Ulster 14 Leinster 13
The stakes were hardly at their highest but Ulster got their first win over Leinster in five attempts with a 14-13 victory over their near-neighbours at Kingspan Stadium.
When these sides last met it was in the red-hot environment of a sold-out Aviva Stadium, a place in the Champions Cup semi-finals on the line.
The contrast to this latest head-to-head could hardly have been more stark but it was a memorable day for debutant Marcus Rea nonetheless, the young flanker scoring the winning try after coming off the bench.
With nothing on the line in terms of Pro14 standings, both coaches changed every single member of their starting lineup from their must-win contests last time out.
Even a Leinster second-string still boasted seven internationals though, and it was the double-double seeking side that made the early headway.
While Storm Hannah had eased somewhat by kick-off, they played into a stiff wind for the first-half, the conditions certainly putting paid to Ross Byrne’s penalty with 11 minutes on the clock. Having had to make use of Caelan Dorris just to keep the ball from blowing back off the tee, it was no surprise to see the attempt fall short of the posts.
In a game understandably lacking anything resembling cohesion, that was as close as either side came to rousing the scoreboard operator until the half-hour mark.
Fergus McFadden, who’d at least provided a rare early talking point when the TMO was called to adjudicate on a possible headbutt, showed some good footwork to escape the clutches of a few mismatched front-rowers and when Noel Reid took up the cause and combined with Ross Byrne, Leinster’s captain for the day recognised Ulster had been drawn narrow and drifted a pass out to Jimmy O’Brien to finish in the corner.
A contest that hadn’t threatened even the sniff of a try suddenly had two in two minutes when Ulster responded quickly – former Old Belvedere man Dave Shanahan driven across the whitewash by Clive Ross and John Andrew after a break from Darren Cave caused a rare instance of first-half panic for the visitors.
Ulster’s lead though would last only marginally longer than Leinster’s, Ross Byrne finding his range from the tee at the third time of asking.
With less than a minute until the break, there was still time for Leo Cullen’s side to press further ahead before half-time, this time it was McFadden put over in the corner after Ulster had initially halted a threatening maul.
After the turn, with Jack McGrath’s substitution bringing a swing of momentum in the scrums, Dan McFarland’s side finally grasped some momentum, forcing a yellow card for Oisin Dowling and, eventually, a try for debutant Rea. While Leinster’s defensive application had been impressive through more than 10 minutes of pressure, the Academy back-rower finally pierced a hole in the rearguard with Pete Nelson’s subsequent conversion giving his side the lead. There was still some 20 minutes to go but neither side looked much like providing anything more in terms of attack.
Bigger battles lie ahead for both with Ulster back in action here next Saturday against Connacht for a place in the final.
Scoring sequence – 29min: O'Brien try, 0-5; 32: Shanahan try, McPhillips conversion, 7-5; 39: R Byrne penalty, 7-8; 40: McFadden try, 7-13; 61: Marcus Rea try, Nelson conversion, 14-13.
ULSTER: M Lowry; D Busby, D Cave (c), P Nelson, A Kernohan; J McPhillips, D Shanahan; A Warwick, J Andrew, R Kane; I Nagle, A O'Connor; M Rea, C Ross, S Reidy.
Replacements: Marcus Rea for S Reidy, 15 mins; T O'Toole for Kane, 41; A McBurney for Andrew, 53; J Stewart for Shanahan, 56; J Owens for McPhillips, 57; T O'Hagan for Warwick, 64; N Timoney for O'Connor, 64.
LEINSTER: J O'Brien; F McFadden, J Tomane, N Reid, D Kearney, R Byrne (c), N McCarthy; J McGrath, B Byrne, M Bent; O Dowling, J Murphy; M Deegan, W Connors, C Doris.
Replacements: P Dooley for McGrath, 43; Ciaran Frawley for R Byrne, 43; Ronan Kelleher for B Byrne, 53: V Abadaladze for Bent, 63; B Daly for McFadden, 63; S Penny for Deegan, 63; R Baird for Murphy, 63; P Patterson for Daly, 66.
Yellow cards: O Dowling.
Referee: G Clancy (Irl).
