Snyman stars as Leinster thump Connacht
MATCH REPORT: Leinster made it back-to-back interprovincial wins as the United Rugby Championship leaders overcame Connacht 33-12 in Galway.
Like last week at Croke Park, Leo Cullen’s men impressed early on to lead 21-5 at half-time thanks to tries from Jamie Osborne, Liam Turner and RG Snyman.
Ciaran Frawley hobbled off with a leg injury to raise concerns ahead of Ireland’s Nations Series, but his teammates coasted home with further scores from Max Deegan and Osborne’s younger brother Andrew.
Individual errors made it a night to forget for Connacht, who crossed the whitewash through Sean O’Brien and replacement Cathal Forde.
Ireland international Jamie Osborne was in the thick of the visitors’ early attacks, popping up to score from an inviting Jamison Gibson-Park pass. Frawley converted with six minutes on the clock.
Player-of-the-match Snyman’s offloading skills, and a final pass from Hugo Keenan, saw Turner cross from the right wing. Replacement Ross Byrne added the extras, taking over from the injured Frawley.
Leinster captain James Ryan had a try ruled out for accidental offside, before Connacht edged their way downfield despite some small kicking gains into a tricky wind.
Connacht stalwart Denis Buckley put O’Brien over in the 33rd minute, yet Leinster added a third try before the interval as Snyman picked up a loose ball to score.
Deegan powered over five minutes after the restart, as the flank turned Byrne’s low bouncing pass into a five-pointer. Andrew Osborne was denied a subsequent score by a thunderous tackle from Bundee Aki.
The emerging Ireland player recovered to close out the scoring in the 65th minute, plucking down a Byrne restart and spinning through to score.
Osborne’s effort came just after Forde had exploited some space through the middle to take his side into double figures.
The scorers:
For Connacht:
Tries: O'Brien, Forde
Con: Ioane
For Leinster:
Tries: Osborne 2, Turner, Snyman, Deegan
Cons: Frawley, Byrne 3
Teams:
Connacht: 15 Piers O’Conor, 14 Shayne Bolton, 13 David Hawkshaw, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Santiago Cordero, 10 Josh Ioane, 9 Ben Murphy, 8 Paul Boyle, 7 Sean O’Brien, 6 Cian Prendergast, 5 Darragh Murray, 4 Joe Joyce, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dave Heffernan, 1 Denis Buckley.
Replacements: 16 Dylan Tierney-Martin, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Jack Aungier, 19 Niall Murray, 20 Sean Jansen, 21 Caolin Blade, 22 Cathal Forde, 23 Hugh Gavin.
Leinster: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Liam Turner, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Jamie Osborne, 11 Andrew Osborne, 10 Ciarán Frawley, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 James Culhane, 7 Will Connors, 6 Max Deegan, 5 James Ryan (captain), 4 RG Snyman, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Gus McCarthy, 1 Jack Boyle.
Replacements: 16 Stephen Smyth, 17 Andrew Porter, 18 Thomas Clarkson, 19 Brian Deeny, 20 Scott Penny, 21 Fintan Gunne, 22 Ross Byrne, 23 Hugh Cooney.
Referee: Eoghan Cross (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Keane Davison (Ireland) and Jonny Erskine (Ireland)
TMO: Leo Colgan (Ireland)