A 60 second look at Leinster v Munster
Having survived for the 10 minutes Niall Scannell spent in the sin-bin, winning that period 7-0 to level the match on the half hour, Munster found themselves easily stretched when back to their full complement, Johnny Sexton and Joey Carbery combining well to release centre Rory O'Loughlin into acres of space for his second try of the opening half, running behind the posts to give captain Sexton a simple conversion that opened up a clear 17-7 lead that would not be closed.
If this was nothing more than a tune-up for the Champions Cup challenges ahead it is difficult to see what Munster boss Rassie Erasmus can be satisfied with heading to Castres in eight days. Fielding three fly-halves in his backline did not provide any extra width in attack and defensive lapses remain a concern. His Leinster counterpart Leo Cullen, however, will be delighted as his contingent of Lions gained valuable gametime as the rust of last week's returns was shaken off.
Johnny Sexton looked back to his authoritative best, pulling the strings for Leinster in this morale-boosting victory over old rivals Munster. He kicked well in his 72-minute stint, delivering five kicks from five and in doing so passed Felipe Contepomi as his province's all-time leading points scorer. Munster meanwhile will be delighted to see Keith Earls back in flying form in his first game of the season, the Ireland wing scoring two tries.
Welsh referee Ben Whitehouse dithered over his decision to disallow a Munster first-half try, first awarding the score to Keith Earls before being persuaded to scratch the five points for a forward pass to the wing from Chris Farrell. Whitehouse was right to yellow card Munster hooker Niall Scannell for a deliberate offside when he slapped down a pass on halfway but he also missed a clear lineout for Munster after a JJ Hanrahan kick came off the boot of Robbie Henshaw.
Munster's discipline was poor in the first half, conceding seven penalties and handed Leinster nine easy points in the second half.
Leinster 8 Munster 11 1-7 at half-time
For such a high-intensity contest there were no apparent injuries to report, although Leister flanker Josh van der Flier did not reappear following his withdrawal for a blood injury in the closing 10 minutes.
The provinces park their Guinness PRO14 campaigns for a fortnight as the Champions Cup gets underway for a 23rd season of European club rugby. Leinster host French Top14 league leaders Montpellier at the RDS next Saturday while a day later Munster will be in France to face Castres.
