Conan’s first half double helps destroy frail Dragons
DRAGONS head coach Kingsley Jones admitted he was ready to join in with the boo-boys after their hammering at the hands of Leinster.
Jack Conan and Joey Carbery gave Ireland coach Joe Schmidt a nudge with a pair of irrepressible performances in this 54-22 demolition.
Conan grabbed a firsthalf double before Gibson-Park crossed, and Richardt Strauss earned the bonus-point.
Leinster continued to heap more misery on the hapless Dragons and added further scores from James Tracy, Hayden Trigg and a late Luke McGrath brace to send them above the Ospreys.
Adam Hughes, Matthew Screech and Sarel Pretorious crossed for the hosts, but Jones questioned his side’s mental strength.
He said: “I wanted to join in with the boos at the end; we’re at home and we know what to expect. People need to stand up when they go on the field – I didn’t see that coming.
“The biggest disappointment was the mental side of things. We were 143 down at half-time but we capitulated after half-time.
“We had a positive performance in Connacht, we pushed them all the way but we’ve come here and made soft mistakes, which Leinster punished.”
Carbery showed Joe Schmidt exactly what he is missing to send Leinster into the lead. The full-back used his dazzling footwork to jink through the line and sprint clear, before he switched with Conan, who had an easy run-in.
Conan then picked up at the base of a ruck and powered over from closerange to give Byrne an easy conversion to make it 14-3 after 23 minutes.
He was central again after the break as he burst clear to set up Gibson-Park for an easy run-in before the hosts hit back through Hughes.
Strauss wrapped the game and bonus-point up from close-range, before Tracey was shunted over for try number five.
Trigg then pounced on a comedy of Dragons errors to score before Screech scored a consolation.
McGrath put the icing on the 54-22 victory with two scores, before Pretorious scurried over.
Leinster head coach Leo Cullen said: “We were clinical tonight which was good to see in this crucial block of games.
“Jack Conan has been unlucky not to get more opportunities at international level and he feels he has a point to prove.”