URC: Ulster fall to first defeat of the campaign

Ulster fell to their first defeat of the URC campaign at home to Leinster on Friday night.

The visitors went level at the top of the table with Bulls following a match played out in parts in torrential rains.

In truth, the damage was done in the first half, with Leo Cullen's side scoring all their points in a dominant opening 40 minutes.

But, Ulster will rue a missed opportunity in the final quarter of the tie when they thought they had got to within a score.

Aaron Sexton went over in the corner to send a packed KIngspan ecstatic, but that mood was soon dampened following a TMO review that decided the wing had knocked on as he went to cross the line.

Ulster had begun the game brightly, pinning Leinster back into their own '22 for the opening few minutes.

That didn't last long though.

After a period of concerted pressure, Leinster managed to force the ball wide to the left flank. That where Garry Ringrose was able to offload at the last second to Dave Kearney and he teed up Ryan Baird to go over in the corner as Ulster got caught on the overload.

The try was converted by Ross Byrne from the tightest of angles to put the visitors 7-0 in front early on, rendering that early Ulster possession meaningless.

Shorty after the quarter hour mark, Ulster got within inches of a reply, when a rolling maul surged its way towards the line only for Nick Timoney to be held up twice.

John Cooney did register Ulster’s first points of the night shortly afterwards though, when he was accurate from distance with his opening penalty of the game

But then things took another negative turn for the hosts on 22 minutes as the Leinster pack showed the men in white how it was done with Dan Sheehan forcing his way over. Byrne was accurate from the conversion once again as Leinster took a 14-3 lead.

Comedy moment of the evening arrived on 26 minutes when the heavens over the Kingspan opened without warning and torrential rain came down onto both sets of players and a high proportion of the fans - amusingly less than 15 seconds later, Referee Andrew Brace called for a water break.

For large parts of that opening period, Ulster struggled to deal with Luke McGrath's pinpoint kicking, losing out on so much territory and unable to keep hold of the ball. One of his efforts led to a penalty that was duly converted with little difficulty by Byrne.

As the half petered to a finish and the rain eased somewhat, it left Ulster with a mountain to climb on the restart against a visiting side in total control of the game

But, Ulster were dealt a blow at the interval with Jacob Stockdale having to go off injured. He was replaced by Ben Moxham. And it was Leinster who added to their tally five minutes into the second period, with Byrne knocking over another penalty.

But, Ulster were given a boost in a two-minute spell just after the hour.

Firstly, Leinster had Jimmy O'Brien sin-binned as Ulster had the ball in the right corner. Billy Burns kicked the penalty to advance his side even further and the next phase of play saw replacement John Andrew go over for the hosts' first try of the night.

Cooney kicked the conversion to reduce the gap to 20-10 as Ulster smelled the prospect of an unlikely comeback.

It looked as if that comeback was becoming even more of a reality when, on 66, Aaron Sexton appeared to go over in the corner after play was switched from the right at breakneck speed.

However, after a TMO review, Sexton was adjudged to have knocked on at the last second and it was ruled out.

That was after Ireland legend Jonny Sexton had entered the fray for Leinster to make his first appearance of the season. That was supposed to settle his side down, but they only succeeded in conceding a penalty 10 yards inside their own half.

Cooney split the posts once again in what was his last action of the game to leave it a seven-point deficit with the same number of minutes left on the clock.

But that was as good as it got, as Leinster used all their experience to see the game out and inflict Ulster's first defeat of the season.

While Dan McFarland and his coaches will have been buoyed to some extent by the partial second half comeback from Ulster, he'll be left ruing the amount of errors that ultimately cost his side the game.

Ulster can go some way to rectifying this inter-provincial defeat when they take on Ospreys at home next Saturday.

MATCH STATS

Ulster: Lowry, Sexton, Marshall, McCloskey, Stockdale, Burns, Cooney, Warwick, Herring, O’Toole, O’Connor (Captain), Treadwell, Matty Rea, Marcus Rea, Timoney

Replacements: Andrew for Herring (23), O’Sullivan for Warwick (58), Moore for O'Toole (58), Carter for Treadwell (63), Jones for Matty Rea (58), Shanahan for Cooney (73), Curtis for Marshall (73), Moxham for Stockdale (H-T)

Tries: Andrew

Pens: Cooney (2)

Con: Cooney

Leinster: J O’Brien, Larmour, Ringrose (Captain), Henshaw, D Kearney, R Byrne, McGrath, Porter, Sheehan, Ala’alatoa, Molony, Jenkins, Baird, van der Flier, Conan

Replacements: Kelleher, E Byrne, Abdaladze for Ala'alatoa (74), Ryan for Jenkins (53), Connors for Baird (67), McCarthy for McGrath (67), Sexton for Byrne (67), Ngatai for Kearney (H-T)

Tries: Baird, Sheehan

Pens: R Byrne (2)

Cons: R Byrne (2)

Referee: Andrew Brace