LEINSTER 21 ULSTER 18

Ulster’s 2018/19 Heineken Champions Cup campaign ended in heartbreak tonight at the Aviva Stadium, but Dan McFarland’s men leave Dublin with their heads held high after pushing reigning champions Leinster right to the wire in an encounter of incredible intensity. The visitors led from early on thanks to a Kieran Treadwell try, but scores from Ross and Adam Byrne put Leinster in the driving seat and, despite a fine try from Luke Marshall on his return from a long injury lay-off, the Leinster out-half – selected in place of the injured Johnny Sexton – held his nerve to hit the winning penalty 10 minutes from time. Things could have been very different if Jacob Stockdale had been able to apply downward pressure to the ball after ripping through the Leinster defence early in the second half, but TMO reviews showed the winger just lost control in his grounding in what proved to be the turning point in the game. Fit-again Iain Henderson made a welcome return at lock for the clash, while Marshall, recovered from a serious ACL injury sustained 10 months ago against Ospreys, was included in the match-day squad for the first time this season. Michael Lowry started at full-back with Louis Ludik unavailable due to injury, with Robert Baloucoune and Stockdale on the wings. Darren Cave and Stuart McCloskey teamed again in the centre, with Billy Burns and John Cooney as the half-backs. A powerful pack lined up with a front row of Eric O’Sullivan, Rory Best and Marty Moore ahead of Henderson and Treadwell, while in the back row Jordi Murphy played for the first time against his former club, alongside Nick Timoney and Number Eight Marcell Coetzee. In an electric atmosphere at the Aviva an early turnover in Ulster’s favour set the tone, with three Leinstermen needed to drag Stockdale into touch five metres from the try-line after a smart set-piece from Cooney. Then a charge-down from Best as Garry Ringrose attempted to clear his ‘22’ bounced favourably for Treadwell, who reacted more quickly than Rhys Ruddock and Scott Fardy to pick up cleanly for the sixth-minute try. No sooner had Cooney converted than Leinster responded to the wake-up call, going through over 20 phases against solid Ulster defence before Byrne just stretched over despite the attentions of Baloucoune. The out-half missed his conversion, but Ulster were soon lamenting the loss of their captain to an ankle injury, with Rob Herring taking over at hooker in the 16^th minute. Byrne’s kicking form remained somewhat off-colour as he screwed wide a central penalty from distance, and the game resumed its see-saw rhythm with Ulster again enjoying good possession in Leinster territory at the start of the second quarter, a Cooney penalty the reward on 22 minutes. Byrne opted for touch with a penalty from the Ulster ‘22’ moments later – a decision he was soon to rue as an overthrow from Sean Cronin at the lineout gifted play back to the visitors, depriving Leinster of a meaningful attack until the half-hour mark, when Byrne prudently went for the posts once the penalty came. The youngster added another five minutes later to send his side into the lead for the first time, but the visitors, eager to stay in touch, soon ground out a penalty of their own in front of the posts, dispatched by Cooney to re-establish an Ulster lead at the break. Half-Time Score Leinster 11 Ulster 13 The second half started with another dangerous charge-down of a Ringrose clearance, this time by Herring, who just failed to catch up with the ball as it careered off his chest and into touch behind the try-line. Then Stockdale came agonisingly close to landing Ulster’s second try, bursting away down the left wing and eluding Dave Kearney as he crossed the try-line, only to lose control of the ball as he stooped to ground, and marginally knock on in the last split second. It was an error Ulster were soon to regret, as the hosts capitalised on a gap in the red rearguard with several bodies on the ground, Jack Conan making the break and offloading to wing Adam Byrne for the score, his namesake Ross converting. Sean Reidy replaced Coetzee just before the hour to claim his 100^th Ulster cap, with Marshall following shortly in place of Cave, and after a protracted pause for treatment to a serious knee injury to Dan Leavy, the centre heralded his return to action in some style, picking up from McCloskey and barging his way through three would-be tacklers to score. Cooney’s conversion missed to keep the score locked at 18 – 18, until, with nine minutes to play, Byrne expertly kicked a penalty from wide – his last contribution to the encounter as he succumbed to cramp and was replaced by Rob Kearney. Try as they might, Ulster weren’t able to find a way through the Leinster defence as the clock ran down to five minutes, and when the holders eventually got their hands on the ball, their experienced heads did well to slow play down on the Ulster five-metre line until time was up. Ulster now need to put the bitter disappointment of tonight’s defeat behind them, with the Guinness Pro14 run-in resuming next weekend with a crunch clash away to Glasgow on Friday 5 April. Full-Time Score Leinster 21 Ulster 18 Leinster (15 – 9) Jordan Larmour; Adam Byrne, Garry Ringrose, Rory O’Loughlin, Dave Kearney; Ross Byrne, Luke McGrath (1 – 8) Cian Healy, Sean Cronin, Tadhg Furlong, Scott Fardy, James Ryan, Rhys Ruddock (c), Sean O’Brien, Jack Conan Replacements (16 – 23) James Tracy, Ed Byrne, Andrew Porter, Mick Kearney, Dan Leavy, Jamison Gibson-Park, Noel Reid, Rob Kearney Ulster (15 – 9) Michael Lowry; Robert Baloucoune, Darren Cave, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale; Billy Burns, John Cooney (1 – 8) Eric O’Sullivan, Rory Best (c), Marty Moore, Iain Henderson, Kieran Treadwell, Alan O’Connor, Nick Timoney, Jordi Murphy, Marcell Coetzee Replacements (16 – 23) Rob Herring, Andy Warwick, Alan O’Connor, Sean Reidy, David Shanahan, Luke Marshall, Angus Kernohan