Aided by a 20-point second half surge which included tries from Cian Healy and Jamie Heaslip, top-of-the-table Leinster saw off Ulster in a lively provincial derby at the RDS on St. Stephen’s Day.
The win saw Michael Cheika’s side erase some of the memories of their recent Heineken Cup collapse to Edinburgh and also maintain their Magners League title push.
Felipe Contepomi landed five penalties and converted two tries from forward duo Cian Healy and Jamie Heaslip in the second half as Ulster were swept away by the blue tide.
The league’s bottom side came under a barrage of early attacks from the hosts and only some aggressive defending, typified by livewire lock Ryan Caldwell and Ireland flanker Neil Best, kept their try-line intact.
Without the injured Brian O’Driscoll and Shane Horgan, Leinster adopted a direct style, establishing early dominance at the scrum and foraging around the fringes, with young out-half Jonathan Sexton also peppering the touch lines with some fine kicks.
Leinster went ahead in the ninth-minute when Contepomi knocked over a close range penalty and while the Argentinian was kept quiet in open play, the Ulster defence was almost unlocked on the half-hour when he combined superbly with Sexton and Keith Gleeson.
Winless in Dublin since 1999, Ulster kept themselves in touch with some teak-tough tackling and centre Andrew Trimble began to find space midway through the half.
A better-placed pass would have put the Ireland international away in the 24th-minute and it took a brilliant tackle from Gleeson to fell Trimble when he threatened again just moments later.
A subsequent ruck infringement allowed Contepomi to double Leinster’s lead and the Pumas star kept up his 100% record in the 29th-minute, after Ulster scrum half Isaac Boss had been sin-binned.
9-0 in arrears at half-time, Ulster simply had to strike first on the restart. Paddy Wallace did have a chance to cut the gap but his wind-backed penalty kick fell short of the uprights.
Ulster were back down to 14 men soon after when flanker Best was yellow carded for a blatant foot trip on Sexton. Worse followed for the visitors as they lost their prop and captain Rory Best to a leg injury.
Leinster began to motor clear on the scoreboard with Contepomi’s fourth penalty being followed by Healy’s 57th-minute touchdown.
The young prop, part of the successful Ireland Under-20 Grand Slam team from last season, fooled Wallace with a lovely step and he straightened his run to make the line from 10 metres out.
Contepomi made it a seven-pointer and knocked over another penalty before the seal was put on Leinster’s fourth successive league win when Sexton’s snappy pass sent number 8 Heaslip charging through a gap and in behind the posts.
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