Leinster tore into a depleted Ospreys side to move within two points of the Ulster at the top of the Magners League.

The Ospreys, with 14 players out injured and the likes of Gavin Henson, James Hook and Jason Spice being rested, competed well in the first half but when space opened up, man-of-the-match Gordon D'Arcy lorded it for Leinster.

The Ireland centre had a hand in three of Leinster's tries and was simply immense in defence.

Lyn Jones's visitors did get over for three tries - pack men Brent Cockbain and Richard Pugh and former Springbok Stefan Terblanche all touched down - but the home win was never in doubt.

With only Cockbain, skipper Paul James, Tal Selley and Andy Lloyd surviving from last weekend's win over the Dragons, the Ospreys needed a good start and they got it as they moved 8-3 ahead within 10 minutes.

Shaun Connor swapped early penalties with Felipe Contepomi before a lightning break from Jonny Vaughton sent Cockbain bulldozing over to the right of the posts.

Unfortunately for the small pocket of Welsh fans, that was as good as it got in the first half for the Ospreys as Leinster slowly took control.

A stunning 20th-minute try from Kearney, who has been struggling to nail down a starting berth, gave a hint of what was to come from the hosts.

The Ireland A full-back retrieved a high ball and proceeded to waltz past six tacklers on the way to the Ospreys line.

Contepomi converted and then added the extras to O'Driscoll's first try - the Irish skipper combined brilliant with D'Arcy and then handed-off Selley on a 30-metre run.

Leinster's electrifying back play saw them run amok in the second period as a great incision by D'Arcy saw Hickie go over, Kearney added the bonus point try on 51 minutes and then O'Driscoll, again set up by the industrious D'Arcy, cut past three tacklers to nab his 40th try for the province.

Contepomi, back after his knee injury, converted all three tries as Leinster went into a 38-8 lead, all while Ospreys number eight Lloyd spent time in the bin for killing the ball.

Spice was sprung from the visitors' bench and two breaks from the New Zealander helped Terblanche and Pugh score to cut the arrears to 38-22.

But Leinster had the final say when young substitute Ross McCarron slipped through a tackle and offloaded for Gleeson to finish and allow Jonathan Sexton an easy convert.

The scorers:

For Leinster:
Tries: Kearney 2, O'Driscoll 2, Hickie, Gleeson
Cons: Contepomi 5, Sexton
Pen: Contepomi

For the Ospreys:
Tries: Cockbain, Terblanche, Pugh
Cons: Connor 2
Pen: Connor

The teams:

Leinster: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Kieran Lewis, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (c), 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Denis Hickie, 10 Felipe Contepomi, 9 Chris Whitaker, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Keith Gleeson, 6 Stephen Keogh, 5 Malcolm O'Kelly, 4 Cameron Jowitt, 3 Will Green, 2 Bernard Jackman, 1 Stanley Wright
Replacements: 16 Reggie Corrigan, 17 Harry Vermaas, 18 Owen Finegan, 19 Trevor Hogan, 20 Guy Easterby, 21 Jonathan Sexton, 22 Ross McCarron

Ospreys: 15 Stefan Terblanche, 14 Jonathan Vaughton, 13 Tal Selley, 12 Andrew Bishop, 11 Richard Mustoe, 10 Shaun Connor, 9 Martin Roberts, 8 Andy Lloyd, 7 Richard Pugh, 6 Lee Beach, 5 Michael Powell, 4 Brent Cockbain, 3 Andrew Millward, 2 Ed Shervington, 1 Paul James (c).
Replacements: 16 Barry Williams, 17 Adam Jones, 18 Chris Martenko, 19 Ben Lewis, 20 Jason Spice, 21 Nikki Walker, 22 AN Other (back).

Venue: Donnybrook
Referee: Malcolm Changleng (Scotland)