Leinster and Munster on the double
* In the other game on Saturday Dave Kilcoyne's try-double saw Munster move into fifth in the Pro12, as they swept Newport Gwent Dragons aside to win 26-5 at Thomond Park.
Saturday's matches
Leinster 19-16 Ospreys
Leinster were made to work hard to preserve their 100 per cent home winning record in the Pro12 with a 19-16 victory over the Ospreys.
Dan Leavy grabbed the only try of the first half, while the book of Ian Madigan ensured Leinster went into the break with a comfortable lead.
No team has conceded fewer tries than Leinster in the Pro12 this season and Ospreys had to work hard to fight their way back into the game.
They did exactly that through an all-action Dan Baker before piling forward in search of a winning score but it eluded them.
Ospreys enjoyed the better of the opening quarter of an hour and led through a Sam Davies penalty, but Leinster grabbed the first try in some style.
Leavy, who wrapped up a bonus point against Zebre last weekend, was the man on his shoulder and once he had crossed over, Madigan converted.
The Irish pack began to get on top and when they earned a penalty at the breakdown, Madigan added another three points from the tee on 20 minutes.
Leinster soon found their way into Ospreys territory once more - centre Ben Te'o a constant thorn in the visitors' side - and Eoin Reddan almost found his way over.
He was halted short of the line but the tackler failed to roll away and Madigan made it 13-3, shortly before yet another penalty allowed the fly-half to increase the gap once more.
More Ospreys ill-discipline at scrum time handed Madigan another shot at the posts five minutes before the break but this time he missed the target.
The visitors regrouped at the break and got their offloading game going in Leinster territory, Davies slotting his second penalty after the defence infringed at the breakdown.
They earned another kickable penalty ten minutes into the half but this time Davies went for touch, but the home side cleared their lines.
Leavy was next to threaten for Leinster, only for the flanker to knock on in the tackle, but Baker couldn't be halted up the other end.
With an hour on the clock, the Ospreys No.8 showed some quick feet to step past his marker and power over the line before Davies' conversion made it 16-13.
Madigan soon hit back with a penalty after a high tackle on Hayden Triggs but Davies responded in kind a to leave Leinster narrowly ahead with ten minutes left on the clock.
Baker piled his way into the Leinster 22 as the away side went in search of a sucker punch but a resilient defence held firm.
Read more at http://www.pro12rugby.com/matchcentre/19275.php#70va9qUO3OXvAQL5.99
The scorers:
For Leinster:
Try: Leavy
Con: Madigan
Pens: Madigan 4
For Ospreys:
Try: Baker
Con: Davies
Pens: Davies 3
Teams:
Leinster: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Ben Te'o, 11 Isa Nacewa (captain), 10 Ian Madigan, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Jordi Murphy, 7 Dan Leavy, 6 Rhys Ruddock, 5 Mick Kearney, 4 Ross Molony, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Sean Cronin, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements: 16 Richardt Strauss, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Tadhg Furlong, 19 Hayden Triggs, 20 Dominic Ryan, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Cathal Marsh, 23 Noel Reid.
Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Jeff Hassler, 13 Josh Matavesi, 12 Owen Watkin, 11 Ben John, 10 Sam Davies, 9 Rhys Webb (captain), 8 Dan Baker, 7 Olly Cracknell, 6 James King, 5 Rory Thornton, 4 Tyler Ardron, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Sam Parry, 1 Nicky Smith.
Replacements:16 Scott Otten, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 Ma'afu Fia, 19 Adam Beard, 20 Joe Bearman, 21 Tom Habberfield, 22 Jonathan Spratt, 23 Tom Grabham.
Referee: Ian Davies
Assistant referees: Mark Patton, Richard Kerr
TMO: Olly Hodges
Munster 26-5 Newport Gwent Dragons
Dave Kilcoyne's try-double saw Munster move into fifth in the Pro12, as they swept Newport Gwent Dragons aside to win 26-5 at Thomond Park.
