URC: Leinster edge Ulster in far from vintage interprovincial
A far from vintage interprovincial, Leinster secured this arm-wrestle against Ulster late on to keep stretch their winning run to seven from seven but had to work so hard to get there.
The contest was full of incident in terms of inaccuracies and injuries with neither side really putting daylight between each other until James Culhane’s late score secured the try bonus and, as it turned out, the victory with Ulster making off with a losing bonus point and two defeats either side of the break.
Ulster needed a sharp start and got it after four minutes when Ben Carson scored out wide off James McNabney.
Carson dotted down at the corner flag, but Nathan Doak then added a superb conversion, and Ulster had thrown down the challenge.
The hosts then had a kick charged down from the restart and Leinster immediately had field position in Ulster’s 22 from which, on a penalty advantage from a scrum, saw Luke McGrath break and make the line.
Ross Byrne converted McGrath’s ninth-minute effort, and the scores were level.
However, Leinster were then reduced to 14 as Brian Deeny hit Aidan Morgan with a high tackle and was yellow carded by referee Eoghan Cross.
Doak slotted the resulting penalty to nudge Ulster in front but once more it did not last as from a scrum penalty with Ross Byrne levelling the scores again with his 17th-minute shot from the tee with the binning period ending without further visits to the scoreboard.
The nip-and-tuck nature of the contest continued and on the half-hour, Ulster put a penalty to the corner and after securing messy possession, trucked the ball up to Leinster’s line where another penalty came their way.
This time Doak had the tee brought out and his kick from near the posts put Ulster 13-10 in front.
The remainder of the half was disruptive for both sides, Max Deegan joining the already departed Will Connors in departing early – taking two thirds of Leinster’s starting back row out of the game – and then, for the hosts, John Cooney having to come on for the injured Ben Moxham and position himself on the right wing.
As things stood, Ulster made their way off leading 13-10.
The half was only three minutes old when Nick Timoney was shown yellow for a collision with Scott Penny.
Leinster now had to make the extra man count and did so on 49 minutes when good work from Jimmy O’Brien nearly put Osborne in only for the ball to recycled and then moved right where Jordan Larmour dived over.
Ross Byrne again kicked the two points.
With Timoney back, Ulster struck after Jimmy O’Brien put a ball out on the full. Camped in Leinster’s 22, Carson surged through for his second with Doak’s conversion of the 55th-minute effort putting Ulster 20-17 ahead.
The pattern continued as four minutes later; Leinster had the lead. This time a penalty was put to the corner and after a strong drive from Lee Barron, the ball was spun at pace, Larmour delivering for Jimmy O’Brien in the corner.
Ross Byrne was just wide with the conversion and Leinster led by just two points.
The edginess continued with Ulster needing to get up the field but then having to bring on Marcus Rea for a limping Cooney just as James Culhane drove over from a lineout to claim the bonus point score for Leinster.
Ross Byrne missed from a difficult angle to stretch the visitors’ lead and from there they saw it out.
Ulster Tries: Carson 2. Cons: Doak 2. Pens: Doak 2. Yellow card: Timoney 43
Leinster Tries: McGrath, Larmour, O’Brien, Culhane. Cons: R Byrne 2 Pens: R Byrne Yellow card: Deeny 11 mins
Ulster: S Moore; W Kok, B Carson, J Postlethwaite, M Lowry; A Morgan, N Doak; E O’Sullivan, J McCormick, S Wilson; A O’Connor (capt), K Treadwell; J McNabney, N Timoney, D McCann
Replacements: B Moxham for Kok 12 mins, J Cooney for Moxham 37 mins, T Stewart for McCormick 53 mins, A Warwick for O’Sullivan 53 mins, C Barrett for Wilson 53 mins, J Humphreys for Morgan 65 mins, H Sheridan for Treadwell 67 mins, Marcus Rea for Cooney 71 mins
Leinster: J O’Brien; J Larmour, L Turner, C Tector, A Osborne; R Byrne, L McGrath; J Boyle, J McKee, R Slimani; D Mangan, B Deeny; M Deegan, W Connors, J Conan (capt)
Replacements: M Milne for Boyle 14-25mins and 66 mins, S Penny for Connors 25 mins, J Culhane for Deegan 36 mins and for Mangan 69 mins, Deegan for Culhane h-t, RG Snyman for Deeny 45 mins, L Barron for McKee 45 mins, F Gunne for McGrath 58 mins, R McGuire for Slimani 71 mins, H Byrne for Osborne 71 mins.
Referee: E Cross (IRFU).
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