David Holwell, who had a flawless nine-from-nine night with his right boot, opened proceedings with a fifth-minute penalty and although Percy Montgomery nullified the 3 point with a kick of his own after 26 minutes it was one way traffic for the rest of the game. Holwell added a second penalty soon after before Gissing was driven over from close range. Three minutes later Horgan got his first before a Holwell chip through allowed Contemponi to make it 27-3 at the break.
Horgan, Hickie and young flanker Ronan – bagging a cheeky 63rd-minute try, collecting his own chip kick to score – helped Leinster draw within four points of second-placed Munster in the latter stages.
Leinster: Girvan Dempsey; Shane Horgan(2T), Felipe Contepomi(1T), Gordon D’Arcy, Denis Hickie(2T); David Holwell(7C, 2PG), Guy Easterby; Reggie Corrigan (capt), Shane Byrne, Emmet Byrne; Malcolm O’Kelly, Ben Gissing(1T); Ciaran Potts, Niall Ronan(1T), Eric Miller
Bench: Ricky Nebbett, David Blaney, Aidan McCullen, Victor Costello, Brian O’Riordan, David Quinlan, Gary Brown Replacements used: McCullen for Gissing 34, Gissing for McCullen 41, Brown for Horgan 46, Nebbett for Corrigan 64, D.Blaney for S.Byrne 64, Costello for Ronan 64, O’Riordan for Easterby 64, Quinlan for D’Arcy 64, McCullen for O’Kelly 64
The Dragons: Sione Tuipulotu; Gareth Wyatt, Percy Montgomery(1PG), Steve Winn, Ben Breeze; Craig Warlow, Gareth Baber; Rod Snow, James Richards, Chris Anthony; Neil Edwards (sin bin 40-50), Peter Sidoli; Jamie Ringer, Jason Forster (capt), Rhys Oakley
Bench: Kieran Crawford, Adam Black, Rhys Thomas, Matthew Veater, James Ireland, Richard Payne, Gareth Chapman Replacements used: Black for Snow 57, Thomas for Anthony 57, Crawford for Richards 67, Veater for Ringer 67, Chapman for Breeze 73, Payne for Tuipulotu 78
Scoring sequence: 5′ Holwell (PG) 3-0, 26′ Montgomery (PG) 3-3, 28′ Holwell (PG) 6-3, 33′ Gissing (T) 11-3, Holwell (C) 13-3, 36′ Horgan (T) 18-3, Holwell (C) 20-3, 40′ Contepomi (T) 25-3, Holwell (C) 27-3, 45′ Horgan (T) 32-3, Holwell (C) 34-3, 57′ D.Hickie (T) 39-3, Holwell (C) 41-3, 63′ Ronan (T) 46-3, Holwell (C) 48-3, 68′ D.Hickie (T) 53-3, Holwell (C) 55-3
Referee: David Changleng (Scotland). Attendance: 4600
