Impressive Leinster withstand late Ulster rally for bonus-point win

Leinster led 15-0 at half-time, and were 29-0 up in the second half, but Ulster fought back to put some respectability on the scoreboard

Sam Prendergast scored Leinster's bonus point try against Ulster. Pic: ©INPHO/Morgan Treacy

URC: Ulster 21 Leinster 29 

A slow start, a blur of excitement, the odd scrap, and a frenetic finish.

Just your average Friday night, really.

Leinster will wake up the happier with five match points in the bag that elevated them to third in the URC table overnight. For Ulster, the inability to engineer a late try- or losing bonus point after going 29-0 down will add to the hangover.

And this had looked tailor-made for the northern province.

The pints of Murphys – yes, Murphys – were flowing, the ground was bathed under the last of the day’s sunshine and Leinster had, by virtue of injuries and choice, travelled without a slew of big names for this top-of-the-table interpro.

Well, the only problem with expectation is when it comes to naught.

The first-half was shredded by stoppages, at least four of them for injuries, more again for scrums and the odd lineout, and another when referee Matthew Carley took his sweet time in conversing with the two captains.

Ulster weren’t helped by the loss of two men, Aussie prop Angus Bell and centre James Hume, inside the first ten minutes, but those misfortunes alone don’t explain how they were so under the cosh for the entire first quarter and more.

Leinster owned the ball and dominated the territory. They weren’t perfect. Prendergast committed only the first of their spills in contact in that spell, but they were still able to hem the hosts inside their own third for what felt an eternity.

There were no less than 26 minutes played before Ulster got to venture into the opposing 22. They were already 10-0 down by then thanks, in the main, to an opening try after 18 minutes from James Culhane off a quick tap.

It was far too easy after earlier dogged defence.

Prendergast added the two from wide right and another three after a scrum penalty from a similar angle shortly after. His all-round performance, one or two mistakes aside, was impressive after his recent spell on the sidelines with club and country.

There were other tasty moments: a number of flare-ups throughout, and Werner Kok and Jimmy O’Brien absolutely nailing each other in the respective corners as one tried to touch down, but Ulster couldn’t find a marker for an age on the scoreboard.

Their first threatened approaches came and went before Leinster struck again just before the break with a gorgeous first-phase move off a scrum penalty advantage, Prendergast and Hugo Keenan sweeping long passes out wide to make it all possible.

It didn’t get any better for Richie Murphy’s men just yet. Down 15-0 at the break, they reappeared without Sam Crean and Cormac Izuchukwu, the latter having taken a blow late in the first period, and they were soon cut further adrift.

Down 15-0 on the restart, they conceded two more tries, to Robbie Henshaw and Prendergast, in the next ten minutes. Both were, again, beautifully crafted scores from a team that was really hitting its straps.

Harry Sheridan earned a yellow after the first of them, Jacob Stockdale coughed up a try for Stuart McCloskey with an overcooked pass, and then Tom O’Toole added to the casualty list when departing while holding his forearm.

It was only then, at 29 points and a man down, and with 25 minutes to go, that Ulster managed to find a head of steam, and it rivalled anything the city had once seen in the Harland and Wolff shipyards.

Three tries in ten minutes, all of them down Leinster’s right wing, the first from Bryn Ward and the others from his brother Zac, broke this game open again. That and a yellow upgraded to red for Max Deegan’s careless mid-air collision with Kok.

There was a good 15 minutes to go when the third of those Ulster scores went in and Deegan’s red was extended to 20 minutes, but there was no fourth try or any bonus points to be mined from there. Leinster’s night, despite the late drama.

ULSTER: J Stockdale; W Kok, J Hume, S McCloskey, Z Ward; J Murphy, N Doak; A Bell, T Stewart, T O’Toole; I Henderson, C Izuchukwu; D McCann, S Refell, J Augustus.

Replacements: S Crean for Bell (7); J Postlethwaite for Hume (10); H Sheridan for Izuchukwu and S Wilson for Crean (both HT); B Ward for Refell and S Crean for O’Toole (both 47); J McCormick for Stewart and J Flannery for Murphy (both 75); F Gunne for Henshaw (79).

LEINSTER: H Keenan; J Kenny, G Ringrose, R Henshaw, J O’Brien; S Prendergast, L McGrath; J Cahir, R Kelleher, T Clarkson; B Deeny, J Ryan; A Soroka, S Penny, J Culhane.

Replacements: E Byrne for Cahir (47); G McCarthy for Kelleher, C O’Tighearnaigh for Deeny and M Deegan for Soroka (all 58); R Slimani for Clarkson and C Frawley for Kenny (both 65); W Connors for Penny (76).

Referee: A Brace (IRFU).