Max Deegan's try enough for lacklustre Leinster to hold off Dragons

Leo Cullen's team hung on despite not scoring in the second 40 and this was one of the worst Leinster displays for a long time

Leinster’s Hugo Keenan offloads. Picture: INPHO/Andy Watts

Dragons 6 Leinster 7

Leinster made it two wins from two in the United Rugby Championship but that would have been the only thing that pleased head coach Leo Cullen from the visit to Dragons.

Cullen saw his team’s game blighted by errors against a Welsh side who impressed in defence as Leinster failed to make the most of two opposition yellow cards.

Max Deegan did score in the first half, but the Irish raiders only led 7-0 at the break and when Sam Davies kicked two Dragons penalties just after the hour, Cullen would have been a worried man.

In the end, his team hung on despite not scoring in the second 40 and this was one of the worst Leinster displays for a long time.

Heavy pre-match rain in south Wales made for a scrappy start. Leinster turned down a kickable early penalty in favour of the corner but Conor O’Brien lost possession to an Ollie Griffiths rip.

It was the start of a familiar theme.

Leinster pressure forced Dragons scrum-half Lewis Jones to be yellow-carded after he failed to release an Irish carrier after tackling him on the home line.

Deegan immediately went over from close range and Ross Byrne – who was keen to test Dragons with his kicking game from hand – converted.

Leinster’s job was made easier still when they launched a counterattack from their own 22 and Dragons full-back Josh Lewis joined Jones in the bin for a deliberate knock-on.

Wales wing Jonah Holmes stepped in for Jones at scrum-half and impressive Dragons No 8 Aaron Wainwright went on one charge from a scrum.

Leinster remained in charge but the end product was lacking. O’Brien again spilled the ball, Michael Ala’alatoa was penalised at a set-piece, and Jamison Gibson-Park knocked on.

It allowed Dragons to stay in the game as Jones and then Lewis returned before the break.

Byrne’s poor first-half form continued at the start of the second with another woeful kick. The out-half’s game management, albeit in tricky conditions, wasn’t great.

Leinster never really looked threatened, but they just couldn’t get going. A line-out went awry, there was another turnover and a penalty for holding on. The blue errors just kept coming and coming.

It made for a fragmented, stop-start game. Cullen introduced Dan Leavy to try to sort Leinster’s breakdown troubles. It didn’t work. Davies put Dragons on the board with a 63rd-minute penalty.

And after more Leinster contact area woes, Davies stepped up again to make it a one-point game.

Leinster were arguably getting worse. Replacement Ryan Baird inexplicably dropped a simple line-out ball when unchallenged and then did likewise when hit hard by a double Welsh tackle.

Leinster thought they had put the game to bed with a few minutes to go when Nick McCarthy went over. Ciaran Frawley had picked up possession after Lewis failed to claim a high kick.

But the South African officials utilised the TMO and the score was ruled out for a knock-on.

It summed up Leinster’s day and the only positive for them was the result as they came nowhere near to a bonus point.

Scorers: Dragons: Pens: S Davies 63, 66. Leinster: Try: Deegan 13 Con: R Byrne 15.

Dragons: Lewis; Holmes, Dixon, Owen, Olowofela; S Davies, Jones (Williams 50); Seiuli (Bateman 47), Dee (T Davies 59), Doge (Coleman 58), Rowlands, Carter (Maksymiw 55), Moriarty (capt), Griffiths (Basham 32), Wainwright.

Replacements not used: Warren, I Davies.

Leinster: Keenan; Russell, Ringrose, O’Brien (O’Loughlin 67), O’Loughlin (Frawley 54); R Byrne, Gibson-Park (McCarthy 62); Porter (E Byrne 56), Sheehan (Tracy 56), Ala’alatoa (Healy 56), Molony, Ryan (capt), Ruddock (Baird 64), Van der Flier, Deegan (Leavy 56).

Replacement not used: Penny.

Referee: AJ Jacobs (SARU).

Attendance: 5,043.

Star man: Aaron Wainwright (Dragons)