Hi °C | Lo °C Leinster came out on top in a tense battle with Newport Gwent Dragons on Saturday night to record their 10th successive win at the RDS.
The Dragons trailed by just three points at the interval despite having both Gavin Thomas and Ashley Smith sin-binned in the first-half, but Isa Nacewa’s sensational 54th minute try paved the way for Leinster to edge nearer victory.
Jonathan Sexton and Shaun Berne combined to set Gordon D'Arcy free and his pass allowed Nacewa to complete the job en route to a 23-14 success.
Connacht, meanwhile, slumped to a 62-13 defeat at the hands of table-topping Edinburgh, for whom Chris Paterson top-scored with 27 points to his name.
The visitors actually led proceedings for a brief period thanks to two penalty goals from Ian Keatley but Edinburgh — under the guidance of new boss Rob Moffat — stormed back with a scintillating second-half display.
The Glasgow Warriors v Scarlets clash finished 19-11 to the hosts while, at Thomond Park, champions Munster proved too strong for Cardiff Blues.
Marcus Horan and Denis Leamy scored important tries and, though Ben Blair’s penalty reduced the margin to 16-13, things went downhill for the Welshmen once Ma’ama Molitika was sent to the sin-bin for a foul on Jeremy Manning, who contributed 14 points for his team.
