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Proud QR Reds head coach Phil Mooney was delighted with the standard of rugby his young side produced against Leinster in Dublin on Saturday, despite being defeated 48-19.

The result may be the highest defeat the Reds have suffered so far on their development tour of Ireland and France, but it was the calibre of rugby they produced in the opening half against the European giants that most pleased their coach.

"As I have said to the team, I was really pleased with our effort and the first half was executed really well," Mooney said.

"But at the end of the day we want to win Super 14 games and that (the Leinster game) was less intense and not as fast as Super 14 games, so individuals will hopefully realise where they individually need to improve from this game.

"The guys knew they were playing a better opposition than we had in the previous two games and mentally they were probably better prepared and I was very happy with it."

Despite missing out on a certain try and handing the home side an easy opening five points within 10 minutes, the Reds quickly used their biggest stage so far on tour to show exactly what they could do.

A great run through the middle by outside centre and captain Morgan Turinui handed Poutasi Luafutu a try four minutes later, but Ben Gollings was unlucky in miss-kicking his conversion wide.

An open game from the start, Leinster made up for a missed penalty when Irish international winger Shane Horgan out-muscled Rod Davies to grab a second try for his side midway through the half.

Things looked ominous for the Reds when Shane Jennings touched down at the end of a strong rolling maul to extend the lead for the home side.

But the young Reds squad have shown they can stand up in the face of pressure and left winger Digby Ioane's aggression in the 32nd minute shook his side into action.

The penalty won by Ioane's persistence resulted in the Reds spinning the ball wide for Aidan Toua to cap their best move of the tour with a superb try.

The successful conversion by Gollings was followed almost immediately by another try for the visiting side as they cut through the experienced opposition at will.

Will Genia this time was the one to step up with a superb run to hand Ioane a try and put the Reds 15-19 up for the first time on tour.

Despite being rocked as their vocal fans applauded the visiting side, Leinster had plenty of class in the form of Irish captain Brian O'Driscoll who played a key role in carving out a try on the stroke of half time to regain the lead.

A crucial score and a match turning moment, the home side were not about to give the Reds any more opportunities to cause an upset and put the game beyond doubt when Rob Kearney bundled his way through to score.

Both Ioane and Toua were unlucky their attempted tackles did not prevent the try, but Felipe Contepomi's try in the 54-minute put the result beyond doubt.

Two tries in the final minutes of the game for the home side put more gloss on the score-line but there was little between the sides in the final quarter of the game.

Mooney emphasised the value his players would take from playing against talented individuals like Brian O'Driscoll.

"You are playing against one of the worlds great players in Brian O'Driscoll, which is something in itself for our lads out there," Mooney said.

"You could learn more playing against Brian O'Driscoll for 60-minutes than you would in a lot of practice games, so it is a great experience for them.

"The tour in Ireland here has been great overall because the Irish people's obvious reaction and hospitality towards us has given the lads a great insight into playing abroad and obviously there is the changing styles of different teams on the pitch.

"Even in terms of the refereeing of games, which can be different to home too, the lads now have a better understanding of how you have to adapt to different styles of referees when playing away from home."

LEINSTER 48 (Bernard Jackman, Shane Horgan, Shane Jennings, Cian Healy, Rob Kearney, Felipe Contepomi, Sean O'Brien, Malcolm O'Kelly tries, Felipe Contepomi 4 con) QR REDS (Poutasi Luafutu, Aidan Toua, Digby Ioane tries, Ben Gollings 2 con)

Gavin Earley