Gopperth puts boot in as Leinster sink Scarlets

Scarlets 19 Leinster 42

The RaboDirect Pro12 champions trailed by 13 points early in the first half following a Rob McCusker try and eight points from the boot of Wales fly-half Rhys Priestland.

But the visitors battled back thanks to a Martin Moore try and the imperious boot of Gopperth.

Jordi Murphy kick-started the scoreboard with a try within two minutes of the restart and O’Connor’s men wrapped up the win with late tries from Darren Hudson, Gopperth and Dave Kearney.

Former Leicester Tigers assistant coach O’Conner succeeded Joe Schmidt in the summer and has a massive pair of boots to fill at the Royal Dublin Showground.

During the Joe Schmidt era Leinster enjoyed unparalleled success, racking up two Heineken Cup titles and an Amlin Challenge Cup and RaboDirect Pro12 double last season.

And Leinster fans will take plenty of encouragement from the first competitive fixture under O’Connor’s guidance last night.

He went into the Parc y Scarlets clash without the province’s British & Irish Lions quintet of Cian Healy, Sean O’Brien, Jamie Heaslip, Brian O’Driscoll and Rob Kearney. And they were dealt a further blow ahead of kick-off as Fergus McFadden was forced to pull out with a hamstring injury.

But he handed competitive debuts to new signing Jimmy Gopperth, who partnered Eoin Reddan at half-back, and Darragh Fanning on the wing, while Mike McCarthy was named among the replacements.

The Scarlets were also without their sole Lion, Jonathan Davies, following George North’s controversial move to Northampton Saints, but Rhys Priestland returned for his first competitive fixture after an injury-plagued 2012-13 season.

The Scarlets came flying out of the blocks with Aaron Shingler bursting through Leinster’s midfield but the dynamic back-row was unable to find the offload. The hosts however did retain possession and younger brother Steven opened the scoring.

Moments later, Simon Easterby’s men extended their lead to six points but it could have been more.

Scott Williams stripped the ball from Brendan Macken and burst clear but with the try-line just metres away he was floored by a Dave Kearney high-tackle, with Shingler slotting the penalty from wide as the full-back trotted to the sin-bin.

Gopperth should have hit back from in front of the sticks but his 50-metre penalty drifted agonisingly wide.

And the Scarlets punished Gopperth for his inaccuracy as they grabbed the first try in fortunate fashion.

Once again Shingler did the damage with another rampaging break and after he combined with Priestland the ball was recycled and Scott Williams sent McCusker crashing over, despite a dubious pass and grounding.

Centre Shingler added the extras to stretch the Scarlets tally to 10-points while Kearney was in the bin but Leinster quickly responded.

With a five-metre lineout Devin Toner won the ball and the pack comfortably walked a rolling maul over the whitewash with Moore the recipient.

Gopperth converted and slotted another penalty shortly after the half-hour mark to cut the deficit to 13-7.

Shingler responded with his third penalty after Leinster drifted offside in midfield to restore the Scarlets’ six-point lead at the interval.

But Leinster made the perfect start to the second-half with a try inside two minutes to take the lead for the first time.

After the ball was spread wide, late call-up Macken bumped off Gareth Owen and offloaded to Murphy who took advantage of weak tackling to bundle over in the corner.

Gopperth was on target once again and he quickly added a penalty to stretch the lead to four-points.

But the hard work was undone when replacement wing, Darren Hudson, was shown yellow for a dangerous high-tackle on opposite number Liam Williams.

Leinster survived unscathed until Eoin Reddan was penalised for a crooked put-in to an under pressure scrum and Shingler converted. But Gopperth responded as Leinster kept their noses in front before the worn-out Scarlets capitulated.

An unfamiliar Jack McGrath break down the left released Hudson to scorch home in the 68th minute to seal the win.

Leinster continued to run riot in the closing stages and they put the result beyond doubt as Gopperth clinched the bonus-point try.

Devon Toner burst through midfield after the ball was spread wide and he passed inside for the Kiwi to canter home for a deserved try.

Scorers for Scarlets: Try: R McCusker. Con: S Shingler. Pens: S Shingler 4.

Scorers for Leinster: Tries: M Moore, J Murphy, D Hudson, J Gopperth, D Kearney. Cons: J Gopperth 4. Pen: J Gopperth.

SCARLETS: G Owen; L Williams, S Williams (A Warren 78), S Shingler, K Phillips (Jo Williams 61); R Priestland, G Davies (R Williams 65); P John (R Evans 51), K Owens (E Phillips 68), S Lee (J Adriaanse 68), G Earle, J Snyman (J Ball 64), A Shingler (C Price 68), J Turnbull, R McCusker (capt).

LEINSTER: D Kearney; D Fanning, B Macken, G D’Arcy (N Reid 73), L Fitzgerald (D Hudson 43); J Gopperth, E Reddan (I Boss 64); J McGrath(J O’Connell 77), S Cronin (A Dundon 68), M Moore (M Ross 36), T Denton (M McCarthy 40), D Toner, R Ruddock, S Jennings (capt) (D Ryan 77), J Murphy.

Yellow cards: D Kearney, D Hudson, J McGrath.

Referee: John Lacey.