Leinster v Connacht in 60 seconds

Leinster 24 Connacht 13

An under-strength Leinster have recorded a win over Connacht in their Pro 12 game at the RDS.

Brendan O'Brien of the Irish Examiner gives us his 60-second summary of the match.

Talk of the town: This was a decent opportunity for Connacht to claim a first ever win at the RDS, what with so many of Leinster's Ireland contingent missing or starting on the bench. It wasn't to be. Revenge, instead, for May's PRO12 final.

Game-changer: Leinster were 9-6 to the good as Connacht pulverised their line in the fortieth minute, but the hosts escaped when Quinn Roux knocked on. Adam Byrne's 50th-minute try doubled the pain, Barry Daly added another late on before Shane Delahunt managed an injury-time consolation.

Did that just happen? The game was only minutes old and with darkness beginning to descend when one of the four floodlights failed. A permanent outing would have certainly meant abandonment but the remedy was found in time.

Best on show: Sean O'Brien's well-being continues to divert many eyes from the rest of the back row patch. He was good here, as was number eight Jack Conan, but the even younger Dan Leavy was sensational at the breakdown and won't be long breaking into Irish contention on current form.

Sideline superior: Connacht began ominously with some trademark attacking rugby full of intelligence and variation but Leinster's aggressive rush up defence slowly strangled the life out of the visitors who were turned over too often in the opposing 22.

The man in black: John Lacey was harsh in showing a yellow card to Peter Robb for what was deemed a deliberate knock-on in the first-half but spot on in binning Leinster's Sean O'Brien earlier for dangerous clearing out at the ruck.

What’s next? Connacht face Newport Gwent Dragons at Rodney Parade next Friday. Leinster embark on the much longer trip to Italy for. Game with Zebre the following day.

Match report:

Leinster reversed last season's Guinness PRO12 final result with an impressive 24-13 derby win over Connacht at the RDS.

A crowd of 18,200 watched Ireland Sevens internationals Adam Byrne and Barry Daly run in second-half tries, with captain Isa Nacewa kicking 14 points.

A fiercely-contested first half ended 9-6 in Leinster's favour, Nacewa's three penalties cancelling out an early brace from Connacht centre Craig Ronaldson.

Pat Lam's reigning champions were craving a victory in Dublin - Connacht's last one coming 14 years ago - but they had no answer to Leinster's scrum dominance and the destructive breakdown work of man-of-the-match Dan Leavy and the returning Sean O'Brien.

Those scores from UCD wingers Byrne (49 minutes) and Daly (75) had Leinster out of sight before Connacht's replacement hooker Shane Delahunt took a great line to score a last-minute consolation try.

Ronaldson pushed a ruck offence by Cian Healy for the opening points in the fourth minute, Connacht getting their offload game going with Tiernan O'Halloran and Jack Carty both sniping and finding space.

Leinster were on the defensive for most of the first quarter, leaking a second penalty goal from Ronaldson, but a Leavy-won penalty at the breakdown broke up Connacht's attacking rhythm.

Healy then got the plaudits for a 23rd-minute scrum penalty which Nacewa turned into three points.

Despite losing O'Brien to the sin-bin (the fit-again Ireland flanker saw yellow for meeting Robb's head with his shoulder at a ruck), the hosts were exerting more control at the breakdown and Nacewa duly levelled matters in the 32nd minute.

Robb was then binned for a deliberate knock-on which prevented a Leinster line-break, briefly evening up the numbers on the pitch and allowing Nacewa to boot the hosts in front.

Having survived a late bout of Connacht pressure before the interval, Leinster were much the better side in the third quarter, their aggressive defence and superior scrum becoming key factors with number eight Jack Conan also making a smashing break.

Off set piece ball in the westerners' 22, the hosts managed to suck in the Connacht defence and passes from Jamison Gibson-Park and Sean Cronin led to Byrne scooping up a bouncing ball to touch down in the right corner.

Full-back O'Halloran, arguably Connacht's best player on the night, won a vital ruck penalty as Leinster pressed for another score. But an O'Brien turnover led to Nacewa's fourth penalty success on the hour mark.

Leinster's scrum was on the cusp of winning a penalty try before Daly marked his first PRO12 start with a try, going over wide on the left from a flat Joey Carbery pass. After Nacewa's conversion, Connacht broke downfield and their efforts were eventually rewarded with Delahunt's seven-pointer by the posts.