Ulster suffer another dose of the Blues

Leinster 19 Ulster 6

This loss wasn’t nearly as seminal as the defeats inflicted on the northern branch in the 2012 Heineken Cup and 2013 RaboDirect Pro12 finals but, in its own way, it demonstrated again just how far the pretenders still have to go.

Expanding the depth of his squad was a stated aim for Mark Anscombe when he arrived in the country 18 months ago and, though he has gone some distance towards doing just that, he is a way off matching Leinster’s.

Both provinces were minus a slew of big players. Between them they were operating without 15 Irish internationals — or 589 Test caps in total — and if Leinster had more of them then Ulster could add in Johann Muller, John Afoa and Nick Williams.

It is a credit to the strides professional rugby has made then — not to mention Leinster’s marketing arm — that this game between such compromised sides could attract an 18,500 sellout to the RDS on a freezing cold festive night.

That the fare didn’t match the occasion was a disappointment but it was through no fault of Leinster’s fringe players who made a far better fist of their big opportunity to shine than their wannabe counterparts in white.

Nobody did so more than Jordi Murphy, the Barcelona-born back row who signed up for the club as a flanker but who has shone at number eight this season against the backdrop of Jamie Heaslip’s flirtations with the French.

It was Murphy’s try on 37 minutes — finished after a sublime break and offload by the red-hot Luke Fitzgerald — which blew the doors off this one and allowed Leinster coast home to an ultimately comfortable win against an off-colour Ulster.

Jimmy Gopperth scored all of his side’s other 14 points, and spurned six more, while Ulster’s only input was the two Paddy Jackson penalties, which somehow allowed them lead 6-3 until close to half-time despite no ball or territory.

Everywhere you looked there was someone young and eager wearing blue and doing a decent job of getting himself noticed: Noel Reid at inside-centre, Martin Moore again at tighthead, Murphy or Rhys Ruddock in the back row.

Murphy was foremost among those equals, doing the sort of damage with ball in hand that delights spectators and mucking in at the coal-face with the type of shift that thrills coaches. It has been that way all season.

Such has been the 22-year old’s form that maybe the potential loss of Heaslip to the Top 14, though still damaging, wouldn’t be quite as unpalatable as originally thought. Not that Murphy bit on such tasteless bait.

“I haven’t been thinking about that,” he said. “I just look to each game and I try to play as well as I can. That’s just the way it is. There is good, healthy competition and we obviously wouldn’t want to lose a player of Jamie’s ability at this club.”

Such cautious and measured words are only to be expected and those traits should be exercised further when framing Leinster’s competent victory, for it was no more than that, given their opponents’ only bright spot on a bad day was their defence.

Such was the overall paucity of Ulster’s efforts, collectively as well as individually, that Ruan Pienaar and Jared Payne stood out as two of their most effective performers though neither clocked in until the 50th minute.

For Leinster, the result bright to an end a run of two straight defeats and the input of Murphy and their other young tyros only raised spirits further, while giving pause for thought on selection issues as the Heineken Cup hovers into view once again.

After all, a team that has already had to absorb the losses of men such as Jonathan Sexton and Isa Nacewa will soon have to adapt again with the approaching retirement of Brian O’Driscoll and Leo Cullen’s switch to coaching.

The team’s complexion is changing but it’s DNA remains constant thanks to the likes of Murphy, Dave Kearney, Moore and more who have grasped their chances and the absence of Sean O’Brien this next while leaves room for more auditions.

In fact, nowhere is the battle for game time more keenly fought than in Leinster’s back row where head coach Matt O’Connor has no less than seven top quality operators from which to choose.

“It’s tough because they all want to play,” said the Australian who will once again have to juggle resources for next week’s trip to Galway because of player welfare diktats. “Young guys want to play rugby, that’s the nature of the beast.

“It’s certainly something that we’re conscious of in terms of managing workloads and providing opportunities to get a run of games so they can put their best foot forward in terms of their own and the team’s performance.”

How Mark Anscombe would love to harbour that headache.

LEINSTER: Z Kirchner; D Kearney, B Macken, N Reid; L Fitzgerald; J Gopperth, I Boss; M Bent, A Dundon, M Moore; L Cullen, M McCarthy; R Ruddock, S O’Brien, J Murphy.

Replacements: D Ryan for O’Brien (53); J McGrath for O’Connell (59); I Madigan for Reid; M Ross for Moore; J Tracy for Dundon (all 66); T Denton for Cullen (72); L McGrath for Boss (79).

ULSTER: R Andrew; A Trimble, D Cave, L Marshall, C Gilroy; P Jackson, P Marshall; C Black, R Herring, D Fitzpatrick; L Stevenson, D Tuohy; R Diack, S Doyle, R Wilson.

Replacements: J Payne for Andrew; R Pienaar for P Marshall (both 50); M Allen for L Marshall (57); T Court for Black (59); M McComish for Doyle (67); N McComb for Stevenson (68); R Lutton for Fitzpatrick (72).

Referee: J Lacey (IRFU).