Ciaran Frawley's last gasp try snatches Leinster bonus point victory over Connacht

When Leinster’s need was the greatest, Frawley ran a perfect line to finish a flowing move with a try in the right corner which not only won the match, but also netted a bonus point.

LAST GASP: Leinster’s Ciaran Frawley scores a late try to win the game. Pic Credit ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne

Connacht 22 Leinster 24

Ciaran Frawley hardly touched the ball all night at full-back but he still popped up in the 81st minute to score a dramatic winner for Leinster and break Connacht hearts at the Sportsground.

Frawley, selected at No.15 despite his stellar display last week against Munster, was almost a spectator as this derby went one way and then the other but when Leinster’s need was the greatest, he ran a perfect line to finish a flowing move with a try in the right corner which not only won the match, but also netted a bonus point.

His skipper on the night Scott Penny hailed Frawley for producing the moment of magic when it was most required.

“Credit to him. He has worked hard all summer and it’s great he can cover so many positions and it was great tonight," said Penny.

“These inter-pros are always tough and they always go down to the last few minutes but it’s something we have been working on, those final ten minutes and thankfully it worked there.”

It was a tough outcome for Connacht who came from eleven points down after 64 minutes to hit the front but in the end they fell to a seventh successive loss at the Sportsground to Leinster and also suffered their first home defeat of 2023.

But they have only themselves to blame. They saturated Leinster pressure in the final minutes after getting on top in the scrum and looked to have secured the win when they got a penalty in their 22 from a scrum as the clock went towards 80 minutes.

However, they lost the lineout near midfield and Leinster countered from deep, working the ball across to the left and back again with Frawley timing his run to perfection to score and snatch the victory.

Connacht, despite having only 39% possession in the opening half, led 8-7 at the break after Leinster were guilty of sloppy handling and a poor lineout which coughed up four throws.

Connacht’s Caolin Blade breaks free to score his sides second try. Pic Credit ©INPHO/James Crombie

Connacht, like Leinster, having gone with a 6/2 split on the bench, lost full-back Tiernan O’Halloran to a leg injury after just seven minutes but his replacement David Hawkshaw was on the field just a couple of minutes when he finished off a brilliant move for the opening score.

Mack Hansen, back for his first action after the World Cup, was heavily involved in its creation after Darragh Murray had stolen a Leinster throw. Connacht worked the ball across and Hansen put Byron Ralston away down the right before taking the return pass and with Hawkshaw running a perfect line, the former Leinster academy player scored in the right corner to send the home fans in the capacity crowd into raptures.

JJ Hanrahan was unable to slot the conversion but the Kerry native made no mistake with a kick from 38 metres after 22 minutes to make it 8-0 after winning a penalty on a Leinster scrum when they were down to 14 men after Cathal Forde was binned for a high tackle on Charlie Ngatai.

Leinster had opportunities but moves constantly broke down and never made use of the extra man.

However, they made the most of Connacht ill-discipline when flanker Shamus Hurley-Langton was penalised for retaliation and a penalty was reversed in Leinster’s favour. They made it count, winning another one inside the 22.

This time they tapped, another variation of a well utilised tactic as the forwards stepped back at the last moment and scrum-half Ben Murphy dashed forward, tapped and swung wide for Ngatai to break through Hanrahan’s tackle to score his second ever try for Leinster, having got off the mark against the Dragons last month.

Harry Byrne added the conversion to cut the gap to 8-7 at the break.

Connacht lost a five-metre lineout before the break and then messed up three in a row inside the red zone after the restart as they failed to punish Leinster and the tide turned.

Leo Cullen started to empty his bench five minutes after the restart with Tadhg Furlong coming on and Cian Healy returning for his first action since being injured in the World Cup warm-up match against Samoa in Bayonne.

They made an immediate impact as did Ross Molony and scrum-half Cormac Foley, whose tapped penalty resulted in a yellow card for former Leinster prop Peter Dooley for being back ten.

Once again Leinster tapped and went, this time using the forwards, and they hit the front when Jason Jenkins crowned his 28th birthday by squeezing over. Byrne converted to make it 14-8 after 52 minutes.

Leinster pushed on from there and a grubber from Ngatai bounced kindly for Ronan Kelleher off Hansen’s heel and he scored in the right corner to extend the lead to 19-8 after 56 minutes.

Connacht got a lifeline 15 minutes from time when replacement Paul Boyle, back from injury for his first action of the season, put Cathal Forde away in midfield and he had his skipper Caolan Blade on his shoulder to sprint home, with Hanrahan’s conversion reducing the margin to 19-15.

They hit the front ten minutes from time when a good turnover by Boyle saw Hansen produce more magic to break from deep down the left, draw the cover before sending Diarmuid Kilgallen through for his fifth try of the campaign. Hanrahan converted to make it 22-19 to Connacht.

That should have been enough to see it out, especially when they got on top in the scrum and were able to clear their lines with a penalty won in the set-piece.

But as the clock dipped into the red they lost the lineout in midfield and that was all Leinster needed for one final attack to break their hearts with Frawley’s remarkable winner.

Scorers for Connacht:

Tries: D Hawkshaw, C Blade, D Kilgallen.

Cons: JJ Hanrahan (2).

Pen: Hanrahan.

Scorers for Leinster:

Tries: C Ngatai, J Jenkins, R Kelleher, C Frawley.

Cons: H Byrne (2).

Connacht: T O’Halloran (D Hawkshaw 7); M Hansen, B Ralston, C Forde, D Kilgallen; JJ Hanrahan, C Blade (capt); P Dooley (D Buckley 60), D Heffernan (D Tierney-Martin 66), J Aungier (F Bealham 52); D Murray, O Dowling (N Murray 18-25, 30). C Prendergast, S Hurley-Langton (C Oliver 55), S Jansen (P Boyle 57).

Leinster: C Frawley; R Russell, R Henshaw, C Ngatai, J Osborne (L Turner 60); H Byrne, B Murphy (C Foley 50); E Byrne (C Healy 45), R Kelleher (L Barron 66), M Ala’alatoa (T Furlong 45); R Baird, J Jenkins; M Deegan (R Molony 50), S Penny (capt) (W Connors 76), J Culhane.

Referee: Chris Busby (IRFU).