There’s now clear distance between Leinster Rugby and the rest of the league as they look ahead to a “special” derby day next weekend. Leinster recorded their third successive bonus point victory by beating Benetton Rugby 35-5 in Treviso, to move four points clear at the top of the table.
It’s a result which will put them in good spirits going into next Saturday’s huge all-Irish clash with Munster Rugby, at a packed Croke Park. Leo Cullen’s team had the four-try bonus in the bag inside 26 minutes out in Italy, and finished with five tries in all.
“We are very pleased to get that outcome,” said head coach Cullen. “We really imposed ourselves well on the game early on and made good decisions. There was a really good mix over the course of the first half hour and we came away with four good tries which was a great start.
“The last thing you want to do away from home with a heavy pitch and a partisan crowd is to get into a wrestle. We always had that advantage in terms of the scoreboard. So overall, very pleased.”
Now thoughts turn to the Dublin meeting with Munster, which is set to draw a near full house at the 82,000 capacity Croke Park. “There’s this anticipation always about this fixture and you’ve got the fact that it’s in Croke Park, which is an amazing venue,” said Cullen.
“It’s amazing to hear there’s already 70,000 tickets sold, so hopefully it will be close to being sold out and it will be a special day.”
Munster warmed up for the all-Irish showdown by bouncing back from their shock defeat to Zebre Parma, with a bonus point 23-0 win over the Ospreys in Cork. Graham Rowntree’s side made a record-breaking start to the game, with wing Shay McCarthy touching down after just ten seconds to score the fastest try in history of the URC. That narrowly surpassed the previous quickest by Edinburgh Rugby winger Dougie Fife against Connacht in March 2018.
History was also made in Johannesburg as the Emirates Lions set a new league record for the biggest ever half-time margin. Remarkably, they led Edinburgh 48-0 at the break, producing some scintillating rugby as they ran in seven first half tries on the way to a 55-21 triumph.
It means they join Leinster in having posted maximum posts from their league campaign to date, although they have played a game less. The Vodacom Bulls are also two from two, having beaten Ulster Rugby 47-21 in Pretoria, with seven different players scoring tries.
Elsewhere, champions Glasgow Warriors ended Cardiff Rugby’s winning start to the season as they came out on top 52-36 in a 13-try Arms Park thriller, while Connacht Rugby and the Hollywoodbets Sharks also tasted success in Wales.
A Cathal Forde penalty three minutes from time saw Connacht beat the Scarlets 24-23 in Llanelli, while the Sharks left it until the very last play at Rodney Parade to snatch a 33-30 win over Dragons RFC.
In the weekend’s other game, the DHL Stormers responded to their Round 2 loss at the hands of the Ospreys by beating Zebre 36-5 in northern Italy.
Quotes provided by United Rugby Championship
