Two tries: Jamie Heaslip
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Leinster ran nine tries past Cardiff Blues for an emphatic 59-22 Pro12 victory at the RDS in Dublin on Saturday.
Cardiff had come close to upsetting Toulon on home turf a week earlier, but they had no answer to the firepower of Leinster, who ran in a point a minute in a one-sided first half.
David Kearney's break from half-way laid the platform for Richardt Strauss to cross after four minutes, and even at that early stage all signs pointed towards it being a tough evening for Cardiff.
Jonny Sexton's conversion was quickly followed by a second Leinster try, which was scored after good interplay between Sexton and Fergus McFadden sent Ian Madigan racing away. Sexton's second conversion made it 14-0, though the Blues enjoyed some respite courtesy of a Leigh Halfpenny penalty three minutes later.
The three-pointer merely delayed the inevitable, however, as Brian O'Driscoll's break created an opportunity for the ball to be worked left for Jamie Heaslip to cross.
The hosts held a comfortable lead and their consistently high level of intensity was rewarded with three more tries before half-time.
Kearney crossed in the corner to secure an early bonus point, Heaslip grabbed his second on the half-hour from the scrum, before Cian Healy capped a dominant first half for the hosts when he crashed over from close range.
It took just two second-half minutes for Leinster to add to their lead through Jordi Murphy's try, but, to their credit, the Blues rallied, and their efforts were rewarded with a try to Alex Cuthbert.
Leinster found an instant response as Madigan sent Damian Browne over, but the Blues restored a little more pride with second and third tries, first from Halfpenny, whose conversion made it 54-15, and then from Tom James, who swooped on an awkward bouncing kick to score.
But Leinster had the final say, with Fionn Carr's unconverted try rounding off a satifying evening for the hosts.
The scorers:
For Leinster:
Tries: Strauss, Madigan, Heaslip 2, Kearney, Healy, Murphy, Browne, Carr
Cons: Sexton 7
For Cardiff Blues:
Tries: Cuthbert, Halfpenny, James
Cons: Halfpenny 2
Pens: Halfpenny
Yellow card: Andrews
Leinster: 15 Ian Madigan, 14 David Kearney, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Fergus McFadden, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Jordi Murphy, 6 Kevin McLaughlin, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Leo Cullen (capt), 3 Mike Ross, 2 Richardt Strauss, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Heinke van der Merwe, 18 Jamie Hagan, 19 Damian Browne, 20 Rhys Ruddock, 21 Isaac Boss, 22 Brendan Macken, 23 Fionn Carr.
Cardiff Blues: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Dafydd Hewitt, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Tom James, 10 Jason Tovey, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Andries Pretorius (c), 7 Sam Warburton, 6 Josh Navidi, 5 James Down, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Scott Andrews, 2 Marc Breeze, 1 Tafa'ao Filise.
Replacements: 16 Rhys Willimas, 17 Nathan Trevett, 18 Campese Ma'afu, 19 Lou Reed, 20 Robin Copeland, 21 Lewis Jones, 22 Ceri Sweeney, 23 Tom Williams.
Venue: Royal Dublin Society
Referee: Ian Davies (Wales)
Assistant referees: David Wilkinson (Ireland), Olly Hodges (Ireland)
Television match official: Brian Macneice (Ireland)
Comments
makemehappy says...
@3in4 - why do non-competitive games against welsh opposition excite you? Quite a bizzare comment. I'd focus more on the close games at international level.
Posted 13:28 29th October 2012
damo says...
Cardiff were humiliated, they were an embarassment to their team their city and their country, not 1 can hold his head up and say he should be paid for that day out. Losing to a better team can happen but losing on purpose ??????????????
Did they all chip in a lot of money on the Leinster goys -14??????????
Posted 12:18 29th October 2012
3in4 says...
Despite a couple of results at international level, there's a certain familiarity to Irish teams smashing Welsh sides these days. Very enjoyable too, I should add.
Posted 12:00 28th October 2012
makemehappy says...
I wouldn't draw much satisfaction from that if I was Leinster. The Blues have been awful this year. The only reason they haven't lost every game is that they have some great players. Phil Davies was a joke of an appointment (no motivation skills, and sadly doesn't know the rules - as evidenced in his commentating), The team was one of the best in Europe four seasons ago (a lock and prop away from being able to compete with anyone. Times are hard, but what was they doing in the pack? Time for him to got already.
Posted 08:50 28th October 2012
Dannyboy says...
At the end of the day, it was really exciting to see an Irish team demolish another team like this (after the pain of NZ). A Cardiff team that has so much class and will no doubt contribute at least 3 players to the lions team.
European Rugby is hotting up. France has at least 3, in Clermont, Toulouse and Toulon, and England with Sarries, Harlequins and Saints, and Ireland with Leinster and Ulster. And Wales with so much, ridiculous amounts of individual talent. ((and scotland))
Look, if we dont have these teams in a single competition, we're fuppin Idiots.
Obviously, marketing and selfish forces are at work. PLEASE, let these team compete against each other!! There must be some way to get the sprirt of the B&I lions to extend beyond those awesome amazing few weeks!
Posted 23:04 27th October 2012
ciaran1792 says...
Don't forget Jordi Murphy's man of the match performance. he had a stormer of a game at 7 when he usually plays 6 and 8 he kept Warburton quiet all day.
Posted 22:55 27th October 2012
leinster_goy says...
best performance of the season so far. yes, cardiff were atrocious but there was a real fluidity in the attack that hadn't been there this season. impressed in particular by Fadders and Kearns the Younger (you wouldn't have thought he was out for the last 5 months, the way he played)
if we can beat the Jammy Dodgers next week i'll be even happier
Posted 21:13 27th October 2012
Rosbif says...
that's better! will have done the world of good for the players. and schmidt. so rare to be able to relax and really enjoy the game, knowing it's won after 30 odd minutes. fans feel it of course. but players probably feel it even more. and boy, these guys can really play when their minds can relax just a little from securing a win, and can focus instead on executing with training ground style precision!
whoever said madigan wasn't a good 15, eh?? (oh yes, i remember, that was me....ooops)
P.S. I remember reading articles last week that talked about Toulon not being very impressive last Saturday aginst Cardiff. That they didn't really bring their A game. That Cardiff could have won etc What we saw today, is what Toulon have been doing to T14 clubs all season. They beat you up. In places journos don't really see or understand. They may not win by much, but you feel it in the legs the following weekend!!
Posted 21:08 27th October 2012