Baird gets unbeaten Leinster off to flyer

YOUNGSTER Ryan Baird and Dave Kearney both scored hat-tricks as Leinster maintained their unbeaten start to the season with a nine-try dismantling of Glasgow at the RDS.

Baird scored the first for Leinster after four minutes, raced in from near halfway 16 minutes into the second half and barged over from close range eight minutes later in a stunning second start for the province.

Kearney completed his trio in the last play, while James Lowe’s brace and a Scott Fardy effort saw Leinster avenge their last defeat at the RDS against Dave Rennie’s Warriors last April.

“We have talked about how we prepared and so on, because preparations seemed pretty good as it has been in the last couple of months,” said Rennie.

“But we were miles off it, we were well out-played and the score reflected that.”

Tries from Baird and Kearney had Leinster 12-0 ahead by the 12th minute, but a Tommy Seymour try brought Warriors back into contention.

Five minutes later Leinster

hit back through Lowe, while Fardy barged over for a 24-7 half-time lead.

Three minutes after the restart Warriors responded when Kyle Steyn scored, but Leinster’s reply was rapid as Lowe crossed for his second try.

Baird showed stunning pace for a second row when his mazy run from distance was finished under the posts. He completed his hattrick 16 minutes from time when he peeled around the corner and crashed over. Alex Allan got a third try for Warriors late on.

“It’s nice to get over but the more enjoyable thing is that we won,” said Baird. “We were direct from the start and did what we said we were going to do.”