Taqele Naiyaravoro went from hero to villain for Glasgow Warriors as they slipped to a 23-18 defeat at Leinster and out of the GUINNESS PRO12 top half. Both sides came into the game with two wins and two defeats in the competition and Zander Fagerson scored the only try of a cagey first 40 minutes. But recent instalments of this fixture at the RDS include a thrilling 34-34 draw in March and the 2014 Final, after which Leo Cullen – now Leinster head coach – retired a PRO12 champion, and the second half kicked into life. Luke McGrath grabbed an early score before Naiyaravoro put the Warriors ahead with his first try for the club, in just his second GUINNESS PRO12 appearance. But the powerful winger, who arrived from the Waratahs this summer, conceded a penalty try before Duncan Weir’s missed penalty saw their hopes of victory slip away. Fagerson conceded a pair of scrum penalties in the opening ten minutes as Glasgow saw a promising attacking platform dissolve on more than one occasion. But the breakthrough arrived on 14 minutes when the teenager, after prop partner Alex Allan had been halted just short of the line, burrowed over for Weir to convert. Fergus McFadden hit back from the tee immediately after the restart and, when the Warriors were pinged for not rolling away, he brought the hosts to within one point. But Weir hit back with two penalties of his own, the first following a collapsed maul and the second – on the 35-minute mark – after Leinster were pinged for coming in at the side. The Leinstermen enjoyed much the better of the five final minutes but, after Pat MacArthur saw yellow for a high tackle, McFadden sent the resulting penalty wide on the stroke of half-time. They struck early in the second half, though, when Garry Ringrose gained good ground in the Glasgow half and McGrath’s pick-and-go resulted in the scrum-half stretching out to score. McFadden’s conversion levelled it up but that didn’t last long, gargantuan Naiyaravoro powering his way through four defenders to crash over after 50 minutes – though Weir missed the extras. That handed the visitors an 18-13 lead and MacArthur soon returned to end their numerical disadvantage but Noel Reid almost hit back, only to knock on Ringrose’s offload. McFadden was next to be denied a second Leinster try when he chased Isa Nacewa’s grubber kick to the Glasgow line on 65 minutes, only to lose the race. But the disappointment was short-lived as the TMO decided Naiyaravoro had deliberately pushed the ball out of play – he was sent to the sin bin, the penalty try was awarded and McFadden’s conversion put Leinster ahead. Weir then sent a penalty narrowly wide of the left-hand upright and McFadden punished that error to bisect the posts at the other end and wrap up the result. 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.
