James Ryan's injury will be a concern for Leinster as they earned a hard fought 10-0 victory over Connacht at the Sportsground.
Ryan limped off in the 63rd minute after appearing to injure himself at the ruck in his first start of the season. The second row's career has taken a hit over the last couple of seasons due to injuries, with concussion issues a particular concern.
James Ryan injury concerns for Leinster
With Munster coming to the Aviva and the November internationals coming up, Speaking to the media after the victory, Leo Cullen was optimistic that his injury would not be too serious.
"James Ryan came off, just sort of twisted his knee there a bit awkwardly, so we'll see how it is. We'll see, I'm not 100% how it is."
Leinster got off to a quick start with their opening try in the first three minutes. Josh Van Der Flier broke from a powerful maul and offloaded to Cormac Foley for his first try of the season, with Ross Byrne converting to give Leinster a 7-0 lead.
It was a sloppy start to the game, with both sides producing handling mistakes, as Connacht found some joy in the line out, but failed to build a platform.
A first start of the campaign for Leinster's Cormac Foley - and he's nabbed a first try to mark the occasion. Early lead for the visitors... #RTErugby #CONLEI
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📱 Updates: https://t.co/i6Dz0imvKe pic.twitter.com/VduTkWTW25— RTÉ Rugby (@RTErugby) October 14, 2022
Leinster threw everything at Connacht in the opening 20 minutes, but Connacht held firm and they grew into the game but will be frustrated they left behind a great chance for Mack Hansen in the 25th minute.
Just before the interval, Connacht threw everything at Leinster, but were held up and pushed into touch with some relentless Leinster defence as it remained 7-0 Leinster at the interval.
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The second half continued in similar fashion, with Connacht failing to take advantage of unusual Leinster errors, as conditions continued to play havoc.
Both sides created opportunities, both constantly cancelled each other out through some huge defensive moments.
In the biggest moments, Leinster showed their experience and Van Der Flier broke clear from the halfway line, with John Porch stopping a certain try. However, Leinster sealed the victory with the returning Ciarán Frawley kicking over for a hard-earned 10-0 victory.
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