Leinster completed an historic set of victories over their fellow provinces as they out-battled Ulster in a RaboDirect PRO12 derby full of hard collisions at Ravenhill.
The eight-point success saw Leinster become the first team to claim six straight interprovincial wins, home and away, in a single league campaign.
In what was a potential dress rehearsal for the Heineken Cup final, Jonathan Sexton’s 67th-minute steered the visitors home and put Ulster almost certainly out of the play-off race.
Brian McLaughlin’s final match in charge at Ravenhill will be a frustrating one to reflect on, with the injuries picked up by Chris Henry, Paddy Wallace and Pedrie Wannenburg causing concern ahead of next week’s Heineken Cup semi-final against Edinburgh.
In the blue corner, Joe Schmidt’s Leinster side gave themselves a winning send-off as their focus switches swiftly back to their European title defence and the challenge posed by Clermont Auvergne.
Kevin McLaughlin’s early try gave Leinster a lead that they held onto throughout a rain-lashed first half in Belfast, which ended 13-8 in their favour.
Ulster captain Johann Muller rallied his side with a five-pointer, although Sexton’s brace of penalties eclipsed a single kick from Ruan Pienaar.
The South African scrum half was left ruing three missed kicks as Sexton’s drop goal proved to be the only score of a scrappy second 40 minutes.
A half break from Fergus McFadden underlined Leinster’s eagerness to hit the ground running, with the Ulstermen forced to defend early on.
From a scrum near halfway, David Kearney sliced through the home defence and Leinster were quick to pounce for an opening seventh minute try.
After some good recycling in the home 22, Eoin Reddan’s cut-out pass sent McLaughlin coasting in to the right of the posts. Sexton converted for a 7-0 lead.
Stefan Terblanche and Muller sparked Ulster into life but as the rain came down, Leinster continued to control possession and look the more potent side.
Ulster missed a chance to reply as a Pienaar penalty attempt bounced away off the right hand post, with the home forwards beginning to make their mark and the returning Declan Fitzpatrick scrummaging well.
The hosts closed the gap to 7-5 with their best move of the first half. Pienaar provided quick ball and Willie Faloon and Wallace linked smartly before the latter invited man-of-the-match Muller to barge his way over in the right corner.
Television match official Peter Ferguson confirmed the lock’s first try in Ulster colours, however Pienaar slid his conversion effort narrowly wide.
Constructive play from the Leinster forwards gave Sexton his second shot at the posts, and he duly delivered to make it 10-5 to the table toppers.
The aforementioned injuries to Henry and Wallace forced Ulster into changes, yet the deficit was back to two points when Pienaar swung over a well-struck penalty.
Still, Leinster had enough time to hit back in first half injury-time, their forwards rumbling up towards the posts and Sexton slotting the resulting penalty.
Ulster upped the intensity on the restart with lively replacement Robbie Diack and Wannenburg carrying well, but they had no end product to show for their hard running.
Leinster were in no mood to back down – aided by some fresh legs off the bench – and their well-drilled defence suffocated a number of promising Ulster attacks.
Rob Kearney caught the eye on a lively midfield run, but it was Ulster who had the first scoring opportunity of the half. Tom Court won a scrum decision for them, but Pienaar’s long range kick went the wrong side of the right hand post.
Brian O’Driscoll countered superbly from deep, but spoiled the attack with a loose pass to McFadden. There were few bright spots in a defence-dominated second period, although Paddy Jackson’s assured kicking out of hand gave Ulster some hope..
Sexton hung up a cross-field kick for David Kearney which Craig Gilroy did well to defend, but Leinster wrapped up the result minutes later with Sexton’s drop goal from close range.
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