RG Snyman a cut above the rest as Leinster roll over Connacht in Galway
"It was very physical, it is always tough to play here and we emphasised that during the week but we also made sure that we came out here and had a bit of fun."
Connacht 12- 33 Leinster
Ciarán Frawley is an injury worry ahead of the four-game Autumn international series having limped off after just sixteen minutes against Connacht in Galway.
Ireland face the All Blacks (Nov 8), Argentina (Nov 15), Fiji (Nov 23), and Australia (Nov 30), with the Skerries star almost certainly penciled by Andy Farrell to start one, if not two, of the tests at out-half.
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Ross Byrne, notionally Ireland's third-choice no10, came on and steered Leinster to a comfortable win, taking the score from 14-0 at the point Frawley limped off to the final whistle.
"It was very physical, it is always tough to play here, and we emphasised that during the week," said Man of the Match, Leinster second-row RG Snyman who had been close to unstoppable with ball in hand.
"But we also made sure that we came out here and had a bit of fun while making sure of getting the job done.
"Our defence was another talking point in the week, keeping our discipline in the second half and keeping the pressure on teams.
"We definitely made a bit of a step up today, but there is still a long road ahead of us and I am looking forward to it.
"I am enjoying life in Dublin; the going are very much going out of their way to make it fun for us, so I am enjoying it, yeh."
As it was, the game opened with persistent Leinster pressure, the away side posting their first score in the sixth minute when Jamie Osborne stepped inside Shayne Bolton close to the line
It was a deserved reward for the centre who had been almost unplayable from the kick-off and who had deserved better following a scything early break where Jamison Gibson-Park more-or-less overran the support line and failed to make the line.
Connacht were further pinned back for the next 10 minutes, defending deep in their own half and managing to put out a series of fires created by eventual Man of the Match RG Snyman, Garry Ringrose, Andrew Osborne, and Gus McCarthy, among others.
But they were finally unhinged by a simple left-to-right back move that finally got the ball to an overlap, where Liam Turner ran in a handy touchdown. Byrne, who had just come in for Frawley, kicked the conversion.
Connacht steadied themselves, and a super break by Josh Ioane helped them gain a foothold in Leinster territory, following which a rolling maul allowed for a continuous assault on the opposition line that saw Sean O'Brien crash over.
Leinster responded almost immediately, sweeping back downfield and kicking a penalty to the corner.
And while Connacht did well to stop the rolling maul, Garry Ringrose made an excellent half-break, and following a sweep to the left, Snyman dotted down. Byrne's conversion left the half-time score 5-26 in favour of the visitors.
Connacht turned with the wind now at their backs, but Leinster were quickly into their stride, Max Deegan dragging a number of defenders over the line to register the bonus-try score, while Andrew Osborne was denied a score by a powerhouse Bundee Aki hit.
The game had gone a tense 20 minutes without a score before it produced two in 90 seconds.
Firstly, Cathal Forde, who had only arrived on the pitch, burst through the centre to score. Only for Andrew Osborne to leap highest on the restart, take the ball cleanly, and race over for his side's fifth try.
Connacht: O’Conor; Bolton, Hawkshaw (Forde 61), Aki, Cordero (Gavin 58); Ioane, B Murphy (Blade 54); Buckley (Dooley 51), Heffernan (Tierney-Martin 54), Bealham (Aungier 51), Joyce (N Murray 51), D Murray, Prendergast, O’Brien (Jensen 54), Boyle
Leinster: Keenan; Turner (Cooney 72), Ringrose, J Osborne, A Osborne; Frawley, Gibson-Park (Gunne 69); Boyle (Porter 44), G McCarthy (Smyth 73), Slimani (Clarkson 44), Snyman (Deeny 68), James Ryan, Deegan, Connors (Penny 58), Culhane
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