Joe Schmidt will have had mixed emotions watching Leinster go top of the Pro 12 this evening.
He'll have been purring at the display of Joey Carbery on his first start in nine weeks, but the sight of Josh van der Flier walking off the pitch, with his left arm resting in a make-shift sling is bound to frustrate.
That looks like cementing Peter O'Mahony's place in the matchday squad to play France next week. Dan Leavy'stry-scoring impact off the bench for Leinster will certainly be a consolation though.
Carbery may just have a game and a half under his belt following his ankle injury, but his brace of tries at the RDS might just be enough to book him a bed at Carton House next week.
He might have a lot of work to do on his kicking game, but with the ball in hand he's a talent. His first try was in spite of his small frame, forcing his way over the line from five metres out. His second was all instinct and reading, finishing off a fine counter attack after Luke McGrath's break down the right wing.
It was an impressive win for Leinster, leapfrogging Munster and the Ospreys to the top of the table, playing the final 12 minutes with a patched up 15 as hooker Bryan Byrne touched down their sixth and final try.
We have two hookers, two scrum-halves and two out-halves on the pitch right now. 🤔
Decent set-up for a joke. #LEIvEDI
— Leinster Rugby (@leinsterrugby) February 17, 2017
Barry Daly impressed on the wing, finishing wonderfully in the left corner for the game's opening try on 10 minutes. His second was the product of a stunning Jamison Gibson-Park pass, just minutes after the scrum half slipped in Joey Carbery for his own second of the game.
Gibson Park has played second fiddle behind Luke McGrath for much of this season, but the pace he brings to games as the legs begin to tire was evident tonight, and gives the province great depth behind the scrum.
