Stafford secures Leinster victory in 10-try thriller

A Interprovincial / Leinster A 39 Ulster A 33 : Leinster and Ulster shared 10 tries in a thrilling A interprovincial friendly…

A Interprovincial / Leinster A 39 Ulster A 33: Leinster and Ulster shared 10 tries in a thrilling A interprovincial friendly clash last night at Navan with replacement Greg Stafford's injury-time try winning the game for the home side.

Outhalf Eoin Hickey added the points to copperfasten Leinster's success on an ideal night for running rugby during which the lead changed hands on no fewer than eight occasions.

Niall Ronan's early try helped Leinster establish a 13-0 lead, but, lifted by an opportunist try from newcomer Isaac Boss, Ulster then briefly hit the front.

However, a Kevin McLoughlin try, converted by Hickey, left Leinster 20-14 ahead at the break and though the lead changed hands another six times the margin was the same at the end.

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Hickey took the scoring honours for Leinster with 14 points from four conversions and two penalties while Ross McCarron's second-half try was the pick of their scores.

Ulster outhalf Gareth Steenson landed three conversions, while tries from Scott Young, Shane Stewart, Stephen Ferris and a penalty try completed the Ulster total.

LEINSTER A: R McCarron; J Norton, G Brown, D McAllister, B Burke; E Hickey, B O'Riordan; J Lyne, C Geoghegan, E Byrne, S Crawford, D Toner, C Jowitt, N Ronan, K McLaughlin. Replacements: S Grissing for Brown, A Dunlop for Ronan, G Stafford for Hickey, N Duffy for Byrne, N O'Meara for O'Riordan, J Wickham for Lyne, Hickey for McAllister, G O'Meara for Geoghegan

ULSTER A: S Young; P McKenzie, S Stewart, J Bell, A Maxwell; G Steenson, I Boss; G Maxwell, N Brady, D Fitzpatrick, R Caldwell, H Head, C Henry, O Hennessy, S Ferris. Replacements: D Houston for Caldwell, P Marshall for Maxwell, S Philpott for Boss, D Pollock for Steenson, R Moore for Brady, G Telford for Hennessy, Steenson for Bell.

Referee: A Lewis (IRFU).