Leinster produced an assured second half display as they came from 12 points down to defeat provincial rivals Connacht at the RDS.
Ray Ofisa and Brian Tuohy both scored converted tries, coming up to half-time, to fire the underdogs into a deserved 20-8 lead.
With Johnny O’Connor hurtling into tackles and Niall O’Connor a steadying presence at out-half, Connacht were on course for their first away win over Leinster since September 2002.
But just as they did against Aironi seven days ago, Leinster managed to turn things around after the break.
A succession of penalty goals – Isa Nacewa finished with 14 points – and Luke Fitzgerald’s 65th-minute try edged the hosts ahead, and a last-minute drop goal from Ian Madigan even took the losing bonus point away from Connacht.
Eric Elwood’s men were first to threaten, Niall O’Connor missing a penalty from inside his own half with the wind behind him.
Clever work from Mike McCarthy and Johnny O’Connor led to Niall O’Connor kicking to the right for Mark McCrea to gather with the try-line in his sight, but he was soon crowded out.
Connacht maintained their presence in the hosts’ 22 and O’Connor duly drilled a ninth minute penalty through the uprights. Nevertheless, that score only served to spark Leinster into life.
Their stand-in captain Rhys Ruddock rampaged through the middle and over halfway and with Connacht prop Dylan Rogers dispatched to the sin-bin for cynical play – he interfered with Cillian Willis at the back of a ruck – Nacewa kicked Leinster level.
Willis soon found a soft centre to Connacht’s defence again, however the westerners clawed back the territory and O’Connor slotted his second penalty for a 6-3 scoreline.
A surging run from Nacewa got Leinster back on the attack and with Connacht caught flatfooted, Devin Toner powered onto a pass from Willis and barged past final defender Matthew Jarvis for a 20th minute try.
Nacewa could not add the extras and Connacht forced the issue in the second quarter. A long, inviting pass from Niall O’Connor put Ofisa ghosting inside David Kearney for his seven-pointer.
With their confidence up, Connacht stretched their advantage to 12 points courtesy of a neatly-taken try from winger Tuohy. He gathered Henry Fa’afili’s pass and slipped past Nacewa to score to the right of the posts.
Kevin McLaughlin admitted afterwards that Leinster received a ‘dressing down’ from Joe Schmidt at the interval. It had the desired effect as they were much improved on the resumption.
They recovered their poise in the early stages of the second half. Nacewa landed two successive penalties to reduce the arrears to 20-14.
Tuohy roused Connacht with a spirited kick chase up the left wing but he knocked on when attempting to regain possession just metres from the Leinster line.
Further indiscipline from Connacht allowed out-half Madigan send over a monster penalty in wet conditions.
With replacement prop Nathan White helping Leinster win a scrum against the head, Leo Auva’a powered off the base and man-of-the-match Willis passed for Fitzgerald to slip over by the posts.
Nacewa converted and added a penalty. Connacht, who are struggling with injuries and illness in the squad, were unable to mount a response and a high, ranking drop goal from Madigan closed out the scoring on the stroke of full-time.
Speaking after the game, Leinster scrum half Willis said: “There was a fair wind out there and our backs were against the wall in the first half. Fair dues to Connacht because they had us under a lot of pressure at times.
“But at half-time we regrouped and clawed our way back (into the game) and thankfully we managed to get the win.
“Games against Connacht are always frantic from the first whistle but I hope that they, like ourselves, Ulster and Munster, can kick on from here because we all want all four provinces to be going well come the end of the season.”
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