THE lights finally went out on Glasgow Warriors’ unlikely hopes of back-to-back PRO12 titles – literally and figuratively – as the visitors' second-half fightback was dashed following a 20-minute stoppage due to floodlight failure.
A dominant opening half by Leinster was responded to with second-half tries from Adam Ashe, Lee Jones and Finn Russell to give Glasgow a late lead, only for Joey Carbery to snatch the win with a penalty five minutes from time.
The power failure occurred a minute and a half from the end and resulted in a lengthy delay before Marius Mitrea blew the final whistle as Leinster eventually wrapped up the bonus-point win. Ultimately, it was a disappointing end to what had been an enthralling encounter.
The game had earlier began at frantic, action-packed pace which served as an illustration of what was to follow in a game which had no significant bearing. It was Glasgow who scored first; after two-and-a-half minutes of pressure, a high tackle on Jonny Gray resulted in a penalty and Peter Horne slotted over for the third-minute score.
Nevertheless, Glasgow were up against the history books. They had not won at Leinster under Gregor Townsend, a matter compounded by the fact the home side had not lost a PRO12 game in the RDS since Dragons hoodwinked them back in 2015. So, when Dominic Ryan popped up on Zane Kirchner’s shoulder to score the game’s first try in the sixth minute and Ross Byrne kicked the subsequent conversion for a 7-3 advantage, victory seemed a mere formality.
The game continued to go to script and Leinster didn’t take too long to claim their second try when Rory O’Loughlin scored after Adam Byrne won the ball ahead of Tommy Seymour and Jones in the air.
With the minutes ticking away, kickable Warriors' penalties were turned down as Henry Pyrgos quick tapped in vain, before a Horne penalty to the corner and a clever lineout move saw Glasgow leave Leinster territory without return following a heavy pass to Leonardo Sarto.
Fifteen minutes from the break they went back to basics though, as Horne successfully kicked for goal, but Leinster responded in kind when Byrne made it 15-6 from the tee.
Any thoughts of a first win at the RDS for Warriors since 2011 appeared to diminish further in the 35th minute when Peter Dooley scored off the back of a powerful maul, while Byrne’s penalty moments later made the score 23-6 at the interval.
There were some bright moments for Warriors in the first-half, particularly the impressive ball carrying of Tim Swinson on his return from suspension, but too often they lacked the accuracy and ball protection when their expansive game brought them near the Leinster 22.
There was a more direct approach from Warriors after the restart, and when Fraser Brown was halted at the back of a maul, Adam Ashe eventually stretched to score Glasgow’s first try in the 44th minute.
The loss of Sarto to a bizarre yellow card six minutes later was a blow to Warriors – he was penalised for a no-arm tackle by Mitrea despite clearly executing the tackle correctly – but Horne added his third penalty in the 57th minute to close the gap to a converted try.
But on the hour-mark Leinster bagged the bonus-point try when Adam Byrne offloaded to Kirchner, but Warriors staged a stunning comeback as Jones and then Russell scored tries in a five-minute spell.
Scorers: Leinster: Tries: Ryan (6), O’Loughlin (9), Dooley (35), Kirchner (60). Cons: R Byrne (1). Pens: R Byrne (2), Carbery (1).
Glasgow Warriors: Tries: Ashe (44), Jones (65), Russell (70). Cons: Horne (1), Russell (2). Pen: Horne (3),
Leinster: Z Kirchner; A Byrne, R O’Loughlin, T Daly (N Reid 55)), F McFadden; R Byrne (J Carbry 70), N McCarthy (J Gibson-Park 67); P Dooley (J McGrath 58), J Tracy, M Ross (M Bent 54); R Molony, M Kearney (I Nagle 67); D Ryan (P Timmins 6), J van der Flier (R Strauss 79), D Leavy.
Glasgow Warriors: T Seymour; L Sarto, N Grigg, S Johnson, L Jones; P Horne (F Russell 57), H Pyrgos (A Price 52); A Allan (G Reid 52), F Brown (P MacArthur 54), S Puafisi (Z Fagerson 36); B Alainu’uese (R Harley 36), J Gray (c); T Swinson, C Fusaro, A Ashe (N Gregg 62).
Referee: M Mitrea (FIR)
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