Leinster 42 Ulster 14:Ulster needed their set piece to be impregnable but, ultimately, their scrum lost them this Heineken Cup final in front of a record 81,744 crowd. Regardless, Leinster would have found a way to a third European title in four attempts.
Unforgivably, the contenders relinquished possession twice on their own put-in. That was all the encouragement the champions needed; working the phases at a chillingly accurate and rapid pace to breach Ulster’s line with first-half tries from the freakish Sean O’Brien and Cian Healy.
Nobody stops O’Brien and Healy from five metres.
The real kick for Leinster supporters was the old midfield axis provided the necessary impetus to get them into the red zone
The overall difference? Every Leinster player was prominent in those opening 40 minutes, from Kevin McLaughlin’s physicality to Fergus McFadden’s energy.
In particular, their marquee performers shined. Brian O’Driscoll was subtly brilliant, especially for Healy’s try, while Gordon D’Arcy rolled back the years for O’Brien’s touchdown, dancing through John Afoa and Paddy Wallace before popping up again with a defence splitting inside pass for Rob Kearney.
The Ireland fullback set the tone in the opening seconds, sprinting from the back field to claim a mammoth Stefan Terblanche garryowen. The former Springbok left a different mark on proceedings.
As expected, Ruan Pienaar kept the challengers in touching distance with a brace of penalties, the second on the stroke of half-time from 55 metres. His halfback partner, 20-year-old Paddy Jackson, was not having such an assured day, putting one kick out on the full, spurning a three-on-two overlap and missing a very kickable drop goal attempt.
These small margins count in finals.
The game was over five minutes into the second-half. It came from yet another unforced error. Stephen Ferris carried into his 22 and passed to Jackson who kicked out on the full. From the ensuing lineout the Leinster maul rumbled the 20 metres to Ulster’s line with referee Nigel Owens showing no hesitation in running under the posts for a penalty try.
He even told Rory Best there would have been a yellow card if he could see who collapsed Leinster’s eight man walk to glory.
Ian Humphreys was sent on for Jackson but the big decision to change outhalves for the latter stages of this tournament back-fired badly on demoted head coach Brian McLaughlin. Humphreys made an impact, before going off concussed, and on the hour mark Ulster finally went around the blue line.
Wallace drew four defenders before expertly offloading for Dan Tuohy to score. Pienaar missed the touchline conversion.
Thereafter, the Ulster pack looked out on their feet as Leinster slipped into cruise control. There was still time for Terblanche’s sin-binning after an extremely late tip tackle, probably the 36-year-old’s last act as a rugby player, on Sean Cronin.
It ended with the front row union galloping over as Heinke van der Merwe and then Cronin rubbing salt in the gaping Ulster wound.
Leinster can score from anywhere. And anyone can score.
Typically, Cullen refused to lift the trophy alone. Shane Jennings gave him a hand.
Scoring sequence: 7 mins:R Pienaar pen, 0-3; 12 mins:S O'Brien try, 3-5; J Sexton conv, 7-3; 31 mins:C Healy try, 12-3; J Sexton conv, 14-3; 41 mins:R Pienaar pen, 14-6. Half-time. 45 mins:pen try, 19-6; J Sexton conv, 21-6; 48 mins:R Pienaar pen, 21-9; 51 mins:J Sexton pen, 24-9; 60 mins:D Tuohy try, 24-14; 67 mins:J Sexton pen, 27-14; 73 mins:J Sexton pen, 30-14; 75 mins:H van der Merwe try, 35-14, 80 mins:S Cronin try, 40-14; F McFadden conv, 42-14.
Leinster:R Kearney; F McFadden, B O'Driscoll, G D'Arcy, I Nacewa; J Sexton, E Reddan; C Healy, R Strauss, M Ross; L Cullen, B Thorn; K McLaughlin, S O'Brien, J Heaslip. Replacements:D Toner for L Cullen (57 mins), H van der Merwe for C Healy, S Jennings for K McLaughlin (both 60 mins), D Kearney for B O'Driscoll (67-72, blood), S Cronin for R Strauss (both 67 mins), N White for M Ross (69 mins), J Cooney for E Reddan, I Madigan for J Sexton (both 73 mins).
Ulster:S Terblanche; A Trimble, D Cave, P Wallace, C Gilroy; P Jackson, R Pienaar; T Court, R Best, J Afoa; J Muller, D Tuohy; S Ferris, C Henry, P Wannenburg. Replacements:I Humphreys for P Jackson (45 mins), W Faloon for C Henry (67 mins), P Marshall for I Humphreys (69 mins), D Fitzpatrick for J Afoa (73 mins), P McAllister for T Court (74 mins), A D'Arcy for D Cave (77 mins), N Brady for R Best (78 mins).
Referee:N Owens (Wales).
Yellow card:S Terblance (72 mins)
