Leinster fought off a late rally from Cardiff Blues at the RDS Arena as a late try from Luke McGrath ultimately sealed a 37-23 bonus-point victory.

The Blues had to play catch up just before the interval following eye-catching finishes from Rhys Ruddock and Mike McGrath either side of half time, followed by Gordon D’Arcy’s effort.

Rhys Patchell kept the visitors afloat with 13 points from the tee – a total matched by opposing kicker Ian Madigan before Cory Allen and Sam Warburton made for a nervy end for Leinster.

However, replacement McGrath had the last word with a score at the death for the hosts.

Leinster have suffered away day woes in the GUINNESS PRO12 this season – losing to Glasgow Warriors and Connacht on the road – but had not lost at the RDS since March 2013 in all competitions.

The Blues themselves had not beaten the Irish province in their previous 15 attempts – and were put under heavy pressure early on.

The reigning champions won a penalty on four minutes and Madigan stepped up to boot the first three points onto the board.

More pressure from Leinster’s forwards collapsed a Cardiff scrum in kickable territory and Madigan made no mistake again with his second penalty of the night.

The Blues were then called offside from a Leinster high ball but Madigan, who had scored two GUINNESS PRO12 tries already this season, pulled his penalty just wide.

Then it was Patchell’s turn in front of the posts, nailing a tricky penalty before drilling an easier attempt wide right.

Good work from Darragh Fanning had stopped from Blues wing Alex Cuthbert from dancing his way to a score however, as the visitors crept back into the game.

And Patchell was at hand to level the scores with a peach of a penalty on the half-hour mark, splitting the posts out on the left from nearly 40 metres.

With the game neatly poised, Blues centre Dafydd Hewitt was forced off the pitch after a nasty collision with Madigan.

And upon the restart Ruddock powered over on the right-hand corner for Leinster – palming off Lewis Jones in the process – after carries from Rob Kearney and Dominic Ryan.

Madigan knocked through the extras but crucially, Cardiff pressure turned into another three-pointer for Patchell, who cut the deficit down to four points to close the half.

Ruddock forced the issue early on in the second half with ball in hand, but McGrath, who replaced Kearney at the break, took the limelight after bouncing off George Watkins in a wonderful finish.

The wing’s first Leinster try was quickly followed by veteran D’Arcy, after Jimmy Gopperth fed through the 34-year-old to cruise over.

Allen conjured up hope for the visitors to start the last half hour, collecting his own kick to race through after a Madigan fumble.

And moments later Warburton burst into life to drag the Blues right back in the game, finishing a Dan Fish pass – which stood after the TMO ruled out a forward pass.

Patchell converted both scores to set up a grandstand finish but a Madigan penalty extended Leinster’s lead before McGrath made sure of a win as the clock ticked into the red.

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