Leinster Progress To PRO14 Final After Winning Incident-Packed Derby

A 38-19 bonus point victory in Belfast sealed Leinster’s fourth Guinness PRO14 final appearance in as many years, despite a dogged effort from 14-man Ulster.

Leo Cullen’s defending champions will meet Munster in the March 27 decider after winning a bruising derby which contained five yellow cards and one red.

Ulster replacement Andrew Warwick was sent-off on the half-hour mark for leading with the elbow on Ed Byrne, the fourth card shown by referee Frank Murphy during an incident-packed first half.

Needing a win to stay in final contention, the hosts took advantage of sin-binnings for Devin Toner and Jimmy O’Brien to lead 12-3, as fit-again duo Marcell Coetzee and Robert Baloucoune both touched down.

However, Leinster showed their mettle with a three-try riposte before half-time. Their forwards were unstoppable from close range as converted tries from Michael Bent, Josh van der Flier and Ed Byrne made it 24-12.

Byrne’s 36th-minute effort came while Ulster were down to 13 men – a Stuart McCloskey yellow and Warwick’s red came in quick succession.

A number of close calls went against Ulster – including a disallowed Baloucoune try – and Rhys Ruddock was able to bag the bonus point which confirms the Blues as winners of Conference A.

Both sides took advantage of sin-binnings late on, with yellows for Ruddock and Cormac Izuckhuwu preceding tries from Nick Timoney and Dan Sheehan respectively.

Having given away a penalty for Ross Byrne to claim an initial 3-0 lead, Ulster number 8 Coetzee responded with a muscular finish for the game’s opening try, eight minutes in.

TMO Olly Hodges’ intervention saw Toner carded for a high tackle on Michael Lowry. An Ulster maul earned a further penalty before Coetzee muscled over past two defenders.

Baloucoune did likewise in the 13th minute, brilliantly stretching out to ground the ball in the right corner. The build-up contained some lovely handling from Ian Madigan, Kieran Treadwell, McCloskey and John Andrew.

John Cooney was able to convert the first of the tries, and Leinster were rocked further by the temporary loss of centre O’Brien, who made contact with Madigan’s head in an attempted tackle.

Briefly down to 13 men, the table toppers showed their resilience and built some ominous forward pressure. A clinical surge had evergreen prop Bent burrowing over, with James Tracy and Toner on the latch.

Byrne’s conversion closed the gap to 12-10, before young full-back O’Reilly shone with an excellent aerial take and then a break and deft offload that almost put the supporting Luke McGrath over.

McCloskey paid the price for a cynical infringement close to the Ulster whitewash, and in his absence, van der Flier’s grounding was well spotted by referee Murphy. Byrne tagged on the conversion.

Worse followed for Ulster when Warwick carried, caught Ed Byrne with his elbow and was dismissed. Jacob Stockdale superbly held up O’Brien on the home line, but a quick recycle put loosehead Byrne over for a third converted try.

Into the second period, Baloucoune proved the inspiration with a terrific in-and-out run from 40 metres out. However, his try was chalked off for obstruction called against McCloskey in the build-up.

A couple of costly penalties pinned Ulster back and injuries to Coetzee and Ian Madigan hampered them further. Another forwards onslaught from Leinster ended with Ruddock driving over for a 56th minute try, converted by Byrne.

Dan McFarland’s men were rewarded for their persistence eight minutes from time, flanker Timoney scoring from a metre out after some strength-sapping attacking phases in the visitors’ 22.

Ruddock was watching from the touchline at that stage, but Ulster replacement Izuchukwu was also flashed a yellow in the dying minutes. Sheehan duly powered over from a maul, with out-half Byrne completing his own 13-point tally.

Ulster head coach McFarland said afterwards: “I’m certainly going to be talking about them (the refereeing decisions), but that will be done in private. But I’ve got a lot to say.

“I’m pretty proud, in the context of what happened in the game, of the effort the lads put in. We were playing against a very good side and some of the intensity of their play once we had lost the man was pretty impressive.

“We stuck at it and I was proud of the effort. It’s difficult because we thought we could win this game but it is what it is.”

His Leinster counterpart Cullen commented: “We are delighted to get a bonus point win up here as it is tough place to come. The lads showed very good endeavour.

“They brought a good physical edge to it, they took their opportunities and after a bit of a shaky start, when we were 12-3 down, they showed good composure to build their way up the field and then be clinical. When we got into the five-metre areas, we finished well.”