Leinster secured a Guinness PRO12 double over Munster and moved to the top of the table after hanging on for a 16-13 victory at the Aviva Stadium. Having already beaten their provincial rivals at Thomond Park in December, they took advantage of Connacht’s loss to Ulster on Friday to move back into top spot. Johnny Sexton was the star of the show, finishing with all 16 points, but Munster counterpart Johnny Holland also impressed in only his third Guinness PRO12 start. Sexton’s first-half try helped Leinster into a 10-6 lead at the break, but Holland responded in kind early in the second half. However two more Sexton penalties gave the home side a narrow lead heading into the final ten minutes. When they lost Cian Healy to a sin-binning in the final minutes, it gave Munster a great opportunity to avoid defeat, but some ferocious defence from Leinster, and questionable decision-making saw the home side to victory. It was Munster who were the more dangerous side early on, and Simon Zebo looked set to add to his all-time Munster try-scoring record in the 12th minute when he ran a great line in the Leinster 22. He couldn’t hold on though and the chance went begging. Still, Leinster were penalised immediately after and Holland slotted the resulting penalty to make it 3-0 to the visitors. The home side had more of the possession but were struggling to create many chances, however they did draw level just before the half-hour through the boot of Sexton. That was cancelled out almost immediately by Holland, but Munster then lost Robin Copeland to the sin-bin when he was pinged for pulling down a maul. Leinster took full advantage, with Sexton the beneficiary. After Munster had just about stopped a Leinster maul, the ball was spread to Sexton, who got around Francis Saili and survived a collision with the post to touch down. He added the extras to make it 10-6 at the break. Still, Munster were very much in it, and anything Sexton could manage, his young counterpart could match, with Holland finishing off a long period of possession for the visitors by burrowing over. He added the conversion from the touchline to make it a 13-10 but Leinster were soon on level terms when Saili kicked the ball away from an offside position after a Garry Ringrose break. Sexton slotted that kick, and had his team back in front when Rhys Ruddock earned a penalty from a breakdown just after the hour. One fine move from the Leinster backs looked like it might lead to a try to ease nerves, but Isa Nacewa just ran out of space and his kick through was collected by Luke McGrath, but only as he was shoved into touch. And with four minutes to go Leinster lost Healy to a yellow card for a dangerous tackle on opposite number Dave Kilcoyne, giving Munster a final chance to sneak it. A mammoth rolling maul earned another penalty to get them in position, and they threw everything at their opponents. But after earning another penalty, Dave Kilcoyne took it quickly, and a phase later they had knocked it on, giving Leinster the scrum they needed to seal the win. To buy tickets for the GUINNESS PRO12 Grand Final click here. Also follow us on Facebook, join the conversation on Twitter, sign up to our YouTube channel for extensive match highlights and sign up for our newsletter for regular updates on the GUINNESS PRO12.
