Leinster head coach Leo Cullen praised his reconfigured team, and a man-of-the-match performance from Sam Prendergast, after they overtook Ulster and moved into third in the URC table with an entertaining bonus-point win in the Affidea Stadium on Friday night.
In also denying the home side a bonus point, much to the frustration of head coach Richie Murphy, Leinster also moved four points above the northern province in the table.
“I thought the guys started really well, great intent, played the game in the right area and had some chances, didn’t necessarily take them all now,” said Cullen.
[ Leinster leapfrog Ulster in table after fending off late fight back by hostsOpens in new window ]
“The lads controlled the game really, really well and similar the start of the second half. We looked strong, carrying, moving the ball to space and good variety in our game.
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“But then Ulster, as we knew they would at some point, they had a real purple match,” said Cullen, who admitted his side weren’t helped by the 20-minute red card shown to Max Deegan for clumsily taking out Werner Kok in the air, which came at the same time as a three-try salvo for the hosts, all scored by the Ward brothers, Zac and Bryn.
“It was a bit of a scramble at times, but we’re pleased with the effort overall, even though it was a little bit chaotic probably in that last 20 minutes.”
Prendergast lost his place in both the Ireland and Leinster matchday squads of late but responded with a controlled performance at outhalf, landing four from five kicks with a new kicking tee and ball placement in a 14-point haul.
“He just kept his head down working away. It’s frustrating for a number of guys in terms of selection at the moment because it’s a competitive group and that’s what we want.
“Sam is a good example of that. He’s just had to be patient and I thought he was great there today. He managed the game, managed the territory battle particularly well, and obviously comes up with some big moments himself individually, so it was great overall performance.”
In contrast, Murphy said he was “massively disappointed” with the defeat.
“Even towards the end of the game, they’re obviously down to 14. Jude (Postlethwaite) gets hit in the head and that’s missed and it’s another opportunity to get a penalty and get back down into the corner and get them under more pressure.
“We definitely deserve something out of the game.”
Ulster trailed 15-0 after a largely one-sided first-half, and were 29-0 in arrears by the 50th minute after two more Leinster tries.
“It’s not that we went out there with the intention of not playing well in the first half,” said Murphy.
“I’m extremely proud of the players in relation to how they reacted when they were under massive pressure at 29-0 down and managed to put together some really good things. We’ve a fair bit of learning to do in relation to that first half.
“It’s probably a little bit of difference to the level of the Challenge Cup in the last couple of weeks. You’re playing against a Champions Cup semi-final team, even though they’re heavily rotated, but there’s good learnings in that for us and it’ll help us going forward.”
