Man-of-the-match Reid modest in victory

Tries for Shane Jennings and Zane Kirchner, as well as 11 points from the boot of Jimmy Gopperth, were enough to lead the reigning GUINNESS PRO12 champions to a 21-11 triumph.

George Naoupu dotted down for the visitors and fly-half Jack Carty hit two penalties but it wasn't enough to see them leapfrog Leinster and move into the top four.

Indeed, Matt O'Connor's men shot up three places to second in the GUINNESS PRO12 table and Ireland centre Reid - who missed the start of the season with an ankle injury - enjoyed playing his part.

"It was good to get a good run," said the 24-year-old. "The injury at the start of the season kind of slowed me down a bit and it's only the last few weeks I've been feeling 100 per cent, so it was good to get 70 or so minutes under my belt in the RDS.

"The team played pretty well and I chipped in, so I was happy with the performance. I think we focused on our ruck. The ruck leads to how we're going to play, so it's pretty tough to play with the ball when it's really slow ruck.

"There are teams slowing it down, so in training all season we've been focused on our rucking, our barrels, getting rid of the bodies early so we can go.

"Tonight it was a bit quicker than it has been all season. The backs got a bit more ball and we were able to have a few one-on-ones with the Connacht lads."

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