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Ed Byrne and Noel Reid both scored two first-half tries as Leinster thrashed Southern Kings 59-19 in the Guinness PRO14.<\/p>\nEd Byrne and Noel Reid both scored two first-half tries as Leinster thrashed Southern Kings 59-19 in the Guinness PRO14.<\/p>\n
The runaway Conference B leaders had secured a bonus point by the 37th minute and ended up running in nine tries in total against their struggling South African opponents.<\/p>\n
The Kings briefly led midway through the first half, with Bjorn Basson and Sarel Pretorius scoring in quick succession, but man-of-the-match Byrne’s rapid-fire double and center Reid’s second of the night gave Leo Cullen’s men a 24-12 interval advantage.<\/p>\n
The youthful Leinster side, which included 21-year-old debutant hooker Ronan Kelleher, leaked a third try to Kings full-back Ulrich Beyers but rattled off five more of their own with Barry Daly, Andrew Porter, Max Deegan, Paddy Patterson and fellow replacement Rory O’Loughlin all touching down.<\/p>\n
The South Africans, who have won just two games this season, fell behind to a fifth-minute try from Reid, whose well-timed line took him over beside the posts.<\/p>\n
Ross Byrne knocked over the first of his seven successful conversions but the Kings hit back to lead 12-7 by the 20-minute mark.<\/p>\n
Centre Basson crossed in the left corner and scrum half Pretorius burrowed over on the right after captain Mike Willemse had been stopped short from a maul.<\/p>\n
It was all Leinster for the next few minutes during which prop Ed Byrne touched down twice.<\/p>\n
Conor O’Brien and the forwards reveled as the hosts went the direct route and Ed Byrne duly muscled in under the posts.<\/p>\n
Ross Byrne added the extras and then the seven-point lead was restored after a close-range surge made it a double for the 25-year-old front rower.<\/p>\n
Some superb interplay between Fergus McFadden, with an offload out the back door, and Daly preceded Reid’s bonus-point effort.<\/p>\n
The home forwards initially pressed from a lineout and Ross Byrne’s well-executed wraparound on the short side put the center over.<\/p>\n
In the second half, Bader Pretorius broke a tackle and released the supporting Beyers to finish off his try from the edge of the Leinster 22.<\/p>\n
The try’s creator converted but Daly profited from Ross Byrne’s one-handed offload to accelerate away from Beyers for a 46th-minute response.<\/p>\n
Tighthead Porter struck at the end of a prolonged attack in the 54th minute and the hosts finished with a three-try flourish in the final 16 minutes.<\/p>\n
The ever-alert Deegan sprung through a gap and expertly arced his run to register his sixth try of the PRO14 campaign, O’Brien and O’Loughlin combined to send academy youngster Patterson over, and O’Loughlin stretched out of a tackle and in under the posts for try number nine.<\/p>\n