URC: Ulster 21 Leinster 29
A curious game in which Leinster produced some of their best rugby for almost an hour and Ulster reserved some of their best for the final quarter ultimately saw the champions complete what could be a vital bonus-point win and move above Ulster into third place.
Although a dozen of their frontline Champions Cup quarter-final team were rested, Leinster superior tight five physicality was crucial in establishing the platform for their dominance of the first 50 minutes. At this point they led 29-0, had scored four tries and either home team or crowd had raised a whimper.
Whereupon, with the Ward brothers Zac and Bryn in flying form, Ulster scored three tries in 10 minutes to threaten the comeback of the season. Ultimately for them though, Ulster came up short of even a losing bonus point, while seeing their casualty list worsen.
While some of Leinster’s control and tries were of a high quality, that Ulster comeback also exposed a familiar failing with their high risk, high reward blitz defence as they were skinned on their right flank three times in rapid succession. A puzzling game indeed.
READ MORE
A grim note was struck early on for Ulster when Angus Bell buckled in making a carry; his left knee clearly causing him both pain and distress before the Wallabies’ loosehead was taken off on a mobile stretcher.
The concerned applause for their star signing had barely abated when James Hume was also in clear discomfort after extending his shoulder in a tackle on James Culhane, before he too departed, Jude Postlethwaite coming on.
Leinster also dominated the first quarter territorially, which further extracted the sting from the vast majority of 14,000-plus crowd on what was a welcome break from the biblical rain for Ulster’s last two home games.
But the once polished phased attack from the men in blue is not what it was, especially when not at optimum strength. A couple of attacks malfunctioned, Robbie Henshaw’s pullback too high for Sam Prendergast before he switched blind despite being outnumbered there.
Eventually, after much huffing and puffing amid a steady flow of penalties, Leinster scored in the 17th minute off a five-metre tap penalty.
It was somehow both smart and ridiculously easy, Rónan Kelleher tapping and carrying before passing to James Culhane, who steamed on to the ball and between Iain Henderson and Sean Reffell to score.
Prendergast converted and added an angled three-pointer off a scrum penalty before Ulster made their first foray into the Leinster 22 after 25 minutes. But Leinster’s physicality in the contact zone saw out the danger before Leinster struck again.
Alex Soroka did the initial damage by muscling through an Ulster maul to engulf Stewart and force a scrum. This led to a penalty advantage which Luke McGrath used with a snipe and decoy runners to link with Prendergast, and sweeping passes from him and Hugo Keenan enabled O’Brien to finish in the corner for a 15-0 half-time lead.
Leinster added two tries within 10 minutes of the restart to seal the bonus point and, it seemed, the win. The first of these, was the pick of the night; a sharp, skilful, multiphase attack that was once Leinster’s hallmark.
O’Brien did well to keep the attack going from a sharp exchange, Prendergast was nearly away from a left-handed “chicken wing” offload by the impressive James Culhane and, finally, Henshaw powered over by the upright from Garry Ringrose’s pass in what has become a rare enough outing together this season.
With Harry Sheridan also binned, the blue waves of attack culminated in McGrath’s skip pass putting Prendergast over wide out, and his conversion made it 29-0.
Whereupon, Ulster sprang vibrantly into life, prompting thunderous revivals of the old Ravenhill roar, with Bryn Ward making a transformative impact off the bench.
Putting together a good attack off a scrum penalty advantage, Jacob Stockdale and Jack Murphy making good carries before Nathan Doak picked out replacement flanker Bryn Ward with a skip pass on the blind side for a sharp finish.
Max Deegan then incurred the wrath of the home crowd and a yellow card which was upgraded to a 20-minute red by clumsily but dangerously clattering into Kok under a high ball.
Soon after, Stockdale was releasing Zac Ward for another pacy finish up the left touchline, which had the Ulster fans in raptures, and they were soon believing the impossible was possible when Ulster scored again.
After Stockdale received a high ball and made a strong carry, the Ulster backs skilfully swept the ball from right to left; the increasingly influential Murphy and Postlethwaite passing crisply for David McCann to beat JJ Kenny on the outside and beat Hugo Keenan with his footwork before releasing Zac Ward for another finish, which Doak again converted.
But Leinster’s subs did enough to see out the win, Rabah Slimani winning one important jackal penalty. Tempers continued to simmer with a third bust-up but to the crowd’s annoyance it was Leinster celebrating at the whistle.
Scoring sequence: 17 mins Culhane try, Prendergast con 0-7; 24 mins Prendergast pen 0-10; 38 mins O’Brien try 0-15; (half-time 0-15); 46 mins Henshaw try, Prendergast con 0-22; 50 mins Prendergast try and con 0-27; 57 mins B Ward try, Doak con 7-29; 64 mins Z Ward try, Doak con 14-29; 66 mins Z Ward try Doak con 21-29.
Ulster: Jacob Stockdale, Werner Kok, James Hume, Stuart McCloskey, Zac Ward, Jack Murphy, Nathan Doak, Angus Bell, Tom Stewart, Tom O’Toole, Iain Henderson (capt), Cormac Izuchukwu, David McCann, Sean Reffell, Juarno Augustus. Replacements: Sam Crean for Bell (8 mins), Jude Postlethwaite for Hume (10 mins), Scott Wilson for Crean (half-time), Harry Sheridan for Izuchukwu (half-time); Cream for O’Toole, Bryn Ward for Reffell (48 mins), James McCormick for Stewart, Flannery for Murphy (both 76 mins),
Yellow cards: Sheridan (45-55 mins),
Leinster: Hugo Keenan, Joshua Kenny, Garry Ringrose, Robbie Henshaw, Jimmy O’Brien, Sam Prendergast, Luke McGrath; Jerry Cahir, Rónan Kelleher, Thomas Clarkson, Brian Deeny, James Ryan (capt), Alex Soroka, Scott Penny, James Culhane. Replacements: Ed Byrne for Cahir (48 mins), Gus McCarthy for Kelleher, Conor O’Tighearnaigh for Ryan, Max Deegan for Soroka (all 58 mins), Rabah Slimani for Clarkson, Ciarán Frawley for Kenny (both 66 mins), Will Connors for Penny, Fintan Gunne for Ringrose (both 80 mins).
20-minute red card: (60 mins),
Referee: A Brace (Ireland).
