Losing bonus point sees Ulster through

There was mayhem at Ravenhill last night as 14-man Ulster heroically booked a place in the last four of the RaboDirect League.

They got that vital losing bonus point that will see them finish in fourth slot.

However, it will be the curse of the Ulster red card that will again make the headlines after Tom Court was controversially sent off in the 17th minute after allegedly spear tackling Leinster lock Devin Toner.

It follows Jared Payne’s equally disputed sending off in the fourth minute of their Heineken Cup quarter-final against Saracens by French referee Jerome Garces.

Court had tackled the six foot 11 inch Toner who was driving forward, and while the Leinster lock was elevated and due to his exceptional height appeared to hinge his body from the waist downwards and subsequently landed awkwardly.

However, Court did appear to carry on driving and it looked bad, particularly when fellow prop Andrew Warwick had stepped away from the tackle area. Pro12 rookie referee Luke Pearce spent a long time viewing the big screen before he produced a red card, much to the consternation of the home team. !

Mr Pearce’s work was far from finished, however, when five minutes later, he could so easily have produced another red card when man-of-the-match Jackson, who scored all of Ulster’s points, was screaming into the corner after charging down Ian Madigan’s kick only to be dragged around the neck by Rob Kearney as he touched down in the corner. Kearney was lucky just to have a 10-minute rest in the bin.

Ulster, though, will feel hard done by particularly when they didn’t even get a penalty try from the illegally tackled as Jackson subsequently missed the conversion. In a game of fine margins, it could have been a crucial error by the officials.

And there was more. In the 27th minute Rhys Ruddock was also binned, and again maybe fortunate amidst all the drama, not to get a darker hue after he took the blame for taking out Jackson in mid-air as he went for a Zane Kirchner bomb. The game finally settled down and Ulster again came within two points of their opponents at the end despite having a man less.

Leinster got the scoreboard ticking when a dismantled scrum allowed Madigan to give his side the lead and then the fly-half repeated the effort as Ulster found it difficult to get their hands on the ball.

Then came that red for Court who trooped off despondently as he featured, all too briefly, in the his final game in Ulster colours before he moves to London Irish next season.

But they hit back with a Jackson try in the 23rd minute and then seven minutes later he stroked over a penalty to give them an 8-6 lead. However, a third Madigan penalty saw Leinster go in at the break a point ahead.

Ulster’s scrum creaked again on the resumption with two quick penalties to Leinster, but Madigan missed both. But it was everyone to the pumps for Ulster as Leinster piled on the pressure with Dave Kearney just about wrestled into the corner when a try looked certain. However, Madigan did rattle over a penalty in the 53rd minute as Ulster’s discipline again started to let them down.

The hosts, temporarily, came back with a Jackson penalty, but Leinster stretched their lead in the 58th minute with a simple try as the home side appeared to ball-watch after Tommy Bowe was pole-axed going for a high ball and Shane Jennings had a romp-in under the posts for Madigan to convert.

No sooner had Jackson’s third penalty brought the score to 19-14 and that precious point, replacement Jimmy Gopperth banged over a long-range effort to keep Ulster tantalisingly short of their semi-final goal.

However, two more Jackson penalties in an exciting final 10 minutes saw Ulster do what they needed and maybe even set up a clash with Leinster again in the semi-final at the RDS.

Ulster scorers: Tries: P. Jackson. Pens: P. Jackson 5.

ULSTER: R. Andrew, Trimble, Payne, L. Marshall, Bowe, P. Jackson, P. Marshall, Court, Herring, Warwick, Muller, Henderson, Wilson, Henry, Williams.

Replacements: Cave for L. Marshall (57), Macklin for Warwick (70), Tuohy for Muller (63), Black for Williams (19).

Sent Off: Court (17).

Leinster scorers: Tries: Jennings. Cons: Madigan. Pens: Madigan 4, Gopperth.

LEINSTER: R. Kearney, Kirchner, O’Driscoll, D’Arcy, D. Kearney, Madigan, Boss, Healy, Cronin, Moore, Toner, McCarthy, Ruddock, Jennings, J. Heaslip.

Replacements: Gopperth for Madigan (66), J. McGrath for Healy (66), Strauss for Cronin (66), Ross for Moore (66), Murphy for Ruddock (72).

Sin Bin: R. Kearney (24), Ruddock (27).

Referee: Luke Pearce (RFU).

Last night’s results: RaboDirect Pro12: Benetton Treviso 16 Glasgow 38; Scarlets 34 Newport Gwent Dragons 23.

Aviva Premiership: Bath 19 Northampton 19