Leinster beat Cardiff 29-5 as O'Brien double seals bonus-point homecoming

Leinster claimed their first victory of the 2026-27 United Rugby Championship season with a 29-5 win over Cardiff on Saturday, marking their return to the redeveloped Laya Arena. Jimmy O'Brien scored two of the hosts' five tries, with BBC Sport reporting that 20,600 spectators watched the defending champions secure a bonus point before half-time.

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The result followed defeats away to the Lions and Sharks, from which Leinster had collected three bonus points. Leo Cullen brought several Ireland internationals back for their first appearances of the campaign as his side returned to the venue formerly known as the RDS Arena. Leinster had spent the previous two seasons playing at Aviva Stadium during the redevelopment.

Hugo Keenan opened the scoring after quick passing released him on the left. The full-back kicked ahead and recovered the ball to finish. Cardiff then lost scrum-half Aled Davies to the sin-bin for stopping the ball illegally near his own try-line, and Leinster added further tries through wing O'Brien and number eight Jack Conan inside the opening quarter.

Cardiff nevertheless found a response while short-handed. Fly-half Callum Sheedy used a penalty to send a cross-kick towards Mason Grady, who scored on the wing to reduce the deficit to 15-5. That proved to be the visitors' only score, leaving them unable to turn their first-half reply into a closer contest.

O'Brien crossed again in the 37th minute after a set move opened up Cardiff's defence. His second try secured the four-try bonus, and Sam Prendergast added his first successful conversion to put Leinster 22-5 ahead at the interval. The champions had established a 17-point advantage despite Cardiff interrupting their early scoring run.

The second half produced fewer scoring opportunities for Leinster. Cardiff gained territory and reached the hosts' 22 on several occasions but could not convert those visits into points. Jamie Osborne eventually ended the scoreless spell with a close-range try five minutes from time, and Prendergast's second conversion completed the scoring.

Cardiff's first defeat of the campaign also brought no league points. According to BBC Sport, they had finished without a URC match point only once during the previous season, when they reached the play-offs. In Dublin, their resistance after the break could not undo the damage caused by Leinster's four first-half tries.