Leinster punish 14-man Connacht in URC rout

First blood, Leinster.

This was the first of three meetings between the sides in a four-week spell and the suggestion was that this URC clash was Connacht's best shot at a win.

But, with both sides missing their front-line internationals, Connacht shot themselves in the foot after just three minutes.

Leinster were temporarily down to 14 after the first play of the game when Tommy O’Brien was sin-binned for challenging Niall Murray in the air from the kick-off.

That numerical advantage lasted just over two minutes before Tom Daly barged into Ciaran Frawley, making shoulder contact with the Leinster centre’s head.

Here's Tom Daly's early red card Follow live updates: https://t.co/H1RxA2NRel #CONvLEI | #URC pic.twitter.com/jAdcpval0j

After initially calling a penalty only for a no-wrap tackle, referee Chris Busby had no choice but to red card the Connacht back upon review with the TMO.

Daly apologised to Frawley on his way off, waved a mea culpa to the Clan Stand and sank off the pitch under the disapproving eye of head coach Andy Friend.

The Australian had targeted a minimum of four wins from their five remaining regular-season games and he knew they had given themselves a huge mountain to climb.

Their first-half bounce back seemed to suggest that they could indeed pull off a shock and Tiernan O’Halloran’s try at the end of the half put them ahead, however, Leinster’s class showed and they ran in six second-half tries to claim all the points and extend their lead at the top of the table.

With trips to Italy and South Africa to come, Connacht remain in tenth place in the standings and will do well to make the play-offs.

It was also an ominous sign of what may be in store for the Westerners, who will host the four-time European