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Keenan claims hat-trick as Leinster come from behind to throttle Connacht

By PA
Hugo Keenan (Photo By David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

Hugo Keenan scored a hat-trick of tries as Leinster came from 16 points down to claim their opening Guinness PRO14 Rainbow Cup win with a 50-21 victory over provincial rivals Connacht at the Sportsground.

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Stung into action by Connacht’s strong start, Leo Cullen men’s reeled off tries from Keenan (2), James Tracy, Ross Molony and Cian Kelleher to lead 33-16 at half-time.

With last week’s European exit still raw, 2021 British and Irish Lion Andrew Porter, Scott Fardy and player-of-the-match Keenan took their side’s haul to eight tries, while Peter Sullivan added to Caolin Blade’s earlier touch down for Connacht.

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Another of Leinster’s Lions picks, number eight Jack Conan went off injured during the first half but it looked a precautionary withdrawal.

Buoyed by their recent first-round victory at Ulster, Connacht made the early running with Conor Fitzgerald knocking over two penalties.

The westerners made it 13 unanswered points through Blade’s opportunist try, Finlay Bealham getting in to disrupt Luke McGrath’s pass and Blade nabbed the bouncing ball for a 40-metre run-in.

The score, converted by Fitzgerald, survived a captain’s challenge and was supplemented by another Fitzgerald penalty.

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However, Leinster’s counter-rucking from the restart supplied possession for Keenan’s opening try as the full-back raided over from Ciaran Frawley’s cleverly-delayed pass.

Making it two quick-fire converted tries, Keenan then slipped out of a tackle to finish off some smart phases by both backs and forwards.

Leinster’s impressive maul set up their next two scores, firstly driving hooker Tracy over from 15 metres out for a 19-16 lead.

The PRO14 champions drove Connacht backwards again before Molony burrowed over for a 28th-minute bonus point. Connacht’s unsuccessful captain’s challenge was compounded by game-ending injuries to Jarrad Butler and Matt Healy.

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Two minutes before the break, Ross Byrne’s pinpoint cross-field kick found Rory O’Loughlin who sent Kelleher scampering clear from 40 metres out. Byrne added a fine conversion from wide out.

Connacht had no answer to Leinster’s dominant drives as the lineout provided the platform for Tracy and Fardy to plunge over after 45 and 52 minutes respectively, while Byrne sent over his fifth conversion.

The hosts went close through Dave Heffernan before Sean O’Brien superbly dislodged the ball to deny Dave Kearney a breakaway try.

Eleven minutes from time Connacht winger O’Sullivan beat two tackles for a deserved score.

Leinster had more in them and fittingly it was the tireless Keenan who completed his hat-trick in the 78th minute, following up on an initial break by Josh Van Der Flier.

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N
NB 35 minutes ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Nice bit if revisioniusm but that's all it is JW.


For your further education, I found the following breakdown of one prominent club's finances in the Top 14 [Clermont].


For Clermont (budget of €29.5 million for 2021-2022) :

- 20% from ticket sales

- 17% from the LNR (includes TV Rights, compensation from producing french internationals and other minor stuff)

- 5% from public collectivities (so you're looking at funds from the city of Clermont, the department of Puy-De-Dôme and the region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes)

- 4% from merchandising and events

- 3% from miscellaneous

- 51 % from sponsorships and partnerships. They've got 550 different partners. The main ones are CGI, Groupama, Limagrain/Jacquet, Omerin, Paprec, Renault and of course Michelin (not surprising since they're actually the founders of the club).


As you can see nothing comes from the FFR at all. The LNR is a separate entitiy to FFR and their aims frequently do not accord.


It is also why the European breakaway plotted by LNR and PR back in 2013 had nothing to do with the governing bodies of either England or France - and it most certainly did not have their blessing https://www.espn.co.uk/rugby/story/_/id/15331030/jean-pierre-lux-anglo-french-cup-detrimental-european-rugby


And from the horse's mouth [ex AB skipper Sean Fitapatrick] about the comp between Top 14 and Super Rugby:


"The Top 14 in France is probably the best rugby competition in the world at the moment, purely for the week-in, week-out.”


“I think the quality of players. They are bigger, they are faster, they are stronger. Which then carries on into the international game.”

Take it from someone who knows JW😅

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