Larmour shines bright

A SECOND-STRING Leinster side who were already guaranteed top spot were still too strong for an almost full-strength Munster outfit who will now have to regroup to travel to take on Ulster in the quarter-finals.

Leo Cullen retained just three of the replacements from the matchday 23 who dispatched Toulouse last weekend but the vast resources at his disposal were apparent at the Aviva Stadium, not least as several were hoping for inclusion in next week’s Champions Cup showdown with La Rochelle.

None did more in that regard than full-back Jordan Larmour who produced a stunning display on his return from injury.

“It was a very tough game. I hadn’t played in about ten weeks,” said Larmour.

“We made it hard at times for ourselves but dug deep.”

Any notion Munster might have had that an understrength Leinster might be vulnerable disappeared inside two minutes when Scott Penny dashed over in the right corner.

Munster hit back and Keith Earls put his skipper Jack O’Donoghue over in the right corner before Mike Haley exploited a sleepy defence to score under the posts and lead 12-8. But a try from scrumhalf Cormac Foley helped the champions lead 15-12 at the break before Conor Murray pounced to score after the break with Leinster winger Rob Russell in the bin for a deliberate knock-on.

Harry Byrne and Joey Carbery exchanged penalties to leave Munster 22-18 in front before Niall Scannell was binned for bringing down a maul and Leinster were awarded a penalty try.

They never surrendered the lead after that with Rory O’Loughlin running in the bonus point try.

Byrne added a penalty as Leinster secured the URC Shield. TEAMS Leinster: Larmour 8; Russell 6, Osborne 7, Frawley 6 (A Byrne 26, 6), O’Loughlin 6; H Byrne 7 (D Hawkshaw 76, 5), Foley 7 (B Muphy 57, 6); E Byrne (c) 7 (Dooley 49, 6), Cronin 6 (McKee 49, 6), Clarkson 7 (Healy 48, 6); McCarthy 6 (Soroka 65, 6), J Murphy 7 (Toner 54, 7); Baird 7, Penny 7, Deegan 6 Munster: Haley 7; Conway 6 (Healy 63, 6), Farrell 7, Goggin 6 (R Scannell 54, 6), Earls 6; Carbery 7, Murray 6 (Patterson 76, 5); J Wycherley 7 (Loughman 54, 6), N Scannell 7 (Barron 75), Ryan 7 (Knox 54, 6); Kleyn 6 (Jenkins 48, 6), Ahern 7 (Daly 63, 6, Ahern 75); F Wycherley 7, Kendellen 7 (Barron 59-63, 6), O’Donoghue (c) 7 REFEREE: Frank Murphy ATTENDANCE: 34,659 Star man Jordan Larmour - Leinster