Dan Leavy proud of Blues brothers’ resistance to Thomond roar

No wonder Dan Leavy stood over the prone bodies of Munster forwards doing his best impression of The Hulk as Nigel Owens raised his arm for the Leinster penalty.

The back-rower in blue had just turned the course of the game to the exasperation of the home crowd at Thomond Park and strangled the life out of Munster’s final realistic hope of successfully overturning the visitors’ 27-19 advantage in the 68th minute of a thrilling St Stephen’s Day derby encounter.

The final nail in the red coffin would come two minutes later when academy full-back Jordan Larmour took Limerick by storm with a stunning solo try to deliver a try bonus point for Leinster with Ross Byrne’s penalty leaving Munster with a 15-point deficit that would prove to be too big a gap to bridge but it was Leavy’s work over the ball as the home side built phase after phase in the Leinster 22, forcing ball carrier James Cronin to concede a penalty, that was the real hammer blow, the crucial turning point as far as home head coach Johann van Graan was concerned.