The hosts led 12-0 at the interval thanks to tries from Dave Kilcoyne and Rory Scannell, with Newport struggling to make any impact inside the Munster 22.
And Kilcoyne's second put the game to bed, despite Hallam Amos' score immediately afterwards, and James Cronin's late bonus-point try saw Anthony Foley's side leapfrog Edinburgh, who were narrowly beaten 28-23 by Connacht on Friday evening, in the Pro12 standings.
Tommy O'Donnell made the early running for Munster, claiming the ball off a Dragons line-out before making a clean break to take the hosts out of their own 22.
Simon Zebo looked lively in attack and defence, first superbly claiming a high-ball just inside his own half and counter-attacking on ten minutes, before making no mistake to reclaim a Newport chip through four minutes later.
And it was Munster who deservedly broke the deadlock on 18 minutes, when Andrew Conway made a searing break with Zebo on his shoulder to surge into the Dragons' 22.
First Darren Sweetnam drove for the line, before Billy Holland was also held up short, but prop Kilcoyne was the man to finally drive over for the game's opening try.
Ian Keatley's conversion attempt was wide, but Munster were able to double their advantage 15 minutes later.
The Dragons had moved the ball into the hosts' 22, but Saili forced the turnover and Munster were able to build the phases all the way up to the five-metre line at the other end of the park.
And when the ball was moved out wide to Scannell there was only going to be one result as the centre crossed the whitewash, with Keatley this time making no mistake with the extras to make it 12-0.
That was how it stayed until the break, largely thanks to Scannell who put in a huge tackle to claim the man and the ball with the Dragons looking to make inroads into the 22 once again.
Kilcoyne's second shortly after half-time handed Munster a commanding 19-0 lead once Keatley had converted, but Hallam Amos gave the Dragons a glimmer of hope just two minutes later with a try of his own - although Jason Tovey was wayward with the conversion.
That score did not dent Munster's confidence however, and they were soon pressing deep in the Dragons' 22 before they were pinged for holding on.
A brilliant Andrew Conway tackle denied Newport just before the hour mark, before the TMO also ruled out a try for the visitors.
Steve Archer came on for his 100th Munster appearance after 67 minutes, his first Pro12 action since October after a neck injury.
And Munster added insult to injury in the dying moments of the game, with Cronin finding a gap to get over the line for his side's fourth try with replacement Johnny Holland adding the extras.
The scorers:
For Munster:
Tries: Kilcoyne 2, Scannell, Cronin
Cons: Keatley 2, Holland
For Newport Gwent Dragons:
Try: Amos
Teams:
Munster: 15 Andrew Conway, 14 Darren Sweetnam, 13 Francis Saili, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Duncan Williams, 8 Jack O'Donoghue, 7 Tommy O'Donnell, 6 Dave O'Callaghan, 5 Billy Holland (captain), 4 Mark Chisholm, 3 John Ryan, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Dave Kilcoyne.
Replacements: 16 Mike Sherry, 17 James Cronin, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Dave Foley, 20 Robin Copeland, 21 Cathal Sheridan, 22 Johnny Holland, 23 David Johnston.
Newport Gwent Dragons: 15 Carl Meyer, 14 Ashton Hewitt, 13 Adam Hughes, 12 Adam Warren, 11 Hallam Amos, 10 Jason Tovey, 9 Charlie Davies, 8 Lewis Evans, 7 Nic Cudd, 6 Nick Crosswell, 5 Matthew Screech, 4 Cory Hill, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Thomas Rhys Thomas (captain), 1 Phil Price.
Replacements: 16 Elliot Dee, 17 Shaun Knight, 18 Lloyd Fairbrother, 19 Rynard Landman, 20 Ed Jackson, 21 Sarel Pretorius, 22 Angus O'Brien, 23 Ross Wardle.
Referee: Marius Mitrea
Assistant teferees: Stuart Gaffikin, Jonathan Peak
TMO: Simon McDowell
Source: @PRO12rugby