Leinster run riot as Connacht and Munster make Play-Offs
A freescoring Leinster faced little resistance from the Ospreys on Saturday evening as they ran in ten tries at the Aviva for a 54-point win.
Stormers’ upset defeat away to Cardiff on Friday night opened the door for Leinster to take second place, with Leo Cullen’s men securing a home quarter-final as well as a home semi-final should they get that far.
The game was over as a contest midway through the first half when Jimmy O’Brien sliced through the middle and played a neat one/two with Jamison Gibson-Park before running in the try of the game to secure the bonus point with an hour still to play.
On any other day O’Brien would have been Man of the Match; but Joe McCarthy’s hat-trick said otherwise. Playing superbly at full back, the Eadestown man beat three defenders, made nine carries and 85 running metres as well as one clean break.
The only other Kildare man on the field was Diarmuid Mangan. While he may not have delivered the fireworks of last week’s Man of the Match performance, he did get through the grunt work as well as anyone and will be hopeful of sneaking into the 23 for next week’s Champions Cup final.
A defensive masterclass from Connacht, coupled with some ruthless tries (the first of which a contender for try of the season), saw Stuart Lancaster’s men earn a bonus-point win in the Scottish capital on Friday night to cement their place in the URC playoffs.
Ulster’s heartbreaking late defeat at home to Glasgow that same night meant Connacht guaranteed their place in the quarter-finals.
Cian Prendergast delivered a Man of the Match performance in Edinburgh before being named Connacht Fans’ Player of the Year the following day.
Billy Bohan was immense once again and also scooped an award on Saturday, winning Connacht’s Academy Player of the Year.
Munster kicked off outside the top eight, but survived being reduced to 13 men in the first half to win the game and secure a playoff place at Ulster’s expense.
Clayton McMillan’s side have been in shocking form since the turn of the year, but their brilliant performances in the first half of the season has proven to be enough to drag them into the quarter-finals.
Jeremy Loughman was effective on both sides of the ball, carrying hard and tackling even harder He made nine carries and got over the gain line five times - an impressive return - and also made nine tackles in another imposing defensive effort.
