Leinster player ratings: British and Irish Lion makes ‘welcome return’ but ‘costly’ sin-bins come back to haunt visitors
Ronan Kelleher (right) and Hugo Keenan (left) both featured for Leinster in their defeat to Glasgow Warriors
Following Leinster’s 38-17 defeat to Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun, here is how we scored Leo Cullen’s side from the URC round 13 clash.
Leinster player ratings v Glasgow Warriors
15 Hugo Keenan: A welcome return to rugby for the Ireland international, both for him and for Leinster. Threw himself into the game from minute one, defusing high-balls, linking attacking play and grabbing himself a score in the process, and will be better for the minutes as well. 7
14 Joshua Kenny: Offered some serious threat out wide prior to his withdrawal, as he continues to settle into the starting role for Leinster. Also got himself on the scoreboard as a result, which was a deserved reward for his efforts. 7
13 Rieko Ioane: Was one of Leinster’s better players across the game, to be fair to him, but there still remains a lingering question over whether he’s more suited to centre or the wing. He does seem to fit the role of the outside centre within this Leinster system, where he can come in hard in that support line, but as his interception proved, he is so deadly if allowed to play in space and in broken field, which he would get more of out wide. Certainly ends in good credit with 13 on his back, though. 7
12 Robbie Henshaw: Offered his usual punch ball-in-hand when called upon, but was just well-managed by the Warriors’ defence. 5
11 Jimmy O’Brien: Always in and around the play, but couldn’t get the breakaway his efforts warranted. 5
10 Sam Prendergast: Blew hot and cold tonight, which will frustrate him. Had a few nice flashes ball-in-hand, particularly when he went off-script and looked to make a break of his own, but he was unable to fully explode from there. 5
9 Luke McGrath: Did his job well enough, but didn’t have the same impact on proceedings as his opposite number. 5
Back-row
8 James Culhane: Industrious effort from the back-rower, who ends in good credit. Trucked hard in the tight exchanges, making the most metres (36) of any Leinster forward alongside 11 carries, and got stuck into the defensive work with a strong count of 21. 7
7 Will Connors: A brave and busy shift from the back-rower as he fronted up to the revved-up Glasgow unit opposite him. Made a healthy 13 tackles at a 100% success rate prior to his exit, and was a consistent presence in the breakdown, too. 6
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6 Jack Conan: By no means set the pitch alight, but didn’t take a backwards step. Rolled up his sleeves and went looking for work. 6
Tight five
5 Brian Deeny: Made a nuisance of himself in the tight, but his yellow card allowed the Warriors to get a real score on which they couldn’t come back from. 4
4 RG Snyman: Was well-marshalled by the aggressive Glasgow defence for the entirety of his shift, and later came off with a knock, which will leave Cullen sweating. 5
3 Thomas Clarkson: Not a vintage night for scrummaging, but trucked well around the park and was always willing to take on some work. 5
2 Rónan Kelleher: Was fine across the park and in the set-piece, but, like Deeny, his yellow card period was incredibly costly as Glasgow pulled away. He will be frustrated by that. 4
1 Alex Usanov: The scrum was messy all night, but he certainly put in a shift around the park with 16 carries for 17 metres and seven tackles to his name come the full-time whistle. 6
Replacements: Some good bits, some bad bits, but overall, the bench did somewhat stem the flow after Glasgow’s fast start. Ciaran Frawley was the notable impact man this time out, offering a nice playmaking dynamic alongside a nice score, and the likes of Max Deegan, Fintan Gunne and John McKee also made a strong entrance. The yellow card to Rabbah Slimani late on does blot the copybook, however. 5