Player Ratings: Leinster vs Munster
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Leinster
Jack McGrath – 7/10
Put under some early pressure at scrum time but recovered well as the game wore on. He was very impressive in the loose, showing some good handling skills and dynamic ball carrying.
James Tracy – 6/10
Very quiet afternoon from the Leinster hooker. Posted an impressive lineout success rate of 92%. Put in a reasonable shift at the breakdown but was taken off after just 48 minutes.
Tadhg Furlong – 7/10
Very impressive at scrum time consistently piling the pressure on his opposite number. Made a good impression with ball in hand making 9 big carries and put in some huge hits defensively.
Devin Toner – 6/10
Surprisingly quiet afternoon for the second row. Solid at lineout and hard working at the breakdown. Unfortunately failed to make an impression with ball in hand and missed some vital tackles when caught out of position in defence.
Scott Fardy – 7/10
Very impressive in the lineout; winning a lot of his own ball and managing to steal a lot of opposition ball. Put in a big shift defensively and carried extremely well. Consistently worked hard at the breakdown and carried well at times.
Rhys Ruddock – 7/10
Got through an excellent amount of work at the breakdown, disrupting the speed of the Munster play throughout the game. Also very solid defensively, posting a tackle success rate of 100%.
Josh van der Flier – 7/10
Excellent performance this afternoon from the young Leinster flanker. Showed great technique and determination at the breakdown to get over the ball and win several vital penalties for his side. He also looked dangerous when running with ball in hand.
Jack Conan – 7/10
Made a couple of crucial tackles and held up the Munster play at times. Unsurprisingly, he looked very dangerous with ball in hand and caused the opposition defence a host of problems from start to finish.
Luke McGrath – 7/10
Another solid performance from the scrum-half. Controlled his backline well and executed some perfect box kicks. Passed accurately and made some big hits in defence when called upon.
Jonathan Sexton 8/10
Played some lovely passes to set team mates into key attacking spaces at times. Made a few brilliant breaks, played a key role in both of his side’s tries and recorded a 100% success rate from the tee. Winner of the man of the match award.
Barry Daly – 8/10
The young winger showed a few moments of brilliance in attack to create space and opportunities for his team mates with his combination of direct running and deft offloading. He did very well defensively when called upon and put in a solid shift at the breakdown.
Robbie Henshaw – 6/10
Solid defensively and very hard working at the breakdown. Gave it his all in attack but was contained very well by an solid Munster defensive unit
Rory O’Loughlin – 7/10
Posed a serious threat in attack from start to finish. Scored two great tries after some excellent footwork and beautiful offloading by his teammates. Question marks over some of his decision making early on but more than made up for it as the game wore on.
Adam Byrne – 7/10
Another very impressive performance from the young winger. He caused the Munster defence a lot of problems throughout and was incredible under the high ball. Unfortunately showed a moment of inexperience when gave Earls too much space out wide which ultimately resulted in a try for the opposition.
Joey Carbery – 9/10
The stand out performer in the Leinster backline. Consistent under the high ball and dangerous when running from deep. Showed some flashes of attacking brilliance with beautiful footwork and accurate passing which was apparent when he brilliantly set up his side’s second try.
Honourable mentions from the bench:
Sean Cronin – (49’) 7/10
Cronin made a really positive impact off the bench. Continued the impressive lineout work of Tracy, showed excellent handling skills and beautiful footwork which caused Munster an array of problems.
Cian Healy – (49’) 7/10
Entered the fray early in the second half as part of an all new Leinster front row. Put in a big shift at the breakdown and forced several penalties at scrum time.
Munster
Dave Kilcoyne – 5/10
Pretty quiet afternoon for the loosehead. Struggled at scrum time under huge pressure from his opposite number and failed to carry the ball often enough.
Niall Scannell – 6/10
Lineout was very poor, several overthrows handing easy possession back to Leinster at key moments in the game. Also failed to make any real impression with ball in hand and received a yellow card for a silly deliberate knock on.
John Ryan – 5/10
Struggled in the scrum at times under huge pressure from the Leinster front row leading to the concession of several penalties. At fault for the first opposition try and withdrawn after just 44 minutes of play.
Robin Copeland – 6/10
Part of a Munster lineout which failed to properly function this afternoon. He was unable to make much of an attacking impression with ball in hand but partly redeemed himself with a solid shift at the breakdown.
Billy Holland – 6/10
Another part of a dysfunctional lineout unit. Carried well at times but was anonymous for large parts of the game and failed to make a really positive impact for his side.
Peter O’Mahony – 6/10
Has to take a large part of the blame for the failings of the Munster lineout today. He made amends around the park with his high work rate at the breakdown and solidity in defence but can’t be excused for the disappointing set piece.
Tommy O’Donnell – 7/10
Very solid work rate throughout. High tackle count and high number of rucks hit. Made an excellent break which ultimately lead to Earls’ second try. One of the stand out performers in the Munster pack.
CJ Stander – 7/10
Uncharacteristically quiet afternoon for Stander. Got through a solid amount of work at the breakdown and made some vital defensive tackles. However, he failed to reach his usual levels of defensive devastation when running with ball in hand.
Conor Murray – 7/10
Solid performance from the Munster scrum half this afternoon. As always, his box kicking was impeccable. However, at times his passing was slightly inaccurate and lead to some poor handling errors.
Ian Keatley – 6/10
Did really well to read the play and score an intercept try but other than that it was a disappointing afternoon form the outhalf. He consistently kicked straight into the arms of Joey Carbery, handing cheap possession back to Leinster time and time again. Withdrawn after just 44 minutes of play.
Keith Earls – 8/10
The standout performer in the Munster side today. He played a key role in everything that was good about his side’s attack, causing Leinster problems with his incredible pace and strength to score two excellent tries. He was also a rock in defence, recording a tackle success rate of 100%.
Tyler Bleyendaal – 6/10
The weak link in the Munster back line. Failed to make an impact with ball in hand, struggled defensively and cheaply gifted Leinster possession on several occasions with inaccurate place kicking.
Chris Farrell – 7/10
Another excellent performer in the Munster backline. He was a brute in defence making countless crunching hits and forcing several knock ons. He looked really dangerous with ball in hand but unfortunately threw two careless forward passes at important moments of the game.
Andrew Conway – 7/10
A very respectable performance form the Munster wide man this afternoon. His deft footwork and blistering pace posed a constant threat to the Leinster defence. Questionable under the high ball at times but overall a solid day for Conway.
JJ Hanrahan – 7/10
In just his second game back after a lengthy injury spell, Hanrahan put in a very good shift for his side. His kicking out of hand was accurate and often pinned Leinster back inside their own territory. He was unable to make a real impression in attack but showed some flashes of brilliance.
Honourable mentions from the bench:
Alex Wootton (44’) – 7/10
The young winger did really well when called upon from the bench in the early stages of the second half. He was very impressive under the high ball and looked very threatening with ball in hand.
