Two tries apiece from Ed Byrne and Noel Reid earned Leinster a 36th-minute bonus point in an eventual 59-19 Guinness PRO14 victory over the Isuzu Southern Kings at the RDS.

The Kings briefly led midway through the first half, with Bjorn Basson and Sarel Pretorius scoring in quick succession, but man-of-the-match Byrne’s rapid-fire double and centre Reid’s second of the night gave Leo Cullen’s men a 24-12 interval advantage.

The youthful Leinster side, which included 21-year-old debutant hooker Ronan Kelleher, leaked a third try to Kings full-back Ulrich Beyers but rattled off five more of their own with Barry Daly, Andrew Porter, Max Deegan, RDS debutant Paddy Patterson and fellow replacement Rory O’Loughlin all touching down.

The South Africans fell behind to a fifth minute try from Reid, whose well-timed line took him over beside the posts. Ross Byrne knocked over the first of his seven successful conversions but the Kings hit back to lead 12-7 by the 20-minute mark. Centre Basson crossed in the left corner and scrum half Pretorius burrowed over on the right after captain Michael Willemse had been stopped short from a maul.

It was all Leinster for the next few minutes during which prop Byrne touched down twice. Conor O’Brien and the forwards revelled as the hosts went the direct route and Byrne duly muscled in under the posts. Ross Byrne added the extras and then the seven-point lead was restored after a close range surge made it a double for the 25-year-old loosehead.

Some superb interplay between Fergus McFadden, with an offload out the back door, and Daly preceded Reid’s bonus point effort. The home forwards initially pressed from a lineout and Ross Byrne’s well-executed wraparound on the short side put the centre over for a double-scores lead.

into the second half, Bader Pretorius broke a tackle and released the supporting Beyers to finish off his try from the edge of the Leinster 22. The try’s creator converted but Daly profited from Ross Byrne’s one-handed offload to accelerate away from Beyers for a 46th-minute response.

Tighthead Porter struck at the end of a prolonged attack in the 54th minute and the runaway Conference B leaders finished with a three-try flourish during the final 16 minutes. The ever-alert Deegan sprung through a gap and expertly arced his run to register his sixth try of the PRO14 campaign, O’Brien and O’Loughlin combined to send Academy scrum half Patterson over, and O’Loughlin stretched out of a tackle and in under the posts for try number nine.