LEINSTER 19 OSPREYS 13:A try of stunning quality and plenty of grit sent a crowd of over 15,000 fans home happy at the RDS tonight as Leinster maintained their unbeaten start to the Magners League but were tested by a Welsh outfit that forced them to defend close to their line for long stretches.
The physicality of Leinster was central to this win with Leo Cullen, Bernard Jackman, Stanley Wright and Jamie Heaslip to the fore.
The first score came from out of the blue though after Lee Byrne found a gaping hole in the Leinster line from a lovely flat pass by James Hook.
A couple of phases off Byrne's burst then led to Hook landing a drop goal.
Leinster responded quickly with outhalf Isa Nacewa the catalyst, catching his own up and under before a skip pass off the recycle by Brian O'Driscoll freed Felippe Contepomi who exchanged passes with Luke Fitzgerald which allowed the young Ireland international to score.
A penalty by Hook brought the Welshmen within a point at half-time.
After a shaky start Leinster's class again came to the fore with O'Driscoll and Nacewa linking up well to create a chance which Ronnie McCormack failed to deliver on.
Leinster continued to threaten and a penalty by Contepomi made it 10-6 before the Ospreys laid siege again for about ten minutes.
A dubious lineout decision that went Leinster's way created the opportunity for Conetpomi to land a second penalty.
As the Osprey began chasing the game from thri own touchline, they twice gave up turnover ball which Nacewa turned into drop goals.
The home side's concentration lapsed in the last minute which allowed Hook to kick and collect before passing to Byrne who moved it onto Nikki Walker, who took a superb line from inside halfway to race over.
With a bonus point at stake, Hook landed the conversion - which Lenister coach Michael Cheika will be unhappy with on an otherwise good night.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/IMNWKIX5DFFCFE5CD5NLBU6EVY.png)