O’Loughlin, Ross Byrne, Dave Kearney; Harry Byrne, Luke McGrath (c); Peter Dooley, James Tracy, Tom Clarkson, Ross Molony, Ryan Baird, Josh Murphy, Scott Penny, Jack Conan
Replacements: Dan Sheehan, Marcus Hanan, Greg McGrath, Devin Toner, Scott Fardy, Rowan Osborne, David Hawkshaw, Jamie Osborne.
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (WRU)
Assistant Referees: Dan Jones (WRU), Mike English (WRU)
TMO: Ian Davies (WRU)
Article courtesy of BBC Sport
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