Leinster open Laya Arena account with bonus-point win

Leinster opened up against Cardiff with width, imagination and style, rushing four tries past Cardiff in the first-half.

However the second-half didn't go anywhere near matching that standard and with both side's misfiring there was just one score, a late Leinster try.

Thus 22-5 at half-time on the first return to the RDS/Laya Arena for two years - and which included four missed conversions - became 29-5 at full-time-time.

"It weas really important for us to get a bonus-point win in front what was a full-house crowd," said Leinster skipper Dan Sheehan afterwards.

"It wasn't perfect by any means due to our own inaccuracies.

"We'd talked about it beforehand that for a lot of us this was our first game so we were aware we might fall off a bit.

"We probably need to put ourselves under pressure a bit in training so we are sure to be there next week.

"But we are looking forward to going to Clermont next week."

Hugo Keenan got the game's opening try, chipping up the left-wing, regathering, and touching down while this was almost immediately followed by Cardiff's Aled Davies being yellow carded.

Jimmy O'Brien followed up with a simple walk-in try while pressure on the line saw Jack Conan post the home side's third.

Mason Grady gathered a quickly-taken, cross-kicked penalty that took Leinster by surprise to pull some points back.

Sam Prendergast had actually missed all three of Leinster's conversion before Callum Sheedy missed Cardiff's to leave it at 15-5 when Davies returned in the 26th minute.

Leinster's fourth try came on penalty advantage from a scrum.

Jamie Osborne acted as first receiver allowing Prendergast loop around and knife through the defence before feeding O'Brien to score.

The first successful conversion of the half left it 22-5 at the break.

The second-half collapsed as a spectacle not least as Leinster's lineout was continually misfiring.

Moreover Cardiff's front-row were gaining penalties on Leinster's scrum as late as the 66th minute.

Indeed there was a sense as the 70 minute passed and Leinster had thrown on six of their eight subs - clearly superior on paper to their Cardiff counterparts - that there was a discernible flatness.

Finally, they broke through and bagged their only try of the half thanks to Osborne taking a quick throw on the right that would see Garry Ringrose make 50 metres down the left-hand side

Prendergast, who would pick up the Man of the Match award, followed up with a decent incision and delayed a pass for Osborne who did well to hang onto it as it was dying in front of him.

Leinster open their European campaign in Clermont next weekend and this, on the basis of falling away in the second-half, wasn't an impressive practice run.

"We need to be more clinical when we have the ball," said Cardiff coach Corniel van Zyl. "But they have a world class defence and we couln't get over the line but, then, there is a reason they are champions.

Leinster: Hugo Keenan, Joshua Kenny, Garry Ringrose, Jamie Osborne, Jimmy O'Brien, Sam Prendergast, Oliver Coffey; Alex Usanov, Dan Sheehan (capt), Tadgh Furlong, Joe McCarthy, James Ryan, Max Deegan, Scott Penny, Jack Conan.

Replacements: Rónan Kelleher for Sheehan 73, Peter Dooley for Usanov 65, Thomas Clarkson for Furlong 56, Alan Spicer for McCarthy 65, Josh Ericson for Conan 66, Fintan Gunne for Coffey 56, Caspar Gabriel for Osborne 76, Robbie Henshaw for Keenan 66

Cardiff: Matty Young, Jacob Beetham, Harri Millard, Le Roux Malan, Mason Grady; Callum Sheedy, Aled Davies; Danny Southworth for Barrett 56, Liam Belcher (capt), Javan Sebastian, Josh McNally, Teddy Williams, Alex Mann, Dan Thomas, Taulupe Faletau

Replacements: Evan Lloyd, Rhys Barratt, Sam Wainwright for Sebastian 26-41, 65, George Nott, Semisi Paea, Johan Mulder, Jarrod Evans for Sheedy 52, Steffan Emanuel for Beetham 66