Nobody expected much from Bath and it's fair to say they lived up to those expectations.

In other circumstances it might have been possible to refer to Leinster’s performance here as a statement win but the paucity of the opposition has to be taken into account.

Still, in front of 25,403 on a calm afternoon in Dublin, Leinster had a job to do and from as early as the 25th minute all the heavy lifting had been done.

It was a matter of getting out of Lansdowne Road without any injury concerns.

The English side had beaten Leinster in just two of 11 previous meetings and were never going to improve their side of the ledger here.

Bottom on the Premiership with nine defeats in nine games, they arrived a ragged, ill-disciplined bunch, with the hosts almost scoring at will in the first half.

The loss of three unnamed players after positive Covid-19 tests late in the week was never going to derail the Leinster juggernaut here.

Head coach Leo Cullen has admitted that his charges place "huge pressure" on themselves to get that fifth Heineken Champions Cup star and this game was but a small stepping stone along the path to bridge the four-year gap since Bilbao in 2018.

Jamison Gibson-Park scores the opening try

Bath academy out-half Orlando Bailey, who finished with 10 points, kicked an early penalty but it was just the spur Leinster needed.

A quick flash of hands on the half-way line from Ciarán Frawley, Garry Ringrose and James Lowe set up returning scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park for the first of his two tries in the fifth minute.

The strong running of captain Rhys Ruddock, Andrew Porter, Josh van der Flier and man of the match Tadhg Furlong was stretching the Bath defence and the gaps soon opened up.

A converted Furlong try came along seven minutes later and while Bailey kicked another penalty, the Pool A bonus point was in the bag in the 25th minute.

Having lost flanker Richard de Carpentier to a yellow card in the 24th minute, Bath couldn't even claim to be at sixes and sevens.

Hugo Keenan went through a gap in the 22 and while for a moment it looked as if he had missed a chance, his inside pop was collected by Lowe, who returned the favour a few minutes later for the full-back to coast over for his sixth try in blue.

It was by now a matter of by how much and a bullocking run by Ryan Baird cleared a path for Gibson-Park to add a fifth.

However, Stuart Hooper’s side had the last say of the half when hooker Jacques du Toit scored in the corner after a trick lineout play that caught the URC leaders' defence sleeping – a Monday work-on, no doubt.

Ronán Kelleher added another fine effort to his collection when he took the ball off Van der Flier on the 22, initially not held in the tackle, the hooker was strong enough to hold off three Bath defenders to glide over for the opening try of the second half with 48 minutes on the clock.

Byrne, who finished with 10 points off the tee, tapped over and Leinster introduced a new front row with next Friday night’s trip to the GGL Stadium to face Montpellier in mind.

The game inevitably became scrappy but Bailey exposed some gaps in the Leinster defence with a chip over the top that didn’t come to anything, however, that it was the second time that it happened in the game would be another concern for Cullen.

But with ball in hand, the four-time champions were lethal, van der Flier barging over for their seventh in the 58th minute.

Byrne was replaced with 20 minutes to play, giving erstwhile centre Frawley a run-out at 10.

The 24-year-old, called up to the Ireland squad in November, almost sent Luke McGrath in after a defence-splitting dummy in midfield.

Bath replacement Gabriel Hamer-Webb ran in under the posts with a minute left, exposing some more hesitant defence but the job had long been complete.

Leinster: Hugo Keenan; Jordan Larmour, Garry Ringrose, Ciarán Frawley, James Lowe; Ross Byrne, Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Rónan Kelleher, Tadhg Furlong; Ross Molony, Ryan Baird; Rhys Ruddock (capt), Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris.

Replacements: Dan Sheehan, Cian Healy, Michael Ala'alatoa, Devin Toner, Max Deegan, Luke McGrath, Jimmy O'Brien, Tommy O'Brien.

Bath: Tom de Glanville; Semesa Rokoduguni, Will Butt, Max Ojomoh, Will Muir; Orlando Bailey, Ben Spencer; Lewis Boyce, Jacques du Toit, Will Stuart; Josh McNally, Charlie Ewels (capt); Tom Ellis, Richard de Carpentier, Josh Bayliss

Replacements: Tom Dunn, Arthur Cordwell, D'Arcy Rae, Will Spencer, Ewan Richards, Joe Simpson, Gabriel Hamer-Webb, Tom Prydie

Referee: Pierre Brousset (France)

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