RUGBY: Ulster 6, Leinster 6Not one for the video vault, more the video bin. Nor will it be a game either of the protagonists will pore over. The weather rather than the rugby was the winner at a rainswept Ravenhill on Saturday night, and television pictures cannot possibly convey how horrendous it was for the teams and the capacity 12,500 crowd.
All in all, it was like a sepia-tinted step back in time to the old days of the interpros. Many of them having lived together for the previous month in the Ireland camp, the players embraced like mates at the end, oblivious to the countless spats that punctuated the 80 minutes. Of all people, even Brian O'Driscoll and David Humphreys became embroiled in a bit of a running feud when the former took exception to the latter's late hit on Andy Dunne. Humphreys the Hitman? Hmmm.
If there was a moral victory going it was perhaps Leinster's. Away from home, on the kind of night Les Bleus supposedly wouldn't have fancied, turning into the gale-force wind and slanting rain only 3-0 ahead, and then trailing 6-3 entering the last 10 minutes, they fully deserved their share of these Magners Celtic League spoils.
They achieved it thanks in the main to an ultra-concentrated, disciplined effort by their pack in simply retaining the ball by dint of countless pick-and-goes in twos and threes. All eight worked their socks off, Keith Gleeson revelling in a night for groundhogs, and on a night for Munster rugby, replacement Stephen Keogh added real close-in ballast.
In this they were supplemented by Shane Horgan, Gordon D'Arcy and a noticeably fired-up O'Driscoll, more than willing to get down and dirty as an auxiliary forward. As well as having the wit to extract some reward from the first half with a drop goal, D'Arcy made about the only two line breaks of the match.
Such was their remarkable control Leinster spilled the ball only twice in the second half.
Leinster's lineout was good too, their maul much better, but until Reggie Corrigan came on for the injured Fosi Pala'amo - who carried well into contact - Ulster's scrum obliterated them.
Otherwise, save for some rumbles by Roger Wilson, Ulster generated comparatively little go-forward ball, but the home side's fringe defence was epitomised by Neil Best's willingness to put his body on the line, while the wily Kieron Dawson spoiled effectively.
Yet, apart from Humphreys's control and brace of 45-metre penalties, you couldn't remember Ulster creating too much. In their anxiety to get mitts on the ball, they conceded 13 penalties to five and were lucky at the death Matt McCullough didn't concede a decisive penalty under his posts for coming in from the side.
They undoubtedly had misgivings about Olan Trevor's interpretation at the breakdown but in the circumstances, and amid all the backchat, the official did a fine job.
With the gale behind them, Leinster were naïve at times; throwing to the tail on the Ulster line, taking contact in their own half rather than using the wind, tapping a penalty and then kicking the recycle to touch.
Admittedly, Trevor Hogan brilliantly pilfered Rory Best's throw in any case, and Gleeson scrapped for turnover ball on the deck off Boss for D'Arcy to land the drop goal.
Dunne had missed a penalty from the 22 early on and of all the nights to be given your biggest chance of the season, this was not it. But in mitigation, aside from the ball being a bar of soap, his service from Chris Whitaker was also decidedly awry. Taking ball into the wind himself in the second period, or popping it to close-in runners, Whitaker was more effective.
Yet when Humphreys cleverly tapped a penalty five metres from his own line to kick downfield, Fitzgerald reached up and touched the ball as it flew dead at the other end, this length-of-the-pitch moment undid six minutes of good Leinster work and looked like a turning point.
Not for the first time though, Ulster's handling was imprecise, and to Fitzgerald's immense credit, his brilliant catch and counterattack in a 40-yard break straight after Humphreys had made the score 3-3 when Owen Finegan was pinged was one of the few thrills amid all the spills.
D'Arcy's close-range penalty, the reward for a 10-phase, two-and-a-half-minute drive, deservedly cancelled out Humphreys' second penalty.
The force was with Leinster in the endgame after Harrison was yellow carded. He had been having a running feud with Shane Horgan, and when the latter pulled his jersey over his head, Harrison reacted with a left hook and a flurry of arms, ostensibly to free himself, though the referee seemed to suggest the card was for a prior stamp.
The abrasive Aussie has done worse, that's for sure, and as yellow cards go it was perhaps a tad on the harsh side.
But then again, those who live by the sword . . .
SCORING SEQUENCE:30 mins: D'Arcy drop goal 0-3 (half-time 0-3); 60: Humphreys pen 3-3; 65: Humphreys pen 6-3; 70: D'Arcy pen 6-6.
ULSTER:B Cunningham; M Bartholomeusz, P Steinmetz, P Wallace, P McKenzie; D Humphreys, I Boss; B Young, R Best, S Best (capt); J Harrison, M McCullough; N Best, K Dawson, R Wilson. Replacements: K Maggs for Wallace (54 mins), S Ferris for Dawson (66 mins). Unused: P Shields, J Fitzpatrick, T Barker, K Campbell, S Young. Sinbinned: McCullough (27 mins), Harrison (73 mins).
LEINSTER:L Fitzgerald; S Horgan, B O'Driscoll (capt), G D'Arcy, D Hickie; A Dunne, C Whitaker; R McCormack, B Blaney, F Pala'amo; T Hogan, M O'Kelly; O Finegan, K Gleeson, J Heaslip. Replacements: R Corrigan for Finegan (31 mins) and for Pala'amo (57 mins), C Warner for Dunne (50 mins), S Keogh for Finegan (66 mins). Unused: H Vermaas, C Jowitt, G Easterby, R Kearney.
Referee:Olan Trevor (IRFU).
