Lively Leinster tame dismal Dragons
LEINSTER 37 NEWPORT GWENT DRAGONS 13
YOUNGSTERS Garry Ringrose and Cathal Marsh scored their first Guinness PRO12 tries as Leinster ran out 37-13 bonus-point winners over Newport Gwent Dragons at the RDS.
The men of Gwent’s try line was breached four times and Fergus McFadden kicked six from six for a 15-point haul.
Two converted tries from stand-in captain Isa Nacewa, in response to Sarel Pretorius’ close-range effort, saw Leo Cullen’s men come from 10-6 down to lead 20-10 at half-time.
A Jason Tovey penalty kept the visitors in touch before the Irish province settled the issue with scores from the 20-year-old Ringrose and man-of-the-match Marsh.
A big hit by Mike McCarthy on Jason Tovey signalled Leinster’s early intent, with the home pack boosted by the returning Martin Moore and Rhys Ruddock. The latter came in for Jack Conan who rolled his ankle before kick-off.
McFadden and Tovey swapped penalties during the third quarter, before two tries in three minutes wrapped up bonus point for Leinster.
After a bout of scrum pressure near the Dragons posts, Marsh did well to dive on a loose ball, and passes from replacement Luke McGrath and Ben Te’o sent winger Ringrose over in the corner.
Marsh got on the score-sheet soon after, with his injection of pace taking him over just to the left of the posts.
McFadden maintained his impressive 100% kicking record by landing both conversions.