Season opener blues as Leinster defeated by Lions

Leinster slipped to a 27-26 defeat against the Lions in their United Rugby Championship opener, despite Fintan Gunne scoring a first-half hat-trick.

Gunne opened the scoring for the defending champions just six minutes in after squeezing through the Lions' defence, but Caspar Gabriel was unable to convert and the hosts soon replied when Erich Cronje touched down and Chris Smith added the extras.

Smith extended their advantage from the tee with a penalty, but Leinster drew level shortly afterwards as Josh Ericson broke through the home defence before offloading to Gunne, who raced over for his second try which Gabriel was able to convert.