Player ratings: Connacht vs Leinster
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Leinster
1. Cian Healy – 7/10
Very solid at scrum time. A rock in defence and a constant threat at the breakdown.
2. James Tracy – 7/10
Accurate at the lineout and did a lot of the important donkey work behind the scenes.
3. Mike Ross – 7/10
Solid at scrum time as usual. Carried well when called upon and made his tackes around the fringes.
4. Ross Molony – 7/10
Great option at lineout time. Put in a solid shift at the breakdown and stood up in defence to make some vital tackles.
5. Hayden Triggs – 7/10
Also very impressive in the lineout. Put in a big defensive shift and carried well at times.
6. Dominic Ryan – 7/10
Very solid work rate throughout. High tackle count and high number of rucks hit.
7. Josh van der Flier – 9/10
MOTM. An absolute menace at the breakdown, carried dynamically and was unbeatable in defence. Incredible performance.
8. Rhys Ruddock – 8/10
Great performance for the stand in captain. Worked incredibly hard in attack and defence and was rewarded with a nice try.
9. Luke McGrath – 8/10
Another excellent performance from the scrum-half. Controlled his backline very well and is continuing to grow into the number 9 shirt impressively.
10. Ross Byrne – 7/10
Played some lovely passes to set team mates into space but his place kicking was inconsistent and could have cost Leinster on another day.
11. Dave Kearney – 7/10
Started the game well on his return from injury. A touch rust but showed some good spells. Unfortunately forced off early into the second half through injury.
12. Noel Reid – 7/10
Solid defensively and hard working at the breakdown. Threw a beautiful pass to set up a try early on.
13. Rory O’Loughlin – 7/10
Posed a serious threat in attack from start to finish. Did very well to finish off a nice try in the corner.
14. Adam Byrne – 8/10
The stand out performer in the backline. Showed incredible pace and power to score his try early on. Also defended exceptionally well and hit several rucks.
15. Zane Kirchner – 7/10
Solid performance at full-back. Consistent under the high ball and dangerous when running from deep.
16. Sean Cronin – (52’) – 7/10
Made a positive impact off the bench when called upon. His pace and intelligent attacking lines caused the Connacht defence a host of problems.
17. Peter Dooley – (52’) – 7/10
Very solid work at scrum time. Carried dynamically and hit ruck after ruck.
18. Michael Bent – (53’) – 7/10
Caused Connacht a lot of problems at scrum time. Tackled very effectively and made a few impressive carries.
19. Ian Nagle – (62’) – 7/10
Impressive in the lineout. Tackled very well and made some vital turnovers at key moments in the game.
20. Peadar Timmins – (74’) N/A
21. Nick McCarthy – (71’) 6/10
Didn’t have much time to make an impact but was solid when called upon.
22. Tom Daly – (71’) 7/10
Didn’t get a lot of time to make an impression but did well when in possession. Showed great footwork and caused the tired Connacht defence brief problems.
23. Barry Daly – (47’) 7/10
Great opportunity to showcase his skills when called upon early due to a Dave Kearney injury. Did very well to score a late try to clinch the victory for Leinster.
Connacht
1 Denis Buckley 6/10
Buckley completed an impressive performance from the Connacht front row today, scrumming well when it was needed.
2 David Heffernan 7/10
Heffernan was quite impressive today having some clean darts at line out time. Heffernan worked hard around the pitch covering huge ground for a front row.
3 Finlay Bealham 7/10
Bealham did well at scrum time and made life difficult for the Leinster front row.
4 Quinn Roux N/A
Unfortunately Roux had to go off for a HIA 22 minutes in and never returned to the field.
5 Andrew Browne 6/10
Browne jumped well in the line out but failed to have a huge impact on the game.
6 Eoin McKeon 6/10
McKeon did what was asked of him hitting rucks and getting around the park well, however today Connacht’s back row was simply outshone by their opposition.
7 Jake Heenan 6/10
Heenan was solid at the back row for Connacht this evening. Heenan had some impressive carries and made some tackles but failed to make a huge impact on the game.
8 John Muldoon 6/10
On his 300th cap Muldoon put in a decent performance for his side hitting rucks that slowed down Leinster’s ball on numerous occasions. Muldoon led from the front and made some clean tackles around the park.
9 Kieran Marmion 6/10
Marmion similar to Carty had a solid performance passing well and made an impressive break that asked questions of the Leinster’s defence.
10 Jack Carty 6/10
Carty did well orchestrating Connacht’s attack and had some eye catching kicks out of hand in open play most noticeably his cross-field to Poolman, a solid performance from the fly half.
11 Danie Poolman 7/10
Poolman got involved and had some nice link up play with O’Halloran at times. Poolman also managed to get over the whitewash gathering a well places cross-field kick.
12 Craig Ronaldson 7/10
Ronaldson had quite an impressive game overall but most noticeably his kicking stood out. Ronaldson made an impressive 5/6 kicks for a side that has struggled off the kicking tee this season.
13 Bundee Aki 6/10
Aki put in his usual shift being a physical presence in the midfield and had a couple of nice turnovers.
14 Niyi Adeolokun N/A
Unfortunately Adeolokun was forced off just 11 minutes in due to injury.
15 Tiernan O’Halloran 8/10
The fullback had a seriously impressive game this evening, O’Halloran seemed to be involved in almost every attack and made life very difficult for Leinster finding space with relative ease.
23 Eoin Griffin – (11') 6/10
Griffin was impressive coming off the bench earlier then expected and was involved in a number of impressive back three attacks from Connacht.
19 Sean J O’Brien – (22') 7/10
O’Brien was a physical presence when he came on making a noticeable difference to the pack.
21 Caolin Blade – (38') N/A
20 Naulia Dawai - (41) 6/10
Dawai was solid when he came on however Connacht were on the back foot when he came on.
16 Shane Delahunt – (64) 6/10
Delahunt added a burst of energy but had limited time to make an impact
22 Steve Crosbie – (71) N/A
17 JP Cooney – (71) N/A
18 Dominic Robertson-McCoy – (71) N/A
