Leinster to visit the Bulls in URC semis after 6-try win over Ulster

Murray Kinsella Reports from the Aviva Stadium

Leinster 43

Ulster 20

NEXT UP, LEINSTER take their trophy quest on the road to the Highveld of South Africa. Their reward for this six-try beating of Ulster in the URC quarter-finals is a visit to the Bulls in Pretoria next weekend.

Ulster were gritty and game, particularly in the first quarter of this match, but Leinster had too much class and took control as they earned a 17-0 half-time lead then finished the job in the second 40 minutes.

On a pleasant summer’s evening in Dublin, a crowd of 18,174 packed out the lower tier of the Aviva Stadium and made creditable noise.

Most of them were wearing blue and they had plenty of cause to cheer. It wasn’t quite a complete performance from Leinster but they were clearly the better team, James Lowe scoring a brace of tries as Robbie Henshaw, Jordan Larmour, Josh van der Flier, Ross Molony also dotted down.

23-year-old lock Joe McCarthy was outstanding in a player of the match performance as he delivered some big moments that included a maul turnover, a crucial try-stopping tackle on Nick Timoney early in the game, and a breakdown turnover penalty that eventually led to Lowe’s first try. McCarthy made his presence felt with a couple of big carries and one slick offload too.

Number eight Caelan Doris was potent with his ball-carrying, while captain James Ryan and blindside flanker Ryan Baird led the lineout pressure on Ulster. With out-half Ross Byrne directing Leinster’s play confidently, attack coach Andrew Goodman was surely pleased to see them taking chances.

Ulster needed to get some reward for their strong opening quarter but couldn’t, while they were unlucky to lose impactful lock Cormac Izuchukwu to a head injury 18 minutes in, especially given that senior second rows Iain Henderson, Alan O’Connor, and Kieran Treadwell were all missing through injury today.

The northern province’s contestable kicking caused problems, with Jimmy O’Brien knocking on a couple as he started at fullback with Hugo Keenan now on Ireland 7s duty. 

Scrum-half John Cooney was good in that department and was at the heart of much of Ulster’s good play but their three tries through David McCann, Stewart Moore, and Mike Lowry proved to be of the consolation variety as they failed to reel Leinster in after going in with that 17-point deficit at the break.

Still, Ulster have ended the season with a positive burst of form under new permanent head coach Richie Murphy and their supporters will head into the summer with a far more optimistic view of the future than was the case only a couple of months ago.

Leinster march on to the semi-finals and that trip to face the Bulls, who squeezed past Benetton in Pretoria earlier today. With their full-strength team, Leo Cullen’s men will be confident of their ability to win away from home and earn a place in the final against one of Munster, Glasgow, and the Stormers.

Three years without a trophy wouldn’t be palatable for this group of Leinster players.

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With the sun shining over the Aviva, Leinster put themselves into position to make a dream start as they forced two penalties from Ulster and had a five-metre lineout in the fifth minute. But they botched the set-piece with an apparent miscommunication resulting in Dan Sheehan’s throw flying over the tail.

Ulster seemed enthused by surviving there and their contestable kicking put pressure back onto Leinster. Izuchukwu made an excellent break through Doris’ missed tackle down in the Leinster 22 and found Matty Rea, whose offload effort was superbly blocked by the covering Ryan.

Ulster were back within range in the 11th minute as McCann strode down the left, Stuart McCloskey carried strongly, then Timoney surged for the line but McCarthy did just enough to deny him the score, getting underneath the ball before it could be grounded.

Leinster appeared to be feeling the heat but they suddenly struck on counter-attack from one of those Ulster contestable kicks, with fullback O’Brien claiming the bobbling ball and carrying.

From there, passes by Josh van der Flier and Byrne found Tadhg Furlong in space in midfield and he cleverly slowed his run to drag in two defenders before releasing Jamie Osborne down the middle.

The Leinster centre really should have put Jamison Gibson-Park away on his inside shoulder but instead dummied and was lucky that Ulster fullback Moore didn’t tackle him to ground, allowing Osborne to turn and find Henshaw scorching up in support to finish. Byrne converted for 7-0.

With Ryan and Baird leading the lineout pressure, Leinster now had the momentum and extended their lead off the tee when Byrne was high-tackled by Will Addison. The out-half rose from medical attention to slot the three from straight in front.

