Leinster kept up the pressure on Guinness PRO12 pacesetters Munster and Ospreys with a bonus-point victory over Newport Gwent Dragons to cut the gap to points difference.

A marauding first half saw Peter Dooley and Ross Molony cross in the space of two minutes at the RDS Arena, with Jack Conan’s score completing an emphatic first half.

Joey Carbery dotted down just a minute into the second period to secure the bonus point, though Pat Howard ensured the Dragons were not out of the fixture heading into the final stages.

And with Sarel Pretorius adding some bite for the Dragons, a purple patch saw them finish with a flourish, the South African ensuring the game closed out with a 28-15 scoreline.

After a tight opening between the sides, it was a moment of magic that brought Leinster their first points of the evening, with Luke McGrath the architect.

The scrum-half elected to take a quick tap penalty, Dooley eventually the man to profit to crash over with 12 minutes on the board.

And it was to get better just minutes later, McGrath again at the heart of the action when offloading to Hayden Triggs, the ball finding its way over to academy graduate Molony to dot down as Leinster came out of the blocks firing.

Angus O’Brien pulled a penalty back for the Welsh region to reduce the gap to 14-3, but moments after Tom Daly came on for his RDS Arena debut, Jack Conan stole the plaudits to barge his way through to get his side’s third score.

That, coupled with another successful Isa Nacewa conversion, extended the Irish lead, with Carbery making no mistake early in the second half.

The international fly-half made the most of some super Rory O’Loughlin work – the man who had his own effort disallowed upon referral from the TMO.

He faked a pass, broke through the tackle and perfectly offloaded to Carbery, with Nacewa’s fourth conversion of the evening seemingly putting Leinster out of sight.

But the Dragons refused to be beaten, Kingsley Jones’ side battling back in mightily impressive fashion, Howard crossing in the corner on 55 minutes for his side’s first score of the evening.

While the tricky conversion was missed, the visitors were not to be done there, with Sarel Pretorius – mightily impressive since coming on as a replacement – dotting down to send the nerves through the Leinster camp.

It was the scrum-half keeping Newport in with a chance of a losing bonus point, but despite the endeavour, it wasn’t quite to be for the Men of Gwent.

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