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Leinster dominate Dragons as Cian Healy breaks record
By PA
Replacement Joe McCarthy’s 64th-minute try sealed the bonus point for Leinster in a pedestrian 34-6 BKT United Rugby Championship win over the Dragons.
Playing at the Aviva Stadium with the RDS under redevelopment, Leo Cullen’s men celebrated Cian Healy setting a new record as Leinster’s most-capped player.
A subdued first half ended with Leinster leading 10-6 thanks to unconverted tries from captain Jack Conan (17 minutes) and Ross Byrne (37). Lloyd Evans landed two penalties.
Conan scored during Chris Coleman’s sin-binning, and player of the match Max Deegan struck six minutes into the second half. McCarthy, Jordan Larmour and Aitzol King made it a 29-point margin in the end.
Veteran prop Healy’s 281st appearance saw him overhaul Devin Toner, but Dragons did not read the script. It took Jimmy O’Brien’s ankle tap to prevent Ewan Rosser from racing over early on.
However, Coleman made head contact with Thomas Clarkson in the 16th minute following Ben Carter’s initial tackle.
Conan duly crashed over to take advantage of the yellow card. Byrne, who swung a pass wide in the build-up, missed the difficult conversion.
Two obstruction calls spoiled Leinster mauls, and Evans rewarded Brodie Coghlan’s breakdown work with a 25th-minute penalty.
Approaching the break, Byrne nipped inside Coghlan’s tackle to reach out for the line, but Evans’ last-minute penalty left just four points in it.
Leinster upped the physicality on the restart, aided by a Conan turnover. Deegan muscled over from close range, giving Byrne a straightforward conversion for 17-6.
The doughty Dragons failed to capitalise on an overlap when Harry Wilson elected to kick, and their challenge gradually petered out.
Conan’s lineout transfer had McCarthy powering over in the left corner, and Larmour and replacement King, with his first senior score from a long Harry Byrne pass, took the hosts’ try haul to six.
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It has taken 15 years to build the participation of rugby both in playing and watching. For South Africa on its own to build a viable international rugby competition in africa will take generations - not decades. New Zealanders seem to resent the fact that SA has doubled the income of the URC since their inclusion. If New Zealand Rugby hadn't insisted on have a disproportionate slice of the pie in Super Rugby, SA might not have fled the coop.
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