Leinster live up to the occasion of long-awaited homecoming to blow Cardiff away

URC: Leinster 29 Cardiff Blues 5The Laya Arena looked resplendent and there was enough in a satisfactory bonus-point win at their refurbished home to send the 20,035 crowd into the night content.But there was also enough rustiness and clunkiness in the performance, not least in a near 40-minute spell without a score, to leave head coach Leo Cullen with plenty to work on.Perhaps the slight sense of an anticlimax was unfairly heightened by Leinster having set the bar so high in the first quarter, by far their best period in the game. There was purpose aplenty in their carries and recycling, with Sam Prendergast looking fit and strong as he glided over the turf, producing some typically sublime touches in a man-of-the-match performance.Yet there were also times when Leinster’s attack became narrow and pedestrian, and it was a mite discomfiting that Cardiff were able to outflank the defence so readily with bridge passes, albeit Leinster restricted their lively attack to one off-the-cuff try from a quick penalty.READ MOREMindful of facing Clermont, who will have played six games when they meet at the Stade Marcel Michelin next Saturday, Cullen gave his returning frontliners long shifts, with Jack Conan going for over an hour and Dan Sheehan for more than 70 minutes. Joe McCarthy finished at blindside flanker, while James Ryan lasted the full 80 on his return.Leinster’s grand and overdue homecoming was blessed with a still autumnal night in D4. With its spacious surrounds, there was almost a carnival-like atmosphere surrounding the ground in the build-up.The sense of anticipation must have been acute among the home team, and despite nine of their starters making their seasonal bows, the hosts were razor-sharp out of the blocks.Leinster's Hugo Keenan runs into contact. Photograph: Andrew Conan/Inpho Prendergast’s every involvement seemed to attract additional approval and, in tandem with Joe McCarthy and Jack Conan, they executed a choke tackle on Harri Millard. Deft work up the blindside from inside halfway thanks to Conan’s quick hands released Jimmy O’Brien, who exchanged passes with Prendergast before Oliver Coffey arrived in support, but his offload inside was just too low for his outhalf to gather.There was an inevitability about the opening try. Tadhg Furlong passed out the back for Prendergast, and Dan Sheehan provided the link for Hugo Keenan to chip, left-footed, over the last defender perfectly and gather just short of the tryline.A scrum penalty to the corner led to Aled Davies being binned for playing the ball as the second man, and Leinster utilised their numerical advantage with a simple blindside move for O’Brien to score in the corner.Leinster’s ambition to work turnover ball into the edge – something they had sought to harness last season – was a striking feature of the game, and when McCarthy popped a Cardiff knock-on up to Furlong, the tighthead looped a long pass to Prendergast.The outhalf eyed up a frontrower and sped around before releasing O’Brien. Though he was tackled short, Conan took a sharp out-in line to score from Max Deegan’s transfer off the recycle.The one blemish of Prendergast’s game was over the kicking tee, missing his opening three conversion attempts. Hunting for a bonus-point try, Leinster lost their way for a spell and were caught unaware when Callum Sheedy quick-wittedly crosskicked a penalty for Mason Grady to gather and score.Taine Basham, a late call-up in place of Taulupe Faletau, beat Scott Penny off the base of a scrum and Le Roux Malan would have outflanked the Leinster defence to release Jacob Beetham but his pass was forward.Jimmy O'Brien scores his second try for Leinster. Photograph: Andrew Conan/Inpho From there, Leinster rediscovered their mojo to secure the bonus point before half-time. A phased attack wore down the Cardiff defence, Coffey and Garry Ringrose combining to hit Prendergast, who was again the instigator-in-chief, beating Beetham on his inside and dummying Matty Young to give O’Brien another clear run-in to the corner. This time, the 23-year-old landed the conversion for a 22-5 interval lead.A low-key third quarter becalmed the home crowd, save for some defensive sets, as Cardiff’s replacement halves, Johan Mulder and Jarrod Evans, injected some tempo. After Coffey’s covering tackle on Mulder denied one try, Malan hit Beetham on the edge with a bridge pass, but Keenan’s tackle and Prendergast’s counter-ruck kept Cardiff out.But the occasion and crowd demanded a late flourish from Leinster. And they provided when Robbie Henshaw injected some urgency into another phased attack and Ringrose dummied to make big inroads.A few phases later, Prendergast took Ringrose’s pullback to dummy a defender and deftly hung a popped pass into space for Jamie Osborne to gather and spin out of a tackle to score adroitly over his right shoulder while landing on his back, leaving Prendergast to slot the conversion for the full-time score.SCORING SEQUENCE – 9 MINS: Keenan try 5-0; 17: O’Brien try 10-0; 19: Conan try 15-0; 25: Grady try 15-5; 38: O’Brien try, Prendergast con 22-5; Half-time 22-5; 76: Osborne try, Prendergast con 29-5LEINSTER: H Keenan; J Kenny, G Ringrose, J Osborne, J O’Brien; S Prendergast, O Coffey; A Usanov, D Sheehan, T Furlong; J McCarthy, J Ryan; M Deegan, S Penny, J Conan. Replacements: T Clarkson for Furlong, F Gunne for Coffey (both 56 mins), P Dooley for Usanov, A Spicer for Deegan (both 64), J Ericson for Conan, R Henshaw for Keenan (both 66), R Kelleher for Sheehan (73), C Gabriel for Osborne (76).CARDIFF: M Young; J Beetham, H Millard, L Malan, M Grady; C Sheedy, A Davies; D Southworth, L Belcher, J Sebastian; J McNally, T Williams; A Mann, D Thomas, T Basham. Replacements: S Wainwright for Sebastian (25-37, 64 mins), J Mulder for Davies, J Evans for Sheedy (both 52), E Lloyd for Thomas, R Barratt for Southworth (both 64), S Paea for Belcher (67), R Thornton for Mann (76).Yellow card: Davies (16 mins).Referee: S Grove-White (Scotland).