Leinster held off a thrilling Ulster comeback to leapfrog their provincial rivals into third place in the BKT United Rugby Championship, with a 29-21 bonus-point win in Belfast.
Leo Cullen's side appeared to be cruising to victory when Sam Prendergast's try brought up their bonus-point score on 51 minutes, sending them 29-0 in front after what had been a thoroughly dominant performance.
Three tries in the space of 10 minutes - two for Zac Ward and one for his younger brother Bryn - saw Ulster roar back into the contest, while Max Deegan's 20-minute red card for a dangerous collision with Werner Kok left a comeback on the cards heading into the final quarter of an hour.
But the defending champions recovered from that blitz of scores to close the game out, climbing above their rivals into third in the table and denying them any bonus-points for good measure.
The result came at a further cost to Ulster, who lost Angus Bell, James Hume and Tom O'Toole to injury, with the trio now looking like major doubts for their Challenge Cup semi-final against Exeter in two weeks.
Bell and Hume both departed inside the opening 10 minutes, as Leinster took control of possession and territory early on, and Luke McGrath and Sam Prendergast's kicking ensured the vast majority of the first 40 minutes was played in the Ulster half.
It took them 15 minutes to register points, but they eventually struck for the first try through James Culhane, after a series of penalties against Ulster allowed Leinster set up camp in the 22.
Prendergast converted, and added a penalty to make it 10-0 on 23 minutes, and while Ulster did eventually work their way down to the Leinster 22, those entries were short lived as Leinster took control of both the scrum and lineout.
Their scrum dominance eventually led to a second try five minutes before the break, as Leinster used a penalty advantage to throw the ball wide, and Jimmy O'Brien dived over in the corner to put them 15-0 ahead at half time.
Another scrum penalty early in the second half allowed them to attack again, as Ulster lost O'Toole to injury, and they extended their lead to 22-0 on 45 minutes when Garry Ringrose's pass to Robbie Henshaw sent him through for the third try (below).
The home side lost Harry Sheridan to a sin-bin right after that try, and Leinster made the numerical advantage count, as McGrath's bullet pass sent Prendergast in for the bonus-point try, and the out-half's conversion made it 29-0, bringing his personal tally to 14 points.
Bryn Wards introduction off the bench upped the Ulster pace, and on 55 minutes he gave his side a lifeline when Joshua Kenny's misread in defence opened up a gap for the flanker to run in and score, as Nathan Doak converted to make it 29-7.
With 21 minutes to play, Leinster were under further pressure when Deegan was sent to the sin-bin for a dangerous collision with Kok as the Ulster wing went to field a high ball, and that would be upgraded to a 20-minute red card on review, leaving Leinster down to 14 players for almost all of the time remaining.
Within a minute of that card, it was game on as another defensive error out wide - this time from Hugo Keenan - gave Zac Ward space to gallop in for his side's second try, and three minutes later the winger was in again, finishing off a sensational try after David McCann had broken from deep.
Doak converted both tries, and with just eight points between the sides and 15 minutes left to play, a comeback was on the cards.
That was as good as it would get for the home side though, as Prendergast showed composure to slow the contest down and kick Leinster into the right areas of the pitch, seeing out a precious victory to keep his side on track for a home quarter-final.
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