URC: Leinster 41 Ulster 17
This was, in its way, both non-vintage and vintage Leinster. Maybe not the galacticos tearing it up while also keeping clean sheets in Europe, yet it was still yet another expression of what makes Leinster unique.
For sure, the performance wasn’t without its handling errors, lineout malfunction and, whisper it, even defensive flaws. Yet this competitive interpro derby win was still varnished with seven tries, some of them exceptional, as were some individual displays in front of a healthy 18,442 attendance. This kind of thing isn’t happening anywhere else.
So Leinster registered their 14th win in 15 BKT URC games, and their 10th with a bonus point, to leave them very much with their destiny in their own hands.
How to fix the Champions Cup?
One always sensed Leinster would learn the costly lessons from finishing third last season, in part due to Ulster completing a double over them and so being condemned to a semi-final in South Africa. By dint of completing this double over Ulster, their 67 points has already bettered last season’s tally of 65 and extended their lead at the top the table to nine over Glasgow.
If Leinster win away to the Scarlets next Saturday and at home to Zebre a fortnight later, Leinster will secure top seeding into the knock-out stages ahead of their final regular season round game at home to Glasgow.
“If you think that this time last year we were in South Africa and were beaten by the Lions and we were scrambling a bit,” said Leo Cullen after Saturday night’s win. “When you’re battling through the season, you’re trying to make sure that you stay in control of your own destiny and we have that now.
“It’s just [take it a] game at a time, worry about Scarlets now, because we don’t need to worry about anyone else. We don’t worry about anything else. We’re not looking at other teams and permutations. It’s just about ourselves, prepare well.
“It’s a late game, so we’ll try to give guys a bit of extra time recovery-wise this week, then put a plan together to build for Scarlets. That’s all that really matters at the moment. We’ll deal with the following week, the following week,” he said with regard to their Champions Cup semi-final against Northampton at the Aviva Stadium.
Cullen took particular pleasure in the performance of Leinster’s young pack and nowhere is their strength deeper than the backrow, where Alex Soroka, Scott Penny and James Culhane played the full 80.
The classy Culhane is the latest in an extraordinary production line of number eights after Jack Conan, Caelan Doris and Max Deegan. Culhane led Leinster’s defensive effort with 21 tackles and it was entirely fitting that their match-defining defensive set in the third quarter was completed by the immovable 22-year-old winning a turnover penalty on his own line.
The celebrations of team-mates and crowd alike provided the latest evidence of the Jacques Nienaber effect.
“He’s a machine in terms of work-rate,” said Cullen of Culhane. “He got injured last year in Galway, two injuries at the same time with his hamstring and his shoulder and he went for double surgery.
“He was a great prospect coming through with the under-20s. We’re gradually seeing more and more of it. He works very hard, he’s very serious about what he does and he’s all business.”
Tommy O’Brien was the star turn with a vibrant, eye-catching, man-of-the-match performance which was further proof of his current wellbeing (touch wood) and form. It was also surely another step toward an overdue first Irish cap this summer which has largely been delayed until this point by injury. In stark contrast to number eights, the Irish system doesn’t tend to produce many wingers with his amalgam of pace and aggression.
It was O’Brien’s opportunism and pace, and a helpful bounce, which ignited Leinster after the impressive Garry Ringrose-Robbie Henshaw partnership worked him into space when the winger regathered his own chip over Nathan Doak.
O’Brien was also the creator-in-chief of the pick of Leinster’s seven tries, and the second of a hat-trick off the bench by who else but Dan Sheehan. O’Brien called for and reclaimed a chip ahead by Ciarán Frawley before having the awareness that Sheehan, as is his wont, would be hugging the touchline as well as the skill set to find him.
“Tommy [O’Brien] took his try particularly well, catches a 50/50 and then puts in that kick – slightly unorthodox – but gets it to the try machine, Dan,” said a smiling Cullen.
“We would have always seen it,” said Cullen of O’Brien’s undoubted talent. “It’s just staying sound, consistency. He’s just been unlucky, that happens, but we’ve seen it from a long time. He’s a great competitor. He makes 50/50 balls his own. He’s going well.”
It would surely be hard to leave O’Brien out of the team against Northampton?
“It’ll be hard to leave a lot of people out, but one game at a time. We’re just focused on Scarlets.”
As an aside, the late inclusion of Wilhelm De Klerk and his 16th-minute introduction for Mike Lowry as one of two 20-year-olds alongside Jack Murphy in a reshuffled backline ensured a nice milestone for the remarkable St Michael’s production line.
De Klerk’s appearance meant the school had past pupils playing for all four provinces for the first time and on the same day. As well as the Leinster quartet of Luke McGrath, Jack Boyle, Scott Penny and Max Deegan, Oisín Dowling and Josh Murphy played for Connacht and Andrew Smith did so for Munster.
SCORING SEQUENCE – 9 mins: Murphy pen 0-3; 20: T O’Brien try 5-3; 27: Clarkson try, Frawley con 12-3; 36: Izuchukwu try, Murphy con 12-10; 39: Penalty try 19-10; (half-time 19-10); 43: Ringrose try 24-10; 58: Sheehan try 29-10; 69: Sheehan try, Prendergast con 36-10; 73: McCann try, Murphy con 36-17; 78: Sheehan try 41-17.
LEINSTER: Jamie Osborne; Tommy O’Brien, Garry Ringrose, Robbie Henshaw, Jimmy O’Brien; Ciarán Frawley, Luke McGrath (capt): Jack Boyle, Gus McCarthy, Thomas Clarkson; Joe McCarthy, Diarmuid Mangan; Alex Soroka, Scott Penny, James Culhane.
Replacements: Dan Sheehan for G McCarthy, Andrew Porter for Boyle, Tadhg Furlong for Clarkson (all 47 mins); RG Snyman for J McCarthy (52); Fintan Gunne for McGrath (59); Sam Prendergast for Henshaw (62), Liam Turner for T O’Brien (both 62); Max Deegan for Snyman (71).
Sinbinned: Mangan (52 mins).
ULSTER: Michael Lowry; Zac Ward, Jude Postlethwaite, Stewart Moore, Jacob Stockdale; Jack Murphy, Nathan Doak; Andrew Warwick, Rob Herring, Tom O’Toole; Alan O’Connor (capt), Cormac Izuchukwu; James McNabney, Nick Timoney, David McCann.
Replacements: Wilhelm de Klerk for Moore (16 mins); John Cooney for Lowry (21); Callum Reid for Warwick (39); Tom Stewart for Herring (h-t); Kieran Treadwell for O’Connor (47); Matthew Dalton for Izuchukwu (48), Scott Wilson for O’Toole (57); Matty Rea for McNabney (61); O’Toole for Reid (62).
Sinbinned: McCann (39 mins).
Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (FIR).
