Leinster flanker Rhys Ruddock was a late injury replacement for teammate Dan Leavy in the Blues’ 52-3 win over Wasps at the RDS on Friday.
Ruddock came in as a late call up for the injured Leavy, who was a late scratch from the game with a leg complaint, and he certainly made his presence felt in the match. The Leinster vice-captain had 17 carries, five tackles and one accidental hit on referee Romain Poite.
The French official was blindsided by Ruddock who crashed into the 43-year-old whistleblower late in the second-half before knocking him to the ground. It made for one of the more interesting referee cams as video footage showed Poite crashing to the turf.
The referee took a few moments to compose himself but eventually found his way back to his feet and finished off the game. Ruddock apologised for his mistake while Poite was apparently up and about in the dressing room after the game.
Leinster hooker Sean Cronin, winger James Lowe and scrum-half Luke McGrath all crossed for tries for the hosts to set up a comfortable lead in Dublin before Lowe brought up his second in spectacular style in the second-half when he caught a no look Johnny Sexton pass to race over in the corner.
Magical. Out of this world. Stunning.@leinsterrugby are playing a different brand of rugby!
Can we just appreciate what Johnny Sexton does here?! 👏 pic.twitter.com/jzJFU7R7jU
— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) October 12, 2018
The former Chiefs flier has been incredible since moving to Dublin from Waikato last season and has fit in seamlessly into the eastern province both on and off the pitch.
Lowe now has 16 tries in 18 games for Leinster and he continues to impress in every showing in blue. He also now has six tries through his first five games this season and has now seemed to have locked down a position on Leinster’s wing after he was overlooked for all three of the province’s Champions Cup knockout stage games last season.
