Mike came on in the second half and scored one of Glasgow's three tries

Leinster kept their Heineken Cup hopes alive by picking up a priceless bonus point in a hugely impressive 46-22 rout of a battling Glasgow Warriors side at the RDS on Saturday night.

Michael Cheika's men scored eight tries in total, with Brian O'Driscoll bagging a brace, and Keith Gleeson, Shane Horgan, Girvan Dempsey, Felipe Contepomi, Cameron Jowitt and Denis Hickie all picking up one apiece.

For Leinster, the game was all about winning with a bonus point, and they really couldn't have hoped for a better start, scoring a try after just seven minutes of play.

Contepomi rather bravely opted to kick to touch rather than go for goal when Leinster earned a penalty some 30 metres out, and the Argentine's adventure paid off because Gleeson drove over the Glasgow line after a fine catch-and-drive from the pack.

An uncharacteristically poor kick from Contepomi prevented Leinster from picking up the extra two points, but that mattered little to the home crowd, who were hungry for tries - and tries alone.

And the Leinster faithful didn't have to wait too long for their team's next touchdown. It arrived in the 16th minute after a rapid cross-field attack involving Contepomi and Brian O'Driscoll ended with Girvan Dempsey putting Horgan over in the corner, after the Ireland winger showed off all his strength and power in holding off a last-gasp tackle from a Glasgow defender.

Contepomi missed the conversion attempt yet again, and it looked like it might prove costly when Glasgow produced a seven points out of nowhere midway through the first half.

A horribly wayward pass from O'Driscoll was intercepted by Rory Lamont on halfway, and after brushing off a worryingly weak tackle from the Leinster skipper, the Glasgow wing raced in for an easy score under the posts.

Parks converted and there were just three points between the two sides, despite Leinster's complete dominance.

But Glasgow were struggling defensively, and it came as no surprise to anyone when Leinster bagged a third try just before the half hour mark.

This time Guy Easterby found Eric Miller with an innovative off-load, and the number eight presented Dempsey with a delightfully easy try on the full-back's 100th appearance for Leinster.

Amazingly, Contepomi's conversion attempt drifted wide of the posts yet again, and that meant that the score remained 15-7.

Parks replied with a penalty to increase the Argentine's anxiety, but Contepomi's response was sublime, wriggling over the line in the 38th minute to secure the bonus point for the hosts.

Sadly, the score didn't have a positive effect on his kicking and he failed to convert yet again.

And he also failed to add the extras when Jowitt bundled over right on the stroke of half time to put Leinster 25-10 ahead at the break.

The second half took a while to get going but the ground erupted in the 54th minute when O'Driscoll won the race to Contepomi's deft little grubber kick in behind the Glasgow back-line, and touched down to score his first try since his return from injury.

Contepomi finally landed a conversion attempt, and applauded himself for doing so as he trotted back to the half way line.

It appeared as if that would be the end of the scoring as the game descended into mediocrity, but O'Driscoll sparked a flurry of tries by showing just why he is the best back in the world.

The gifted centre produced a glorious solo try in the 78th minute, which proved that he is well and truly back to his best after his recent shoulder injury.

Contepomi was now in the groove, and he converted to make it 39-10 to Leinster. However, Glasgow replied with a try of their own in the final minute of normal time through replacement Mike Roberts.

Hickie then sauntered over under the posts for Leinster's eighth, and final try of the night, but the last word belonged to Glasgow, with number seven John Barclay barging over in the eighth minute of injury time to put a slightly misleading slant on the scoreboard.