DRAGONS BLUE AWAY IN DUBLIN
14
Leinster
43 BY TOM SHEEDY VETERAN Rhys Ruddock praised leinster as a second string side maintained their perfect season with a 14th league of the campaign.
Skipper Ruddock said they dug in at the RDS to carve out the victory and copperfasten their lead at the top of the table.
“I thought we worked very hard in the first half into the wind and while we had some disappointing errors on the second half when we had that wind, we are pleased with the result,” he said.
“They were aggressive defensively and it was really hard work but we knew it would be, especially into the wind and we knew we just needed to keep battling away.”
Dragons battled hard but were always chasing the game in Dublin as Leinster again showed their massive squad depth.
Leinster had their 10th bonus point in the bag by the interval despite playing against the strong blustery wind but, unlike a fired-up
Dragons side, they made the most of the chances they created.
Out-half Harry Byrne struck for tries at either end of the half, on both occasions finishing lengthy passing movements which started out the field, with their precision passing and handling in stark contrast to a wasteful Dragons side.
Luke Mcgrath intercepted a looped pass from Will Reed to score from inside halfway after 26 minutes and skipper Rhys Ruddock scored after a break from Scott Penny.
To compound matters for Dragons centre Jack Dixon, who spoke during the week about the stress of the financial uncertainty in Welsh rugby, was stretchered off before the interval with a leg injury.
Jordan Larmour turned the screw after the restart and thugh former Munster player JJ Hanrahan finally pulled back a try for Dragons, Leinster finished on a high. Rob Russell scored after a great run by Jimmy O’brien and Charlie Tector added the final try.