Leinster 47
Bulls 14
A DOMINANT 10-minute spell at the start of the second period saw Leinster turn this top-of-the-table clash on its head, the province hitting the Bulls for two quick-fire tries to take control of a game they eventually won comfortably, the 47-14 win moving them nine points clear at the top of the URC table.
At a packed RDS, the home side trailed by two points at the interval but pulled clear with five tries across a seriously impressive second-half display, keeping the Bulls scoreless after the break.
While Leinster welcomed 11 of Andy Farrell’s Six Nations winners back into their starting team, the Bulls also came to Dublin with a loaded squad and riding the momentum of a six-game winning streak in all competitions.
Jake White’s side caused a famous upset on their previous visit to Dublin 4 – beating Leinster in the 2021/22 URC semi-finals – and started here like a team on mission, making life rather horrible for their hosts in the opening stages.
Across the opening 12 minutes the South African side walked away from the first three scrums of the night with three scrum penalties. Thankfully for Leinster, that setpiece dominance only translated to three points on the scoreboard – Johan Goosen clipping over a long-range effort after Michael Ala’alatoa was pinged.
Leinster pieced together some nice moves but were mostly on the backfoot, Goosen adding his second penalty after Harry Byrne became the latest Leinster man to infringe.
Yet what Leinster do so well is create something out of nothing, and one of those moments arrived towards the end of the opening quarter.
Attacking off kick return, Rob Russell offloaded off the floor before Jack Conan did well to keep the ball alive, allowing Jordan Larmour sear through with a purposeful dart down the middle. With Bulls defenders closing in, Larmour found Jamie Osborne, who in turn showed nice hands to set Josh van der Flier racing for the line, the flanker clattering into the padding on the right-hand post while dotting the ball down.
It was a scintillating score which sparked the almost 17,000-strong crowd into life. Byrne added the conversion and Leinster moved into the lead for the first time.
The momentum was turning. After a frustrating time at the setpiece, a Leinster scrum win prompted a huge roar from the home crowd, who had been less than pleased with some of the earlier calls.
Now Leinster were moving with real intent. Osborne almost sent Lowe through with a smart inside pass before Byrne measured a beautiful kick into the Bulls’ 22. The Bulls secured the lineout and sent Leinster back down the field.
But Leinster were rolling. They built pressure again, opting for the corner after a penalty win at the breakdown. Rónan Kelleher hit Ross Molony with his throw, before joining the maul to drive through for Leinster’s second try. This time, Byrne’s conversion attempt hung wide.
The Bulls were finding it hard to get out of their own half but punched a hole with a lovely attacking move, Goosen stepping Conan before spinning a pass wide to Kurt-Lee Arendse, who tore for the line to score, shipping a huge hit from Luke McGrath in the process.
The tackle left McGrath requiring a HIA and on TMO review, the scrum-half was yellow carded for making head-on-head contact with Arendse. As Leinster regrouped, Goosen missed the conversion.
The Bulls out-half then kicked his third penalty with the last action of the opening 40 minutes to bring a gripping first half to a close, the Bulls leading 12-14 at the break.
Leinster responded with an utterly dominant 10-minute passage of play after the restart, turning that two-point deficit into a 12-point lead before driving home their superiority.
First, Lowe went over – Joe McCarthy offloading to the winger after Leinster hammered through 19 phases.
Minutes later – after Cullen had replaced four of his pack – Leinster were in again, Russell doing well on the wing before Larmour was brought to ground, the attack revived as Jamison Gibson-Park hit Michael Milne, who crossed for the bonus point score. With Byrne converting both tries, Leinster led 26-14 with half an hour still to play.
It was a nice cushion but the Bulls remained right in the fight, surging forward with a nice break before winning a penalty in the Leinster 22, losing the resulting lineout while Ross Byrne was perhaps lucky to avoid a card for a high tackle.
The Bulls were soon back in the Leinster 22 but again it came to nothing, Dan Sheehan doing well on the ground to win a penalty and ease the pressure.
Leinster went up the other end and Sheehan came up with another big moment, crossing in the corner after a big carry from Jack Conan and lovely pass from Milne. Ross Byrne lined up his first conversion of the night, and split the posts.
The home team were humming again and the scores kept coming. With just over 10 minutes still to play, Conan punched through two Bulls defenders to run in Leinster’s sixth, with Byrne adding his second conversion.
The result looked safe but the Bulls kept throwing punches, Arendse breaking free again to score his, and his team’s, second try of the night. However on TMO review the score was crossed off for foul play, Arendse catching Byrne with his boot on the floor during the build-up.
The Bulls’ frustration was then compounded when Liam Turner ran in the most straightforward score of the night, running through unchallenged after Leinster sliced through the Bulls’ defence again.
Byrne slotted the conversion, Leinster led by 33 points, and some very happy home fans went off to toast the victory.
Leinster scorers:
Tries: Van der Flier, Kelleher, Lowe, Milne, Sheehan, Conan, Turner.
Conversions: H Byrne [3/4], R Byrne [3/3].
Bulls scorers:
Tries: Kurt-Lee Arendse.
Penalties: Goosen [3/3].
Conversions: Goosen [0/1].
LEINSTER: Jordan Larmour; Rob Russell, Robbie Henshaw (Liam Turner, 50 HIA), Jamie Osborne, James Lowe; Harry Byrne (Ross Byrne, 54), Luke McGrath (capt) (Jamison Gibson-Park, 46); Cian Healy (Michael Milne, 46), Rónan Kelleher (Dan Sheehan, 46), Michael Ala’alatoa (Tadhg Furlong, 46); Ross Molony (Jason Jenkins, 46), Joe McCarthy; Ryan Baird, Josh van der Flier (Caelan Doris 67), Jack Conan.
Yellow card: McGrath 34
BULLS: Willie Le Roux; Kurt-Lee Arendse, Canan Moodie, David Kriel, Devon Williams (Harold Vorster, 50); Johan Goosen (Chris Smith, 66), Embrose Papier (Zak Burger, 66); Gerhard Steenekamp (Simphiwe Matanzima, 62), Akker van der Merwe (Johan Grobbelaar, 51), Wilco Louw (Mornay Smith, 62); Ruan Vermaak (Reinhardt Ludwig, 62), Ruan Nortje (co-capt); Marco van Staden (Mpilo Gumede, 22), Elrigh Louw, Marcell Coetzee (co-capt).
Referee: Craig Evans (WRU)
Attendance: 16,892
