Leinster edge Connacht, Ulster beat 14-man Munster

Leinster claimed a 21-18 derby victory over Irish rivals Connacht at the RDS while Ulster came from 17-0 down to beat Munster 24-17.

Leinster 21-18 Connacht

Leinster held on to defeat Irish rivals Connacht 21-18 in their New Year’s Day meeting at the RDS, keeping them in touch with the Scarlets.

Tries from Max Deegan and Luke McGrath, along with 11 points from Johnny Sexton saw them pip a Connacht side who pushed them hard.

Connacht went into the interval leading 13-11 in Dublin thanks to a 38th minute try from prop Finlay Bealham, converted by pivot Jack Carty.

Only penalties troubled the scorers until the half-hour mark as fly-halves Carty and Sexton landed two apiece in an even PRO14 derby clash.

But then a lovely back-door pass from James Lowe led to centre Noel Reid finding number eight Deegan for the try wide on the left for 11-6.

Connacht though finished the half strongly and when Bealham crossed after centre Bundee Aki’s line break, Carty made it 13-11 at half-time.

Leinster retook the lead on 50 minutes with a penalty and when scrum-half McGrath burrowed over on the hour, the hosts went 21-13 ahead.

Connacht though got themselves back into matters on 69 minutes when Matt Healy beat three defenders to score, setting up a frantic finish.

The visitors pushed until the end with possession in Leinster’s 22, but the hosts managed to hold on to move two points behind the Scarlets.

The scorers:

For Leinster:
Tries: Deegan, McGrath
Con: Sexton
Pens: Sexton 3

For Connacht:
Tries: Bealham, Healy
Con: Carty
Pens: Carty 2

Leinster: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Noel Reid, 11 James Lowe, 10 Johnny Sexton (c), 9 Luke McGrath, 8 Max Deegan, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Dan Leavy, 5 Ian Nagle, 4 Ross Molony, 3 Andrew Porter, 2 Seán Cronin, 1 Peter Dooley
Replacements: 16 Bryan Byrne, 17 Ed Byrne, 18 Michael Bent, 19 Mick Kearney, 20 Scott Fardy, 21 Nick McCarthy, 22 Cathal Marsh, 23 Rory O’Loughlin

Connacht: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 Cian Kelleher, 13 Bundee Aki, 12 Tom Farrell, 11 Matt Healy, 10 Jack Carty, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 John Muldoon (c), 7 Jarrad Butler, 6 Eoghan Masterson, 5 James Cannon, 4 Ultan Dillane, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Tom McCartney, 1 Denis Coulson
Replacements: 16 Shane Delahunt, 17 Peter McCabe, 18 Conor Carey, 19 Quinn Roux, 20 Naulia Dawai, 21 Caolin Blade, 22 Eoin Griffin, 23 Niyi Adeolokun

Referee: Ben Whitehouse
Assistant referees: Frank Murphy, Eddie Hogan-O’Connell
TMO: Peter Fitzgibbon

Ulster 24-17 Munster

Ulster came from 17-0 down to defeat Munster 24-17 in a game of two halves in Belfast on Monday, sealing a bonus-point in the process.

Darren Cave, Craig Gilroy (2) and Rob Lyttle’s tries saw them run out victors, with Niall Scannell (2) and a penalty try Munster’s points.

The game turned in the second-half when Munster centre Sam Arnold was sent off for a high tackle and Ulster then motored to victory.

It was a dismal opening half for Ulster as they went in 17-0 adrift of a solid Munster side, spearheaded by their dominant forward pack.

Pushover tries from Scannell via line-outs arrived in the 13th and 25th minute, but JJ Hanrahan couldn’t convert either so it was 10-0.

Ulster’s fans were becoming increasingly frustrated with their side’s performance and their mood would not improve five minutes before the break when a series of dominant Munster scrums led to a penalty try being given by referee Sean Gallagher. Munster were cruising at 17-0.

Ulster did push late on for a line-out drive of their own from a penalty, but Munster held them out to go in holding a handsome buffer.

The hosts thought they had started a possible fightback on 50 minutes but scrum-half John Cooney was denied a try near to the post after a path was created for him by Munster tighthead prop John Ryan being held onto at a ruck. That compounded Ulster’s frustrations on the night.

But the match changed in a five-minute spell leading up to the hour when a yellow card for Fineen Wycherley at the breakdown and then Arnold being shown a red card for a high shot on Christian Lealiifano was combined with Cave showing good pace to go over, making it 17-7.

Two minutes later a grubber through from Cave found Gilroy who finished on the right for an unconverted score. Suddenly it was 17-12.

And Ulster completed the comeback when after sustained pressure a pass from Lealiifano found Gilroy, with Cooney nailing the kick.

Amazingly they weren’t done and wing Lyttle added the gloss of what seemed an impossible bonus-point try when he raced over late on.

The scorers:

For Ulster:
Tries: Cave, Gilroy 2, Lyttle
Cons: Cooney 2

For Munster:
Tries: Scannell 2, Penalty try
Yellow Card: Wycherley
Red Card: Arnold

Ulster: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Rob Lyttle, 10 Christian Lealiifano, 9 John Cooney, 8 Jean Deysel, 7 Nick Timoney, 6 Greg Jones, 5 Kieran Treadwell, 4 Alan O’Connor, 3 Rodney Ah You, 2 Rob Herring (c), 1 Kyle McCall
Replacements: 16, Adam McBurney, 17 Callum Black, 18 Wiehahn Herbst, 19 Robbie Diack, 20 Matthew Rea, 21 Paul Marshall, 22 Johnny McPhillips, 23 Andrew Trimble

Munster:  15 Simon Zebo, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Keith Earls, 12 Sammy Arnold, 11 Alex Wootton, 10 JJ Hanrahan, 9 Duncan Williams, 8 Jack O’Donoghue, 7 Chris Cloete, 6 Tommy O’Donnell, 5 Billy Holland (c), 4 Darren O’Shea, 3 John Ryan, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 James Cronin
Replacements: 16 Kevin O’Byrne, 17 Rory Loughman, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Fineen Wycherley, 20 Robin Copeland, 21 James Hart, 22 Bill Johnston, 23 Ronan O’Mahony

Referee: Sean Gallagher
Assistant referees: Nigel Correll, Paul Haycock
TMO: Kevin Beggs