Leinster widening the gap to the rest of the provinces

The Christmas inter-provincial series got off to a tight and dramatic start over the weekend.

Despite a dominant early period from Leinster, Connacht found an attacking template that put the host's defence under pressure.

Connacht either had a word with themselves at half-time and changed their strategy, or simply executed their attacking game plan properly in the second half.

There was a strong wind blowing at the Aviva, giving a distinct advantage to the team playing with it, Connacht enjoying it at their back after the break.

It made the territorial battle difficult for the team playing into the wind, which resulted in the visitors enjoying their fair share of possession while chasing the game.

It was obvious how they decided to go about giving Leinster a difficult time on their home patch.

They either played through their first pod of forwards, sweeping a pass to their 'boot’ player, which was usually Cathal Forde, who stepped into the out-half slot after Josh Ioane went off injured.

Or they went straight to that ‘boot’ play to Forde, who then threw a deeper pass behind their next two forwards and sometimes a third deep pass, bringing play around the compact Leinster defence.

Because of the narrow, compact and aggressive line-speed from Leinster, once you clear that inside congestion, it leaves outside backs more isolated and angling in to shut down the deeper attack.

Shane Jennings’ try is an example of this strategy. Cian Prendergast, who was hugely impressive throughout, had acres of space before passing to Jennings to run under the posts, after a deep pass put Connacht into space on the edge.

They ran Leinster ragged before that and will most likely regret not getting into this rhythm sooner.

Shane Jennings puts the