1
Leinster steamroll Ospreys with second-half blitz and Jordan Larmour hat-trick
By PA
Jordan Larmour scored his first senior hat-trick for Leinster as the Irish province produced a second-half masterclass to hammer Ospreys 61-14 at the RDS.
ADVERTISEMENT
Leinster only led 21-14 at half-time but turned up the power after the break to score six unanswered tries en route to a comprehensive win that lifts them up to second in the BKT United Rugby Championship, a point behind Glasgow with two rounds remaining.
Jimmy O’Brien, Ross Molony, Jason Jenkins, Jamie Osborne, Charlie Ngatai and Tommy O’Brien also touched down for the hosts, with Ross Byrne converting five of the nine tries and Ciaran Frawley three.
Ospreys had been level at 14-14 midway through the first half following an Owen Watkin effort and a penalty try but they were brushed aside after that to drop one place to 11th in the table.
Player of the match Jimmy O’Brien opened the scoring inside the opening three minutes, evading Luke Morgan’s tackle to surge over from the left wing.
Ross Byrne converted and did likewise in the 11th minute after second-row Molony celebrated his 30th birthday with a well-taken score from close range.
Nonetheless, Ospreys fired back impressively when Morgan Morris linked with Watkin off a scrum, and the centre cut inside both Osborne and Josh van der Flier for a slick seven-pointer.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Welsh side were level by the 18th minute, as Dan Edwards dangled a cross-field kick out to Morgan in the right corner. He was tackled in the air by Frawley, leading to a yellow card and a penalty try.
Leinster retook the lead in the 27th minute when Max Nagy failed to deal with a clever Byrne kick, and Larmour swooped in to ground the ball, and the home side never looked back.
Ominously, Jenkins fended off Morgan to score inside a minute of the restart after half-time, and Byrne supplied his fourth successful conversion.
By the hour mark, replacement Jamison Gibson-Park, captain Caelan Doris and Robbie Henshaw all contributed to a pacy attack that netted Larmour’s second try out wide.
ADVERTISEMENT
Even when the ball broke for Keelan Giles, he could not connect with Jack Walsh as Ospreys failed to turn the second-half tide.
In contrast, Leinster were clinical with their possession, Tommy O’Brien collecting his own kick-through before passing for Osborne to dot down.
Ngatai then broke a tackle to cross from fellow replacement Scott Penny’s pass as the Leinster tries kept coming.
Evardi Boshoff saw yellow late on for a deliberate knock-on to add to the Welsh side’s problems, and Gibson-Park flung the ball wide for Larmour to bring the province past the half-century mark.
Full-back Frawley finished with three successful conversions, including the final one after Tommy O’Brien had chased down Jimmy O’Brien’s kick to get on the scoresheet.
