Leinster scored 10 tries as they thrashed the Kings 64-7 in a woefully one-sided contest at the RDS Arena on Friday night. CRAIG LEWIS reports.
A season of woe continues for the Kings, who slumped to a 16th consecutive defeat in a debut Pro14 campaign that has lunged from one disappointing result to another.
Despite the fact that Leinster came into this clash without a host of players who are on Six Nations duty with Ireland, they were still far too classy for a Kings team that remains utterly inept on defence.
After half an hour of play, the Kings trailed 33-7, and at that stage it was already clearly apparent that Leinster would comfortably cruise to a bonus-point win that strengthens their position at the top of Conference B.
Leinster continued to pile on the punishment after the break as Nick McCarthy and James Lowe scored in the third quarter to take the home team’s total past 50 points, with the latter dotting down just after Pieter-Scholtz was sin-binned for a late tackle.
Leinster added two more tries through Barry Daly and Jordan Larmour as the visitors effectively gave up the fight.
The Kings will now return to South Africa to play their remaining five matches at home, but there is little to suggest they have what it takes to end a winless streak that is now reaching embarrassing proportions.
Leinster – Tries: Bryan Byrne (2), Nick McCarthy (2), Barry Daly (2), Dave Kearney, Ciarán Frawley, James Lowe, Jordan Larmour. Conversions: Frawley (7).
Kings – Try: Michael Willemse. Conversion: Martin du Toit.
Leinster – 15 Dave Kearney, 14 Barry Daly, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Isa Nacewa (c), 11 James Lowe, 10 Ciarán Frawley, 9 Nick McCarthy, 8 Max Deegan, 7 Will Connors, 6 Josh Murphy, 5 Ian Nagle, 4 Mick Kearney, 3 Michael Bent, 2 Bryan Byrne, 1 Ed Byrne.
Subs: 16 James Tracy, 17 Peter Dooley, 18 Adam Coyle, 19 Ross Molony, 20 Peadar Timmins, 21 Jamison Gibson-Park, 22 Noel Reid, 23 Jordan Larmour.
Kings – 15 Yaw Penxe, 14 Michael Makase, 13 Berton Klaasen, 12 Luzuko Vulindlu, 11 Anthony Volmink, 10 Martin du Toit, 9 Rowan Gouws, 8 Andisa Ntsila, 7 Tienie Burger, 6 Eital Bredenkamp, 5 Arthur de Wee, 4 Stephan Greeff, 3 Pieter Scholtz, 2 Michael Willemse, 1 Schalk Ferreira (c).
Subs: 16 Stephan Coetzee, 17 Johan Smith, 18 Luvuyo Pupuma, 19 Lindokuhle Welemu, 20 Ruaan Lerm, 21 Juan-Philip Smith, 22 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 23 Jacques Nel.
Photo: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile via Getty Images