And they soon added their second score as Lowe first carried strongly out on the left, then quickly swung over to the other side to take a slick inside pass from Byrne, beat the stretching Eric O’Sullivan, power past Moore, and carry Harry Sheridan over the tryline as he dotted down for another converted try.

Leinster had to defend their line just before the break but an excellent lineout steal from Baird, just after they appeared to be lucky to escape a penalty try at the maul, saw them in 17-0 ahead.

Ulster started the second half well, Cooney hanging another bomb over O’Brien and the Leinster number 15 knocking on before Henshaw grabbed the ball from an offside penalty. Cooney tapped over the three points to close the gap. 

But they were soon back under their posts as Byrne’s cross-field kick was superbly controlled by Lowe with his left foot when it looked like it was bouncing into touch, the Ireland wing calmly giving the ball a second nudge over the tryline in the left corner and gleefully falling on it for his second.

22-3 down, it would have been easy for Ulster to fold but they responded strongly, kicking a penalty into the left corner. They earned penalty advantage through a collapsed maul, hooker Rob Herring carried infield, then Cooney calmly fizzed a pass back towards the touchline and back row McCann crossed untouched for an unconverted try.

Leinster were keen to put the contest to bed and went close to doing so when Byrne rolled a grubber into the right corner for O’Brien to chase but the ball just evaded him and went dead when it would have been a lovely score.

They did seal the deal in the 63rd minute as McCarthy snaffled a loose ball in the Ulster half and skillfully offloaded to Doris before Ryan carried up the left. They hit midfield through Osborne, then Byrne and Henshaw swept passes wide right for Larmour to finish past Ethan McIlroy. Byrne added a nice conversion for 29-8.

Leinster seemed to switch off in the immediate aftermath as they conceded from a scrappily contested kick, Moore finishing after McIlroy – on for the injured Jacob Stockdale – chipped ahead, with Cooney converting.

Their excitement was short-lived, however, as big carries from van der Flier and Henshaw gave Leinster attacking momentum, then sharp hands from Byrne and Osborne put van der Flier over to the left of the posts. Byrne added the extras in his last act before making way for Sam Prendergast.

Replacement lock Ross Molony, who will join Bath this summer, barrelled over for the sixth Leinster try in the closing few minutes, beating a pair of tackles after Baird had carried well following a lineout overthrow.

Pendergast popped over the conversion and then showed his classy skills with a chip and follow-up volley that Henshaw reeled in.

Ulster grabbed their third try with the last play of the game, Mike Lowry showing his pace to finish from a cross-field kick, but it’s Leinster who march on to the semi-finals.

Leinster scorers:

Tries: Robbie Henshaw, James Lowe [2], Jordan Larmour, Josh van der Flier, Ross Molony

Conversions: Ross Byrne [4 from 5], Sam Prendergast [1 from 1]

Penalties: Ross Byrne [1 from 1]

Ulster scorers:

Tries: David McCann, Ethan McIlroy, Mike Lowry

Conversions: John Cooney [1 from 3]

Penalty: John Cooney [1 from 1]

LEINSTER: Jimmy O’Brien; Jordan Larmour, Robbie Henshaw, Jamie Osborne, James Lowe (Ciarán Frawley ’65); Ross Byrne (Sam Prendergast ’69), Jamison Gibson-Park (Luke McGrath ’64); Andrew Porter (Cian Healy ’65), Dan Sheehan (Rónan Kelleher ’55), Tadhg Furlong (Michael Ala’alatoa ’43); Joe McCarthy, James Ryan (captain) (Ross Molony ’64); Ryan Baird, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris (Max Deegan ’71).

ULSTER: Stewart Moore; Mike Lowry, Will Addison (Jude Postlethwaite ’64), Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale (Ethan McIlroy ’48); Billy Burns (Nathan Doak ’57), John Cooney; Eric O’Sullivan (Andy Warwick ’52), Rob Herring (captain) (Tom Stewart ’69), Tom O’Toole (Scott Wilson ’69); Harry Sheridan, Cormac Izuchukwu (Greg Jones ’18); Matty Rea (Dave Ewers ’64), David McCann, Nick Timoney.

Referee: Andrew Brace [IRFU].