mens
United-rugby-championship
Leinster’s dominance of Connacht continued after they thrashed their Irish rivals 50-5 in a one-sided tussle in Galway.
A total of 25 players were missing due to the upcoming autumn internationals and injury, and it was the champions who responded better to the absences to climb to second place in the United Rugby Championship.
Leinster’s 14th straight win – they haven’t lost at the Dexcom Stadium since 2018 – looked certain shortly after half an hour when Todd Lawlor crossed for their third try to extend their lead to 21-5.
Max Deegan was next in a tough third quarter to register the bonus point, but they lost in the final 20 minutes.
Joey Carbery, Ciaran Mangan and Fintan Gunne touched down to make it a miserable night for Connacht, who were beaten in all departments in the final URC outing before the trial break.
It was an impressive display of depth from Leinster in a win that spoils Connacht’s recent run of form under their England head coach Stuart Lancaster.
meanwhile, Glasgow moved to the top United Rugby Championship after extending their unbeaten streak to six games with a tense 29-20 victory over Lions in Scotstoun.
The Warriors were missing 11 players Scotland duty ahead of the autumn campaign – including Sione Tuipulota and Kyle Steyn – and left late to see off the team from Johannesburg.
Fly-half Dan Lancaster returned to the Warriors line-up and made a significant impact in the first half with a cross in the 31st minute.
Debutant Jack Singleton and wing Fergus Watson also touched down before the break to build a 19-3 lead.
The Lions struck first after the break when Morne van den Berg broke through and their impressive revival continued with tries from Siba Mahashe and Morne Brandon.
But Glasgow hit back with a dynamic try from full-back Ollie Smith with George Horne awarding an extra-time penalty to deny the Lions a forfeit bonus point.