Leinster 24-13 Connacht: Leinster on top after derby victory

Adam Byrne scoring one of Leinster's second half tries

Leinster reversed last season's Guinness PRO12 final result with a 24-13 derby victory over Connacht to take top spot in the table.

A crowd of 18,200 watched Adam Byrne and Barry Daly run in second-half tries, with captain Isa Nacewa kicking 14 points.

The result sees the province move to the top of the PRO12 table, level on points with Ospreys and Glasgow Warriors.

A fiercely-contested first half ended 9-6 in Leinster's favour, Nacewa's three penalties cancelling out an early brace of penalties from Connacht centre Craig Ronaldson.

Pat Lam's reigning champions were craving a victory in Dublin - Connacht's last one coming 14 years ago - but they had no answer to Leinster's scrum dominance and the destructive breakdown work of man-of-the-match Dan Leavy and the returning Sean O'Brien.

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Highlights of the Guinness PRO12 match at the RDS

Leinster were on the defensive for most of the first quarter, leaking two penalty goals from Ronaldson, but a Leavy-won penalty at the breakdown broke up Connacht's attacking rhythm. Healy then got the plaudits for a 23rd-minute scrum penalty which Nacewa turned into three points.

Despite losing O'Brien to the sin-bin, the hosts were exerting more control at the breakdown and Nacewa duly levelled matters in the 32nd minute.

Connacht had won their last two matches against Leinster

Peter Robb was then binned for a deliberate knock-on which prevented a Leinster line-break, briefly evening up the numbers on the pitch and allowing Nacewa to boot the hosts in front.

Having survived a late bout of Connacht pressure before the interval, Leinster were much the better side in the third quarter, their aggressive defence and superior scrum becoming key factors.

Off set-piece ball in the westerners' 22, the hosts managed to suck in the Connacht defence and passes from Jamison Gibson-Park and Sean Cronin led to Byrne scooping up a bouncing ball to touch down in the right corner.

Leinster have only lost once this PRO12 season back in Round 2

Full-back O'Halloran, arguably Connacht's best player on the night, won a vital ruck penalty as Leinster pressed for another score. But an O'Brien turnover led to Nacewa's fourth penalty success on the hour mark.

Leinster's scrum was on the cusp of winning a penalty try before Daly marked his first PRO12 start with a try, going over wide on the left from a flat Joey Carbery pass.

After Nacewa's conversion, Connacht broke downfield and their efforts were eventually rewarded with Shane Delahunt's seven-pointer by the posts.