Only disappointment the empty stadium as unbeaten Leinster complete PRO14 hat-trick

Leo Cullen was delighted while Dan McFarland was left to rue Ulster's failure to convert good chances

Sat, 12 Sep, 2020 - 22:59

Simon Lewis

Leo Cullen praised his players for their huge defensive effort as Leinster completed their Guinness PRO14 campaign unbeaten to secure the title for the third year in a row.

Non-playing and soon to retire veterans Rob Kearney and Fergus McFadden raised the trophy aloft at a near-empty Aviva Stadium on Saturday night with no spectators allowed in due to Covid-19 restrictions, after seeing their squad-mates come back from conceding an early James Hume try to Ulster to run out comfortable 27-5 winners.

Leinster’s first try came from James Lowe in the first half as they took a 10-5 interval lead before a long-range Ross Byrne penalty and a converted Robbie Henshaw intercept try two minutes apart inside the first six minutes of the second half put their side in the driving seat.

A late score from Caelan Doris converted by club captain and replacement fly-half Johnny Sexton put the tin hat on the victory as Leinster now turn their sights on regaining the Heineken Champions Cup from Saracens, whom they meet back at the Aviva next Saturday in a quarter-final.

“It was great,” head coach Cullen said. “It’s very strange being here all alone in the stadium. A lot of work goes into getting here, huge credit to everyone who played. The biggest disappointment for us is that not everyone is here that played such a big part over the course of the season and that’s probably the hardest thing.

“Overall, from the performance point of view, after a shaky start we misfired at the lineout and Ulster did well for that first try, but after that, you could see the defensive effort. The players put so much work into the contact area and the defensive system, it’s great.”

Having seen his side take a well-deserved early lead through a great finish from outside centre Hume, Ulster head coach Dan McFarland was left to rue a failure to convert good chances into further scoreboard pressure, which allowed Leinster to climb their way back into the game and eventually assert their superiority.

“In the first half we had some really good opportunities to make pressure count and we didn’t take them in their 22,” McFarland said. “Correspondingly, they were pretty good in our 22 in the second half. We didn’t make those count and that was probably the long and the short of it.

“I’m just initially bitterly disappointed - probably more that I felt that we didn’t play as well as we can do. To be fair, we did do a lot of good stuff except everything’s got to be put in the context of the opposition that you’re playing against.

“It is really disappointing but the more I sit here, the more proud I am of the people I work with and the effort they put in. That’s not just the 23 guys who took to the pitch today. That’s the seven guys who came down to help out this weekend, the 15 guys who couldn’t attend, the support staff, and the enormous hours they put in. It’s not just the effort, it’s the expertise, which is tremendous. We’ve been building that and putting stuff together.

“The disappointment comes from the realisation that this evening we’re a fair bit away from where we want to be and the goals that we have but it is what it is.”