Leinster Sink Ulster At The RDS

Leinster bounced back from their defeat to Connacht with a crucial 24-12 home win over Conference leaders Ulster. John Cooney opened the scoring for Ulster with a penalty 15 minutes in to lead 3-0. Johnny Sexton had a chance to level matters midway through the first half, but his penalty attempt went wide.

Shortly after Leinster were on the board, as Jamison Gibson-Park spotted Dave Kearney out wide and threw a brilliant cut out pass which saw him dive over in the corner with a superb finish. Ulster picked up a yellow card around the half hour mark, Marcell Coetzee shown his marching orders for a high tackle which saw the visitors go down to 14 players. Leinster failed to capitalise on their numerical advantage and it was the visitors who managed to keep the scoreboard ticking over, as Cooney slotted two penalties in the final 5 minutes of the half to see Ulster take a 9-5 lead into the break.

Leinster needed a response in the second half, with defeat almost certainly ending their Conference Title hopes. They did just that, with Sean Cronin dotting down behind a powerful maul just three minutes in to see Leinster hit the front 12-9. Momentum had swung in Leinster's favour and Robbie Henshaw broke a tackle to crash over ten minutes later to see the hosts in control, up 17-9 after 53 minutes of play.

A Cooney penalty saw Ulster back in striking distance with around ten minutes remaining. Leinster then delivered the knockout blow, with James Tracy coming off the bench to score the all important bonus point try off the back of another strong maul with just over 5 minutes to play. Ulster would have a late flurry to try snatch a losing bonus point, but Leinster kept them out for the all important victory which sees them control their own destiny in the hunt for top spot in the Conference, while Ulster suffer their first defeat in this Pro14 season.