Ospreys sink Leinster at RDS

Ospreys defeated Leinster 17-12 at the RDS in the Magners League final to become the first team to win the title for a third time.

Tries from Tommy Bowe and Lee Byrne in the first-half helped the Welsh side end a six-match losing run at Leinster's home ground.

Dan Biggar added both conversions and also added a penalty soon after the break in an exciting climax to the league's inaugural play-offs.

Defeat was a disappointing way for Leinster to end Michael Cheika's coaching tenure, with all their points coming from the boot of Jonathan Sexton.

Error-strewn display

The hosts, who had seen off Munster to make it through to the final, paid the price for an error-strewn display.

They found themselves 14-3 behind at the break and it could have been worse had a try from Biggar not been ruled out for a knock-on by Marty Holah in the build up.

The fly-half also pushed a left-sided penalty narrowly wide from just outside the 22 before the Ospreys broke the deadlock in the 19th minute.

Andrew Bishop burst past Gordon D'Arcy and instead of taking on Rob Kearney, sent out a well-timed pass to send Bowe charging over the line.

Biggar converted but Sexton quickly replied by firing over a penalty following a high tackle by Byrne on his opposite number Kearney.

However it was the Ospreys that looked the more dangerous with ball in hand, Alun Wyn Jones and Jerry Collins failing to use numbers out wide to set up what seemed a certain score.

A second try did arrive before the break, though, as the visitors countered from halfway to set up Byrne for a sumptuous score that Biggar converted.

Despite losing both Kevin McLaughlin and his replacement Stephen Keogh to injury, Leinster started the second half brightly.

Sexton popped over a long-range penalty to cut the deficit by three - only for an offside to allow Biggar restore his side's 11-point advantage.

Desperate

Although they pushed hard to find a way back into the contest, handling errors blighted Leinster's play as they became more and more desperate with each minute that passed by.

D'Arcy went on a 30-metre burst that threatened a try but in the end they had to settle for Sexton landing his third penalty.

Byrne was fortunate to avoid a yellow card as he caught D'Arcy around the neck as the Leinster centre broke the line once again.

The successful penalty from Sexton cut the gap to five with nine minutes to go, raising hopes that Cheika would get the perfect send-off before he heads to France to take over in charge of Stade Francais.

But Ospreys, who had not won in Dublin for five years, were determined to play the role of party poopers and were home and dry when Sexton failed to convert a fifth penalty in the dying stages.