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Leinster unleash on Ospreys to seal second place in URC

16 May 2026; Josh van der Flier of Leinster beats the tackle of James Ratti of Ospreys on the way to scoring his side's third try during the United Rugby Championship match between Leinster and Ospreys at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Brendan Mora
Josh van der Flier races in for Leinster's third try

Leinster secured second place in the BKT URC table with a facile 68-14 victory over Ospreys at Aviva Stadium.

The Welsh outfit were already out of contention and Leo Cullen's side raced into a 28-7 first-half lead.

The hosts, for whom wing Tommy O'Brien was a late withdrawal, added another six tries after the break to overtake Stormers, who lost to Cardiff on Friday night.

The defending champions scored 10 tries in total, including a hat-trick from Joe McCarthy.

The home side made a strong start with two tries inside the opening seven minutes.

16 May 2026; Max Deegan of Leinster scores his side's second try during the United Rugby Championship match between Leinster and Ospreys at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

McCarthy barged over under the posts from close range before Max Deegan (above) went through following a drive from a line-out, and Harry Byrne successfully landed both conversions for a 14-0 lead.

Leinster continued their momentum as flanker Josh van der Flier touched down after being picked out on the overlap by Jack Conan before Jimmy O'Brien then ran clear to secure a bonus-point try in the 23rd minute.

Ospreys finally stemmed the flow just after the half-hour mark when Huw Sutton crashed over from Rhys Davies’ offload, but the Irish province still took a comfortable 28-7 lead into half-time.

Leinster then took the game away from the Ospreys with a ruthless second half. Garry Ringrose ran in, winger Jordan Larmour then chasing down a kick through before McCarthy powered across in the 56th minute.

Larmour added another try just before the hour, running in from his own half, with McCarthy completing his hat-trick and James Lowe scoring from wide for his 69th Leinster try to tie the club record.

Ospreys got a late scant consolation try from Dan Edwards.

Attention now turns to next Saturday's Champions Cup final where Leinster take on holders Bordeaux-Begles in Bilbao.

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