Tommy O'Brien featured heavily as Leinster survived an early scare from the Welsh side, scoring two tries as the Irish province banished the woes of the previous weeks ahead of a significant clash against Edinburgh in the Champions Cup on Easter Sunday.

Leo Cullen's side was bolstered by the return of a significant number of Irish internationals, including the return of Andrew Porter and Hugo Keenan, who were sidelined from the tournament due to injury. Meanwhile, the Scarlets were boosted by the return of an all-international backline.

Despite the return of numerous internationals, it was Wales center Joe Roberts who put on a standout performance for the Welsh side tonight. After being passed over for the Six Nations in favor of teammate Joe Hawkins, Roberts played a significant role in the early challenge put down by the Scarlets.

Leinster came out of the blocks firing, as expected by many. Following a poor clearing kick from the Welsh side, Leo Cullen's side were given easy territory in the 22.

With the international caliber of Leinster's lineup, the Welsh side approached the early minutes of the game as a test-level game. Coming up big was the center pairing of Joe Roberts and Johnny Williams, who played a significant role in repelling Leinster's early onslaught.

“The boys are well aware of the strength of the Leinster squad and the international players they have in the side. You know you have to be right up there because of the quality they have." Roberts stated in the buildup to the game.

Despite being clear underdogs, the Welsh side approached the game with serious intent, a big penalty coming off the back of the turnover, granting them the first big chance of the game.

A serious chance to lay down a challenge, fly-half Joe Hawkins chose to go big, kicking to the corner twice off two penalties. However, a crucial tackle from Jimmy O'Brien kept Nigel Davies's side out right on the line.

Scarlets were aware going into tonight's game that they needed to make every big chance count, and after failing to convert, they continued to throw everything they had at the international caliber opposition.

And it paid off, with Roberts crashing over for the first try to continue his hot start to the game. Additionally, Brian Deeny was shown a yellow card, forcing Leinster's backs to the wall.

Capitalising on a beautifully executed kick, the 25-year-old Wales international continued his impressive try-scoring form in the URC, with his fourth try in three games. Roberts missed out on international selection due to his teammate, Hawkins, who started at out-half tonight.

“It’s been a season of ups and downs for me. There have been times when I have been struggling with injury, and I was disappointed to miss out on international selection, but that is swings and roundabouts, I guess."

With Scarlets continuing to pile on the pressure with another visit to the 22, Leinster needed a big moment to flip the game on its head. And that moment came courtesy of Tommy O'Brien, returning from Six Nations duty off the back of an impressive campaign, with a turnover in his own 22. Following the turnover, an intentional knock on from Roberts led to both sides going down to 14 men.

From there, the game devolved into a period of chaos, in which Scarlets went down to 13 men, while Cullen's side returned to the full 15. After that, it was only a matter of time before Leinster got on the board 28 minutes in.

A successful lineout led to the Irish side letting their internationals get to work to tie the game, with a try assist from Jamie Osborne landing in the hands of Garry Ringrose, who ran in unchallenged, undoing the 30 minutes of hard work the Welsh side had put in.

Following on from Leinster's opening score, the game began to open up more, with Leinster's backs, particularly O'Brien, once again finding themselves with miles of space to work with.

After that, it was only a matter of time before Tyler Bleydendaal's attack turned the magic on, with Joshua Kenny putting Leinster ahead off the back of an impressive passage of play from the backline.

Despite looking up to the challenge for the majority of the first half, the Welsh side were unable to compete with the level of quality the Irish province had on the field, with a 10-minute period of dominance undoing all the hard work they had put in.

To open the second half, a Leinster turnover led to a period of successive phases where the Irish province were just popping the ball around the back for fun, with O'Brien crashing over to add to an already impressive performance.

From there, Leo Cullen began to make his changes, and despite only being down by ten points, the writing was on the wall for Scarlets.

Just minutes later, another stolen lineout from Leinster led to them going through the motions once again, with a similar ending as O'Brien crashed over for his second, and Leinster's bonus point try.

Despite being made to work for it, the URC champions did exactly what was expected of them. A

fter a potential comeback was sparked by the Scarlets crashing over, another try for Lenister quickly dashed those hopes as they finished the job ahead of next week's knockout clash.

The catalyst for Leinster's victory, the winger's turnover in the first half sparked the Irish side's comeback.

Adding two tries to his tally on top of his work in every other area, the Leinster winger is currently one of the most in-form players in the country, and will be expected to play a significant role for the province going into the deep stages of European knockout rugby.

Despite being shown a yellow card due to a foolish moment, Roberts continued his try-scoring form, as well as being one of the Welsh side's focal points in attack with his carrying. Laid down a marker after being overlooked for international duty in the 2026 Six Nations.

Despite coming back from international duty, where he played primarily as a 12, the Scarlets' outhalf looked like a test-caliber 10 tonight.

With a perfect kicking performance pinning Leinster back for 30 minutes, it was a moment of brilliance from the Welsh 10 that sparked the Scarlets' attack tonight. An undeniably reliable outhalf in the absence of Sam Costellow.

A machine at the lineout, completely disrupted Scarlet's set piece efforts in the 22, as well as coming up with a key steal to start the second half, leading directly to a Leinster try. One of Leinster's Irish cohort that stepped up the most when it mattered tonight.

A standout night for Leinster's backline, the overlooked winger reminded Andy Farrell what he was missing out on after being excluded from the 2026 Six Nations squad. Two impressive finishes reaped the rewards of a dominant performance across an all-Irish attack.