Leinster continued their great start in the Celtic League with a 55-13 drubbing of Ebbw Vale at Donnybrook while there was mixed fortunes for the other Irish sides in action tonight.
Leinster 55 Ebbw Vale 13
Mike Ruddock’s return to Dublin was far from nostalgic as his side were well and truly beaten by a much more dominant Leinster team who were completely in control of this encounter from early on. The home side scored a total of eight tries during the course of the game and this latest victory sees them consolidate their position at the top of the table with three wins out of three starts.
It was Leinster who led at half-time by 31-6 after first-half tries from centre Adam Magro, full-back Girvan Dempsey, Simon Keogh and Nathan Spooner. It was Magro who gave Leinster the lead with his first touchdown and the Irish side never looked back. Although Scott Mitchell’s early converted second-half try gave the visitors some hope, Leinster's response was devastating with further tries from Magrot and Dempsey, while Denis Hickie and Eric Miller also touched down.
Munster 40 Connacht 30
The introduction of Ronan O'Gara into the Munster team 14 minutes from time in this Celtic League encounter which doubled up as an Interprovincial tie proved the catalyst as the home side strode to a comfortable victory by the final whistle. When O'Gara joined the game, Munster were leading 21-12 thanks to seven penalties by Jeremy Staunton against four for Connacht by Eric Elwood. Neither team had managed to get a grip on proceedings up until that point, with Connacht defending bravely against an obviously superior Munster side but O'Gara's arrival changed matters completely.
Within minutes of his substitution, he had sent John O'Neill through for Munster's first try and just two minutes later, man-of-the-match Jeremy Staunton, who scored 30 points of Munster's final tally of 40, touched down after a superb display of individual skill. With just minutes remaining, O'Gara was involved yet again in another definitive move which resulted in Marcus Horan going over the line at the corner.
Although Munster's victory was assured, they will not be happy that they allowed replacement scrum-half Eoin Brennan to nip over the line in injury-time with Elwood converting to reduce the deficit.
Ulster 26 Llanelli 27
Ulster were dealt a bitter blow in injury-time of their encounter against Welsh side Llanelli at Ravenhill tonight when fly-half Stephen Jones successfully converted a late try from Wayne Proctor to snatch victory from the home side's grasp. However, the visitors deserved their win, outscoring Ulster by three tries to one.
Although Ulster dominated in the opening stages of this game, they only had a David Humphreys penalty to show for their efforts. Llanelli then took control when hooker Marcus Thomas got the first try of the match and Jones added the conversion and then a penalty to extend the Welsh side's advantage. Humphreys reduced the deficit with a penalty before he and Jones exchanged penalties to leave Llanelli leading 13-9 approaching half-time.
However, substitute David Allen turned things around just before the break when he touched down for an unconverted try to give his side a 14-13 interval lead. Not long after the re-start, Humphreys added another penalty but Llanelli regained their advantage when left wing Garan Evans touched over and Jones converted once more. But poor discipline from Llanelli almost cost them the game as Humphreys scored two further penalties to put Ulster back in front 23-20. His put over his seventh penalty of the match three minutes from time and Ulster looked on their way to a slim victory.
But it was Llanelli who had the last laugh when Ulster lost possession from a line-out inside the visitors' half and conceded a penalty in the process. Jones knocked the ball into touch and Proctor took advantage to storm over the line and stun the home crowd. Jones completed the turnaround to secure a much-deserved victory for the visitors.
In tonight's other Celtic League matches, Pontypridd lost 6-11 at home to Swansea while Neath won away to Edinburgh 32-20 at Myreside.
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
