IRISH eyes were smiling at Rodney Parade tonight after Leinster ran in eight tries to go top of the Guinness PRO12 and leave Newport Gwent Dragons shell-shocked.

This embarrassing defeat for the Dragons was met by a chorus of boos as referee Marius Mitrea blew the full-time whistle to bring the carnage to an end.

Despite missing a number of key players, Leinster were still able to stroll to a victory that will be hard to swallow for the Welsh region and their supporters.

Dragons fans have been served up some poor performances this season, mainly on the road, but this one was arguably the worst of the lot.

The Dragons had started the match bidding to avoid a hat-trick of losses to Irish sides following defeats to Munster and Connacht in their two previous league outings.

They started positively, camping themselves in the visitors’ 22 and taking the lead courtesy of a Dorian Jones penalty after the Leinster pack infringed at scrum time.

Leo Cullen’s Irishmen, playing in a garish neon yellow kit, were under the cosh in the early stages but that didn’t last long.

Receiving the ball inside his own 22 from a poor Tavis Knoyle kick, full-back Joey Carbery couldn’t believe his luck when he was allowed to breeze through a gaping hole and sprint downfield.

He was deep in Dragons territory before offloading to supporting number-eight Jack Conan who gleefully galloped over. Ross Byrne converted.

Now firmly on the front foot, Leinster used their strong runners out wide to good effect, with wingers Adam Byrne and Fergus McFadden stretching the home defence.

The visitors then went further ahead, and it was Conan who doubled his try tally for the night.

Having kicked a penalty to touch, Leinster went the direct route, probing at the hosts’ line until Conan crashed over. The conversion gave his side a 14-3 advantage with half an hour gone.

The Dragons needed something to spark them into life, but it certainly wasn’t going to be achieved through their kicking from hand.

Jones and Knoyle were guilty of gifting possession to Leinster on more than one occasion, while the Dragons’ basic skills left a lot to be desired at times.

And, just when it seemed as though a response would come, the Dragons somehow managed to lose the ball from a catch and drive lineout deep in opposition territory.

Skipper Lewis Evans tried to raise the tempo with a typical bulldozing run, and Jones came within millimetres of landing a second penalty on the half-time whistle, only for it to hit the crossbar.

Disaster struck for the Dragons at the start of the second half when Leinster crossed for a third try less than two minutes after the restart.

Adam Byrne fumbled the ball before driving at the heart of the hosts’ defence and replacement Max Deegan combined with Conan to send scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park over unopposed.

The conversion was kicked by Ross Byrne to make it 21-3.

The Dragons had to get the next score if they wanted to stand any chance of salvaging the game – and they did.

It all came via a bullocking run by flanker Ollie Griffiths, whose sheer strength set up the position from which Adam Hughes scampered across the whitewash wide on the right. Jones converted.

But just when it looked as if the Dragons had thrown themselves a lifeline, they undid all their good work at the other end of the pitch.

Conan, Gibson-Park and Carbery were all involved in the build up to Leinster’s bonus-point try which came courtesy of Ross Molony.

At 28-10 down the game was up for the home side and damage limitation was their aim.

Sadly, it got worse, Leinster replacement James Tracy being pushed over in the middle of a devastating driving maul.

A raft of replacements ensued and although the game was well out of their reach, the Dragons replied with a consolation try through Matthew Screech.

However, Kingsley Jones’ men then folded completely, with the Irish province running in tries for fun.

New Zealander Hayden Triggs and fellow replacement Luke McGrath, twice, took Leinster’s tally past the 50-point mark.

Sarel Pretorius got his name on the scoresheet late on for the Dragons but it won’t be a try he will remember with fondness.

Dragons: C Meyer; A Hughes, T Morgan, J Dixon, P Howard; D Jones, T Knoyle; S Hobbs, E Dee, B Harris, N Crosswell, R Landman, O Griffiths, N Cudd, L Evans (capt).

Reps: R Buckley, T Davies, L Fairbrother, M Screech, H Keddie, S Pretorius, A O’Brien, A Warren.

Scorers: tries – A Hughes, M Screech, S Pretorius; cons – D Jones (2); pen – D Jones

Leinster: J Carbery; A Byrne, Z Kirchner, N Reid, F McFadden; R Byrne, J Gibson-Park; P Dooley, R Strauss (capt), M Bent, R Molony, M McCarthy, R Ruddock, P Timmins, J Conan.

Reps: J Tracy, E Byrne, M Ross, H Triggs, L McGrath, M Deegan, C Marsh, B Daly.

Scorers: tries – J Conan (2), J Gibson-Park, R Strauss, J Tracy, H Triggs, L McGrath (2); cons – R Byrne (7)

Referee: Marius Mitrea (FIR)

Attendance: 4,059

Argus star man: Jack Conan (Leinster)