Visitors Leinster raced into a commanding 16-point lead thanks to a Sean Cronin brace and Dave Kearney try. But Steffan Jones kept the scoreboard ticking and Ieuan Jones crashed over for a try after the break. Kearney completed his double mid-way through the half to secure the victory but the Dragons continued to battle and the fly-half grabbed a late try to claim a losing bonus-point. Darren Edwards’ men lost their last encounter at Rodney Parade by 60-3 and they were left shell-shocked as Cronin touched down after 50 seconds. Steffan Jones struck back for the hosts but the classy Dubliners quickly stretched their advantage.
But Fergus McFadden made a powerful break and fired a superb pass for Cronin to score in the same corner. Leinster continued to dominate and Rhys Ruddock rampaged off the back of a scrum and offloaded to Kearney to score, with Madigan converting. Jones added a penalty and drop-goal to make the scores 19-9 at half-time and the Dragons continued their resurgence after the break. The Dragons continued their revival after the break but Leinster did themselves no favours by spilling the ball from the restart. And following a sustained period of pressure Jonathan Evans sent Jones flying over.
Leinster rediscovered their grove and they landed a knockout blow on the Dragons on the 65 minute when Kearney was on the receiving end of a sweeping move to claim his second try. Madigan maintained his impressive kicking from wide but the hosts found an extra gear in the closing stages and Jones crashed over to stretch his personal tally to 14-points and salvage a losing bonus-point for the hosts.
