Wins for Leinster and Munster in the Magners League

It was a day when the four Irish provinces split into pairs, with clashes between Leinster and Connacht at the RDS and between Munster and Ulster at Thomond Park.

Leinster and Connacht went first and, thanks to a blistering second half, Leinster were victorious over Connacht in the first of New Year's Day Magners League clashes.

At half time it looked like being a low-scoring game. Leinster's points at that stage were courtesy of a try from winger David Kearney and an Isa Nacewa penalty. For their part, Connacht were on the scorecard thanks to an Ian Keatley penalty, meaning that Leinster only led 8-3 after 40 minutes.

Joe Schmidt must have said something rousing in the Leinster dressing room, as after the break his men took charge.

There was a consolation try from Connacht's Eoin Griffin, but the west coast visitors had to contend with tries from Kearney, Fergus McFadden and Niall Morris. Nacewa hit another penalty and a conversion, while McFadden also hit a conversion.

Final score: Leinster 30-8 Connacht.

Next it was Munster's turn to play host, welcoming Ulster to Thomond Park. If they knew what was coming in the first half, they might have revoked the invitation.

The half-time score said it all: Munster 6-10 Ulster. Two penalties by Paul Warwick were more than matched by a try from TJ Anderson plus a penalty and a conversion from Paddy Wallace.

In the second half a Munster fightback started with another Warwick penalty. Soon after came a try from Denis Hurley to make it Munster 14-10 Ulster.

It looked like that's how it would end, but Munster were far from finished. Three late tries by replacements Tommy O'Donnell, Barry Murphy and Lifeimi Mafi, plus conversions from Warwick, meant that, in the end, the team at the top of the table proved exactly why they're there.

It wasn't all good for Munster though, as Jerry Flannery limped off towards the end of the game after another attempted comeback from the calf injury that sidelined him for the latter part of 2010.

Final score: Munster 35-10 Ulster.