Ulster 26-10 Leinster
Leinster paid the price for indiscipline as a 26-10 Guinness Pro12 loss to Ulster all but ended their chances of making the play-offs.
Sean O’Brien in the first half and Rob Kearney in the second were both shown yellow cards, and with Leinster already having had only five days to recover from their bruising Champions Cup semi-final loss to Toulon, they could ill afford to play a quarter of this inter-provincial derby with 14 men.
Although Andrew Warwick was also shown yellow for Ulster in the 78th minute, the game was over as a contest by that point.
Leinster got off to a fine start with a Jimmy Gopperth penalty in the fourth minute, and a fine Ben Te’o try two minutes later, the former rugby league showing his power in handing off Roger Wilson on his way to touching down. When Gopperth converted, they were 10-0 ahead.
Ulster fought back, though, and Iain Henderson ran a great line to score a try in the 12th minute, which Pienaar duly converted. The South African added two more penalties before half-time to help Ulster go in 13-10 ahead at the interval.
In the second half, Leinster wilted, their cause not helped by Kearney’s 10 minutes in the sin bin.
Pienaar added two more penalties after the break, and a conversion to Craig Gilroy’s well-taken 72nd-minute, as Ulster stamped their dominance on proceedings.
The result means Leinster’s season is effectively over, and puts Ulster top, until Saturday at least, and in a fine position to secure a home semi-final.
