Ulster 10-25 Leinster: Leo Cullen's clinical side claim superb away victory
By Michael Cantillon
Last Updated: 28/10/17 10:19pm
Tries from Jordan Larmour and Luke McGrath saw a clinical Leinster side beat an error-strewn Ulster 25-10 at the Kingspan in Belfast on Saturday.
Sean Reidy registered a try for Ulster which had put them into the lead during the first half but a number of second-half errors at the lineout and with ball in hand meant the home side could not make use of their possession.
The victory was the first by an away side in this fixture in nine attempts and sees Leinster leapfrog their Irish rivals in the Conference B table.
Leinster next travel to face Glasgow Warriors on Friday November 3, while Ulster make the trip to South Africa to play the Kings next Saturday.
Ulster hit the front on seven minutes after an energetic start through a Christian Lealiifano penalty as Leinster replacement Larmour was pinged for offside having picked up a Rob Kearney knock-on.
The first clear-cut try scoring chance fell Leinster's way after 10 minutes but they failed to make the most of the opportunity, which at one stage was three on one, as Lealiifano made a try saving tackle on Dave Kearney.
Six minutes later and Leinster did score the first try through a stunning Larmour effort as the academy back produced a moment of individual brilliance.
After running onto a Jamison Gibson-Park pass at great pace near halfway, Larmour pulled off two first-class right foot steps, first past Iain Henderson and then Aaron Cairns, who he left in his wake with an outstanding turn of pace and acceleration.
On 26 minutes Cairns was held up over the Leinster try-line after superb build-up play from Tommy Bowe, Charles Piutau and Lealiifano, but Ulster continued to go unrewarded for their superior pressure and territory.
From the resultant scrum the home side finally did score, however, after a superb push from the Ulster pack saw Reidy, who had swapped to No 8 after Jean Deysel's injury enforced exit, pick up and bulldoze his way past the despairing dive of Jordi Murphy and challenges of both Ross Byrne and Gibson-Park.
From the very next attack though Ulster loosehead Callum Black was penalised for failing to roll away after Devin Toner had claimed the restart, and Byrne stepped up to kick the sides level at 10-10.
Leinster then regained the lead with two minutes left of the half through a simple Byrne penalty as Ulster were caught offside following a lost five metre lineout on their own throw.
Leo Cullen's side should have stretched their lead three minutes into the second period but Gibson-Park and Dave Kearney butchered a two on one in the corner between them and Ulster survived.
Dave Kearney was sin-binned on 55 minutes after a deliberate knock-on stopped an Ulster counter but a badly malfunctioning home lineout stuttered much of their forward progress.
As such the next try went the way of the 14 men in blue after some fantastic play from the returning Sean O'Brien, who broke the line in midfield, sold a dummy and found McGrath to score in the corner.
McGrath crossed again from close range with one minute of the match to go to confirm victory for the away side.
