Leinster extended their winning run to seven games as they produced a dominant second half performance in a 52-17 win against Connacht at Aviva Stadium
The defending BKT URC champions made it 10 wins in a row against their western rivals, as Stuart Lancaster's side suffered their third defeat in a row, and one which arrived in familiar fashion.
As with their recent defeats to Dragons and Ulster, they crumbled in the minutes before and after half time, conceding tries either side of the break as Leinster turned a 17-14 deficit into a 26-17 lead from which they never looked back.
Jamison Gibson-Park starred for the home side, who scored eight tries in total as they warmed up for their visit of La Rochelle with an impressive win, and in particular an improved attack.
It was Gibson-Park who laid the platform for the opening try after just three minutes, his quick penalty eventually leading to Dan Sheehan scoring in the corner, and their good start got even better minutes later when Charlie Tector pounced on a Sam Prendergast kick into the 22 to score under the posts, allowing the out-half a simple conversion to make it 14-0.
Connacht halved the deficit in the 18th minute through Dylan Tierney-Martin, who just about reached over the line. Sam Gilbert converted and added a penalty, while Leinster lost second row Joe McCarthy to the sin-bin after a cynical breakdown infringement.
Leinster's discipline was giving Connacht access to the 22, and the away side turned the game on its head through Finlay Bealham from close range with just under five minutes to play until half time, as Gilbert converted to make it 17-14.
That was as good as it would get for Connacht, who couldn't bring their half time lead to the break as Prendergast scored a try to nudge Leinster 19-17 in front.
Leinster’s second-half procession started four minutes after the break when Brian Deeny reached for the line and they soon restored their 14-point lead through O’Brien’s slaloming effort.
Things were threatening to get ugly when Tector and O’Brien both scored again, and Joshua Kenny added the finishing touches with his sixth try of the season to get the hosts past the 50-point mark.
