Jackson Stars As Ulster Run Out Emphatic Winners

Ulster outplayed Leinster to set up a grandstand finish to the GUINNESS PRO12’s regular season, strengthening their grip on fourth place where only the Scarlets can usurp them should Les Kiss’ men fail to win next week at the Ospreys.

Paddy Jackson ran the show from out-half, scoring Ulster’s third try and contributing 13 points with the boot, after a first half penalty try and Jared Payne’s 57th-minute score had effectively sealed Leinster’s fate.

While by no means an interprovincial classic, the match had enough needle, determination and craft to keep the capacity Kingspan Stadium crowd on the edge of their seats.

The result also sets an intriguing final round of the league proper, with fourth-placed Ulster (64 points) still not certain of their play-off place ahead of next Saturday’s trip to the Ospreys. The Scarlets, who visit Munster at the same time, are snapping at the province’s heels on 63 points.

Although they have slipped to third place on 68 points, Leinster are already through to the play-offs and could still secure a home semi-final when they entertain Benetton Treviso in a week’s time, with new leaders Glasgow Warriors (71 points) away to second-placed Connacht (69).

While Ulster put in one of their best performances of the season this afternoon, Leinster were poor overall and yellow cards for Rob Kearney and Luke Fitzgerald in both halves proved particularly costly.

Solid Leinster defence early on in Belfast prevented Ulster from making a breakthrough, with both sets of half-backs kicking astutely.

The excellent Andrew Trimble was obstructed by Luke McGrath as he chased a kick in midfield, the resulting penalty allowing Jackson to open the scoring in the 11th minute.

A lovely move involving Dave Kearney, who was making his 100th Leinster appearance, and Rhys Ruddock launched the Blues down the left wing at pace, however a subsequent knock-on from Tadhg Furlong halted the visitors’ progress.

After the more threatening Ulster backs clicked again, Leinster suffered a double setback in the 18th minute when full-back Kearney was sin-binned for taking out man-of-the-match Ruan Pienaar as he chased his own chip in the 22. Referee George Clancy and TMO Seamus Flannery decided a try would have been scored, so a penalty try was awarded with Jackson converting for 10-0.

Leinster managed to negotiate the rest of the sin-bin period in good fettle, retaining possession well, scrummaging effectively and forcing a series of penalties, the last of which saw Jonathan Sexton expertly open his account from the right wing.

Kearney returned to the pitch, tidying up in defence as Ulster pressed once more on the left hand side, and a high tackle on the increasingly influential Josh van der Flier allowed Sexton to make it 10-6 with a well-struck 44-metre effort.

A knock-on from Hayden Triggs ended a promising late assault deep in the Ulster 22 – the stout home defence typified beforehand by a big tackle by Trimble on Garry Ringrose – but the Leinster back-line were quick to turn defence into attack on the resumption, with Ben Te’o carrying more of a threat.

The Leinster scrum was in the ascendancy, their maul winning another penalty as Kiwi lock Triggs controlled at the base, however a second promising maul was spoiled by a fumble.

Ulster bounced back, Pienaar probing with a quickly-taken kick and Stuart McCloskey offloading to the onrushing Rory Scholes, with replacement Fitzgerald seeing yellow for a ‘cynical’ pull-back and Jackson splitting the posts with 54 minutes on the clock.

Barely four minutes later, Ulster’s lead was out to 14 points, Jackson luring in a couple of defenders in front of the posts and brilliantly releasing Luke Marshall who put full-back Payne over on the left. Jackson converted to widen the margin to 20-6.

Mick Kearney and Mike Ross made a good impact off the visitors’ bench, but Ulster, with only one win in their last seven PRO12 clashes with Leinster, were determined to see out the result.

A further penalty from Jackson and a superb intercept score, as the young number 10 seized upon an Eoin Reddan pass on the Ulster 22-metre line and dashed clear of three chasers, sealed a big win for Les Kiss’ side.

Winger Scholes, who started in place of an ill Craig Gilroy, had a late chance to sign off at Kingspan Stadium with a try before his summer move to Edinburgh, but he knocked on under pressure near the touchline.