Ulster defeat Leinster to clinch PRO12 semi-final place
Last Updated: 26/04/15 2:47pm
Ulster secured their place in the Guinness PRO12 semi-finals with a 26-10 victory over Leinster at a damp Kingspan Stadium.
Tries in each half from man of the match Iain Henderson and Craig Gilroy kept Ulster on course for a home semi-final, while all but ending Leinster's hopes of making the top four.
Sixteen points from the boot of Ruan Pienaar also contributed to the result while Leinster - who were undoubtedly weary five days on from their Champions Cup exit - scored a try from Ben Te'o along with a conversion and penalty from Jimmy Gopperth.
Ulster led 13-10 at half-time and put the pressure on in the second period to take it beyond the visitors, who had no reply in the latter 40 minutes.
Leinster, though, made the best possible start by taking play deep into Ulster territory and coming away with an early penalty strike from Gopperth.
Things got even better for the visitors on six minutes as they sought to rescue their already brittle-looking play-off hopes, when Te'o smashed through some weak first-up tackling to score.
Ulster needed to respond and after Pienaar's opening long-range penalty fell short, Henderson stormed over the line. Pienaar converted his 12th-minute effort and then added a penalty shortly afterwards to tie the scores.
There then followed a moment of controversy after a dangerous tackle by Sean O’Brien on Ireland team-mate Henderson. Referee John Lacey and the TMO opted for a yellow card instead of the red the home crowed were baying for.
Ulster failed to score during O'Brien's absence but did manage to finish the half by dominating territory and they got their just reward when Pienaar kicked a 37th-minute three-pointer to give the home side the lead for the first time.
As the tension rose in a scrappy second half, Paddy Jackson's chip saw Gilroy gather and touch down but, courtesy of the TMO, it looked clear that Rob Kearney had forced the winger into touch.
Gilroy was again put into touch after claiming Pienaar’s cross-field kick but play was brought back by referee Lacey, who yellow-carded Kearney and Pienaar slotted the penalty to stretch the lead to 16-10.
Three minutes later the South African nailed a monster effort from just inside Leinster's half, and the visitors’ humiliation was completed with eight minutes remaining when Gilroy danced through for his 11th PRO12 try of the season.
Pienaar converted to make it 26-10 and although Ulster finished the game with 14 men following replacement Andy Warwick’s sin-binning, they defending stoutly to deny Leinster a late consolation score.
