Ulster 14
Leinster 13
Sean Farrell reports from Kingspan Stadium
THERE WAS A distinct last-day-of-school feel to this inter-pro clash, as both the Heineken Champions Cup finalists and Pro14 quarter-finalists felt they had far bigger fish to fry in the near future.
Still, Ulster and their commendable home crowd, didn’t need encouraging to celebrate a win over Leinster – their first since 2017 – thanks to a try in either half from Dave Shanahan and debutant Marcus Rea.
Inter-pro derbies, we’re often told, are about bragging rights. But neither side will find themselves compelled to boast much about an error-ridden opening quarter.
Ross Byrne’s 12th-minute missed penalty in a swirling breeze was among the more forgivable mis-steps. His opposite number Johnny McPhillips was culpable of a horrible missed touch from just 30 metres out, though he somewhat compensated with an inventive chip for Mike Lowry to regather in the Leinster 22 before being immediately stripped on the ground.
When it rains, it pours, as Belfast residents might have told you this morning. Leinster managed to break the deadlock after 29 minutes thanks in part to a quality leg drive and carry from Fergus McFadden – who was fortunate to still be on the field after an apparent head-butt on flanker Sean Reidy.
Jack McGrath made yards against his future employers and from that base Nick McCarthy teed up Byrne to deliver a beautiful whipped pass beyond Dave Kearney, the covering defenders and into Jimmy O’Brien’s hands to put him over the try-line.
Ulster’s response was immediate, with the departing hero Darren Cave slipping Shanahan through a gap on the right flank. The scum-half was hauled down, but Ulster recycled rapidly enough to give him a second go at the try-line.
McPhillips nailed his conversion, but 7-5 was as good as it would get for the hosts in the first-half. Byrne nudged his side back in front from the tee and shunned a kick at goal on the stroke of half-time in favour of a line-out.
The young blue pack held up their end of the deal, rumbling at the line before Byrne arced on a run to the right. He looked set to execute another assist pass, but slipped in front of the posts. A reprieve only for Ulster, as Noel Reid popped up on the next phase to loft a pass for McFadden to run home.
Ulster threw everything into narrowing the 7-13 half-time deficit, and with Leo Cullen calling Byrne and McGrath ashore, the hosts mounted an exhaustive period of pressure.
All told, Ulster were camped in Leinster’s 22 for 16 long second-half minutes before the relentless carrying yielded a try for debutant Rea while Oisin Dowling was in the sin-bin.
Cue the second wave of replacements. Among those emerging from the blue corner was Ryan Baird making his senior debut and Barry Daly, who lucklessly returned to the sideline within minutes through injury.
Scrum-half Paddy Patterson took up a place among Leinster’s back three and Cullen’s men pushed for a first score of the second period to swing the dead rubber their way, but Ulster – with a crowd finding more and more voice as the game wore on – tackled the match back to a standstill.
For the majority of the players on show, this outing was a final one of the season and for a few it was their last for their current club. Now they pass the baton back to the men who were rested up as these two provinces take aim at season-defining fixtures.
Scorers
Ulster
Tries: D Shanahan, Marcus Rea
Conversions: J McPhillips (1/1) P Nelson (1/1)
Leinster
Tries: J O’Brien, F McFadden
Conversions: R Byrne (0/2)
Penalties: R Byrne (1/2)
Ulster: Michael Lowry; David Busby, Darren Cave (captain), Peter Nelson, Angus Kernohan; Johnny McPhillips (Jack Owens ’57), Dave Shanahan (Jonny Stewart ’57); Andy Warwick (Tommy O’Hagan ’64), John Andrew (Adam McBurney ’52), Ross Kane (Tom O’Toole ’41), Ian Nagle, Alan O’Connor (Nick Timoney ’64), Matty Rea, Clive Ross, Sean Reidy (Marcus Rea ’16);
Leinster: Jimmy O’Brien, Fergus McFadden (Barry Daly ’62 (Paddy Patteson ’66), Joe Tomane, Noel Reid, Dave Kearney, Ross Byrne (Ciaran Frawley ’43), Nick McCarthy: Jack McGrath (Peter Dooley ’44), Bryan Byrne (Ronan Kelleher ’53), Michael Bent (Vakh Abdaladze ’64), Josh Murphy, Oisin Dowling (Ryan Baird ’64), Max Deegan (Scott Penny ’64), Will Connors, Caelan Doris
Referee: George Clancy [IRFU]
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