DUBLIN — Champions Leinster marked their return to the revamped Laya Arena with a 29-5 victory over Cardiff in the United Rugby Championship, securing their first win of the 2026-27 season in front of 20,600 supporters. The Irish province, who had taken three bonus points from defeats by Lions and Sharks in South Africa to start their title defence, condemned the Blue and Blacks to a first loss of the campaign at the redeveloped €52m venue, formerly the RDS Arena.
Leinster made a rapid start after a glitzy pre-match show and scored three tries inside the opening quarter through Hugo Keenan, Jimmy O'Brien and Jack Conan. Full-back Keenan kicked ahead and gathered after being found on the left wing by fast handling to open the scoring, before Cardiff scrum-half Aled Davies was sin-binned for cynically killing the ball on his line and Leinster capitalised with further tries from wing O'Brien and number eight Conan. Cardiff responded while a man down when Wales fly-half Callum Sheedy caught Leinster sleeping from a penalty and found Mason Grady on the wing with a cross-kick to make it 15-5, but a set play gave O'Brien a run-in for his second in the 37th minute and Sam Prendergast added his first conversion for a 22-5 half-time lead.
With a raft of Ireland internationals making their first outings of the campaign after head coach Leo Cullen brought back his big hitters following two seasons playing at Aviva Stadium, the second half was flat and scoreless until five minutes from time. Cardiff had plenty of territory and showed tenacity in a subdued atmosphere but lacked the power — or accuracy — to make a dent in the Leinster defence from several entries into the 22, and it was centre Jamie Osborne who got the first score of the half with a strong finish from close range. Prendergast finished with two conversions from five tries.
Cardiff, who failed to claim a URC match point just once when making the play-offs last season, left Dublin without anything after being limited to Grady's first-half try. The Blue and Blacks had named Taulupe Faletau at number eight in their starting line-up on Thursday afternoon, although boss Corniel van Zyl admitted the Wales number eight still had a few boxes to tick because of niggles, and they opted against fielding the 35-year-old for the first time since a shoulder injury suffered at Sharks in March. In-form Taine Basham was a late inclusion and continued his strong start to the season as his side's most dynamic carrier.
Leinster will play their Champions Cup group games at the Laya Arena, while Cardiff now travel to free-flowing Northampton in the Champions Cup on Sunday, 18 October (17:30 BST). With a five-day turnaround from that fixture to a home URC game against Sharks, Cardiff must choose the right time to reintegrate Faletau.